Maria Solovyova’s debut in the opera The Snow Maiden

Scene from the opera

The world premiere of the opera took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1882. Alexander Ostrovsky, on whose eponymous play the libretto was based, said of the opera that “The music for my Snow Maiden is stunning, I couldn’t have imagined anything more suitable and which expresses all the poetry of the Russian pagan occult in such a lively manner.”

There are two lead female characters in this opera – Snegurochka and Kupava. Two images reflecting two different worlds – the fantastic and fairytale as well as the real – and two women’s characters and temperaments. Kupava’s bridegroom Mizgir prefers her friend Snegurochka to her, however, and it is only with Lel the shepherd that Kupava finds comfort and happiness.

According to music critics Maria Solovyova has a “voice of pure silver and captivating femininity,” which is utterly ideal for the image of the beautiful Kupava – passionate, charming and openly expressing her feelings.