The Mariinsky II premieres Giuseppe Verdi’s opera I vespri siciliani on March 17. Arnaud Bernard is the Opera’s Stage Director and Light Designer. His portfolio includes some 20 productions of Italian and French operas. The Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra performs under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
The performers: Maria Guleghina, Irina Churilova (Elena), Migran Agadzhanyan, Avgust Amonov (Arrigo), Vladislav Sulimsky, Vladimir Moroz (Monforte), Ildar Abdrazakov, Stanislav Trofimov, Askar Abdrazakov (Giovanni da Procida).
I vespri siciliani was Verdi’s first grand opéra for the Paris Opera that conforms to its conventions, namely: it is an opera in five acts, based around historic events, which features a ballet divertissement, and the people are the story’s main focus. The opera about the rebellion that overthrew the rule of the French conquerors in Sicily premiered on June 13, 1855. It was well-received by critics and other composers alike, and yet it did not win the hearts of the audience the way La traviata or Il trovatore did, so up to this day I vespri siciliani has not become a regular on the opera stage. The opera was first staged in Russia by the Italian Opera Company of the Imperial Theatres at the St. Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in 1857. For censorship reasons the setting was changed to Portugal and the title to Giovanna de Guzman.
Arnaud Bernard’s production has a different setting as well – 1920s New York City, the time of the Prohibition and the thriving Sicilian Mafia. “The characters of the opera cannot be divided into good ones and bad ones”, says the director. “Just like the libretto, our story is about the Sicilians, although instead of the French we have the New York City Police Department. It’s important for me to engage the audience in the story and to create a setting that would seems familiar to everyone. The intricate story about the Sicilian Uprising of the 13th century is unlikely to be of interest to many spectators, but everyone has seen The Godfather and Once Upon a Time in America.”
The first shows will also be held on March 18, April 16, and April 17.
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