05.02.2020

A springtime tale in a new format – a premiere of the opera The Snow Maiden at the Mariinsky Theatre

On 17, 18 and 19 April the Mariinsky Theatre will be inviting patrons to the premiere of a new production of Rimsky-Korsakov's springtime tale The Snow Maiden based on the eponymous play by Alexander Ostrovsky. For the first time, the theatre will be presenting not one but two productions of the opus: the full as well as an abriged version for younger audiences.

The production team includes names familiar to St Petersburg audiences. The Stage Director will be Anna Matison, for whom this will be her third opera at the Mariinsky Theatre, and her second in the course of the 2019-20 season. The premiere of Pelléas et Mélisande by Debussy, held at the Concert Hall in October 2019 was also staged by Matison. She will be joined by the acclaimed tandem of Set Designer Alexander Orlov and Costume Designer Irina Cherednikova, who have designed around a dozen productions at the Mariinsky Theatre, and the choreographer Radu Poklitaru, who is known for his bold and unexpected interpretations of classical music. At the Mariinsky Theatre he has already staged his stand-alone ballet production – Symphony in Three Movements, where Anna Matison appeared as Costume Designer, though this will be his first opera production at the Mariinsky Theatre.

Anna Matison, who not only will be presenting her characters in a new temporal and plot setting, but will also be creating entire new worlds for them, sees the premiere of the production as an opportunity to view the Kingdom of Berendei and the female protagonist in a new light. "The Snow Maiden merely pretends to be an often-told tale with a simple plot," says the director, "but as soon as you begin to delve into it you very quickly abandon the notion that this is a children's tale. To such a degree there are secondary and even tertiary plots that you can regard Snegurocka as anyone you care to imagine, even Greta Thunberg. This is no fairy story, it is a parable in which people are transformed into a crowd and in no sense do they see any problems within themselves, because it is always easier to seek an enemy from without. Even if the enemy is Snegurochka, proffered to the peaple as a chance of redemption."

And for Valery Gergiev, Music Director and conductor of the premiere, this new production represents another chance to return to the beautiful score of one of the theatre's most significant composers. It is not by chance that the Mariinsky Theatre is known as the "house of Rimsky-Korsakov".

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