The world premiere of the opera Woe from Wit to celebrate Boris Grabovsky's 85^th birthday

Mariinsky Theatre presents the world premiere of Boris Grabovsky's opera Woe from Wit (concert performance) on March 21 at 19.00 at the Concert Hall. It is performed by soloists of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers directed by Larisa Gergieva: Natalia Pavlova (soprano), Evelina Agabalaeva (mezzo-soprano), Elena Gorlo (mezzo-soprano), Dmitry Koleushko (tenor), Ivan Kulikov (tenor), Yaroslav Petryanik (baritone), Dinar Dzhusoev (bass), et al. The music is performed by the Mariinsky Orchestra conducted by Zaurbek Gugkaev.

Over 40 years, Boris Grabovsky, a pupil of Shostakovich, oversaw the section New Songs in the Neva magazine. He was in charge of selecting new music pieces, commissioning songs to Andrey Petrov, Valery Gavrilin, as well as to less-known young composers from Leningrad. Since 1976, Grabovsky worked on and off on an opera based on Alexander Griboedov's play. In the late 1980s, some fragments of the Woe for Wit recorded at the Leningrad Radio studios were broadcast for the first time in a radio programme on Griboedov. The recording featured soloists of the Kirov Theatre: Valery Lebed (Chatsky), Yevgenia Gorokhovskaya (Sofia), Vladimir Pankratov (Famusov), Valery Starodubtsev (Skalozub). Working on this piece, Grabovsky followed the romantic opera model: there are arias and duets, a ball scene with a choir of guests, and ballet scenes. However, Woe for Wit is a nostalgic glance at the romanticism of the late 20^th century. It's evident in its musical language and its vocal distribution. By standards of the 19^th century there is no hero in this opera: it doesn't feature a noble tenor voice, only two basses (Famusov and Skalozub), a tenor falsetto (Molchalin), and a baritone as Chatsky.

Larisa Gergieva on the production: “I'm always enthusiastic to see such adaptations of our great literature. It is a long-awaited production, even though staged as a concert performance. I believe that Boris Grabovsky has his own vision of this literary work. The opera is fresh, original, and vocally comfortable, by the way.”

On-line broadcast of the world premiere of the opera Woe from Wit is available at mariinsky.tv and mariinsky.fm