On 27, 28 and 29 February the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia will present Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tsar’s Bride on the Historical Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. These performances are part of a large-scale joint festival of the two theatres marking the 180th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
The Tsar’s Bride was Rimsky-Korsakov’s ninth opera and his third work based on the historical dramas of Lev Mey. The first was The Maid of Pskov and The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga appeared a year before The Tsar’s Bride. Rimsky-Korsakov’s brilliant musical rendition immortalised Mey’s plays.
The plot of The Tsar’s Bride is based on the true fate of Ivan the Terrible’s third wife, Marfa Sobakina, who died two weeks after their marriage. However, the opera does not claim historical accuracy. Both the playwright and the composer painted vivid characters, providing their own motivations for the actions of the protagonists.
At the Bolshoi Theatre The Tsar’s Bride was first staged in 1916. Since its premiere it has featured the best talents of the Bolshoi as well as many promising debutants. In 1955 a production became the last work of the outstanding theatre artist Fyodor Fedorovsky. His monumental historical sets, which became classics of the “grand style”, were recreated in 2014 under the supervision of scenographer Aliona Pikalova and adorn the current production of the Bolshoi Theatre. The director of the revival is Yulia Pevzner with costumes by Elena Zaitseva.
The grand festival celebrating Rimsky-Korsakov’s anniversary will last throughout the entire theatrical season and will take place not only in Moscow and St Petersburg but also in Vladivostok at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, and in Vladikavkaz at the branch of the Mariinsky Theatre in the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania. A significant event will be a musical tribute in the composer’s hometown, Tikhvin, featuring a joint performance by the troupes of the Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres.
As part of the exchange tours commemorating the 180th anniversary of Rimsky-Korsakov, the Mariinsky Theatre will present on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia The Maid of Pskov with the prologue The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga (23 February), Christmas Eve (24 February) and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (25 February). Valery Gergiev will conduct all the operas. The composer’s anniversary is also celebrated by the Mariinsky Theatre’s performances of The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (16, 23 January) and Sadko (14 February) in St Petersburg.
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