Dear Guests,
We are delighted to announce the events of the coming month. Now available on the website is the schedule leading up to the opening of the Stars of the White Nights festival on 27 May.
Russian opera
The playbill for May includes a selection of classical Russian operatic titles. The historic theatre will host performances of Borodin's Prince Igor and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Sadko and Christmas Eve while the new theatre will present the latter's The Snow Maiden and The Golden Cockerel in addition to Tchaikovsky's Mazepa. Among the productions being performed, two of Tchaikovsky's operas staged by contemporary directors are particularly noteworthy: that of Iolanta by Mariusz Treliński and that of The Enchantress by David Pountney. The Polish director has imbued the symbolist parable about blindness and insight with the sharpness of a noir thriller. The Enchantress is related as an everyday drama, the events of which unfold during the composer's own lifetime and make reference to the history of the House of Romanov.
Roulette and demons
An opera after Dostoevsky "without Dostoevskian analysis" – such is The Gambler by the young Prokofiev: derisive, energetic and sportively rhythmical. The production of this opera was to prove a performance triumph for Valery Gergiev and the theatre's opera company in the early 1990s, and its inclusion in the repertoire today is a matter of particular pride. In the performance on 25 May, the role of Polina will be sung for the first time by Asmik Grigorian (the singer will also be appearing as Cio-Cio-san on 23 April). Demons and Mephistopheles will once again be appearing on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre on 12 May as part of a performance of The Fiery Angel. Its operatic "relative", Gounod's Faust, which Prokofiev had undoubtedly scrutinised, will be presented at the historic theatre on 1 May. Yet another opera after Dostoevsky – The Idiot by Mieczysław Weinberg – is to be performed at the Concert Hall on 13 May.
Coloratura and missiles
At the Concert Hall there will be another opportunity to hear Donizetti's sparking La Fille du régiment – an opera written in French for the French capital. It is animated couplets, virtuoso vocal cascades, buffoonery and sentimentality "all in one bottle". For several seasons, soloists of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers have been keeping it in reserve. Added to this, there will be Petipa's cure-all for melancholy – Don Quixote, a triumphant festival of dance against the backdrop of which we see the adventures of the two resourceful lovers Kitri and Basilio unfold and develop.
Old and new ballet
Alongside its classical dance legacy, in May the Mariinsky Theatre is inviting audiences to see opuses by 20th century choreographers: George Balanchine's Symphony in C, Angelin Preljocaj's Le Parc, Frederick Ashton's Marguerite and Armand with Diana Vishneva and Alberto Alonso's Carmen-Suite. This historical sequence will continue with works by young Mariinsky Theatre choreographers: Vladimir Varnava's Daphnis and Chloé and Ilya Zhivoi's The Seasons.
For Victory Day
In line with tradition, the Mariinsky Theatre's playbill for May will allocate a special place to events connected with victory in World War II: the ballets The Young Lady and the Hooligan and Leningrad Symphony, the children's opera Brundibár and a grand celebratory concert.
For children
The list of special events targeted at young audiences includes the theatrical concerts Italian Fairy-Tales with Sergey Migitsko, Russian Fairy-Tales and The Tales of Tsar Berendey with Sergey Barkovsky, the opera Brundibár by Hans Krása and Sergei Prokofiev's symphonic tale Peter and the Wolf (with actor and TV presenter Evgeniy Kulakov as the Narrator).
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