On August 28, 2020 the string of premieres was started with a concert performance of Sergei Prokofiev’s The Fiery Angel with its powerful music soaked in mysticism. The opera was recovered by a new cast after a lapse of eight years. Brilliantly starring in the premiere in Saint Petersburg last week, Elena Stikhina and Yevgeny Nikitin appeared as Renata and Ruprecht at the Primorsky Stage.
On August 29, 2020 Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlo is to be first performed at the V International Mariinsky Far East Festival, Vladivostok. Based on the tragedy of the same name by Friedrich von Schiller, the opera in four acts will be performed in nobly twilit tones that set the scene in Spain in the 19th century. The opera is staged by an Italian team guided by Giorgio Barberio Corsetti. The opera features the world-famous bass Ildar Abdrazakov, a Mariinsky Theatre soloist. For the first time at the Primorsky Stage, he appears as Philip II to sing one of his key roles. Together with Ildar Abdrazakov, the star cast includes Sergei Skorokhodov as Don Carlo, Vladislav Sulimsky as Rodrigo, Mikhail Petrenko as the Grand Inquisitor, Irina Churilova as Elisabeth de Valois, and Yulia Matochkina as Princess Eboli. The baton will be held by Valery Gergiev.
Some works will first sound in their concert versions that have been recently recovered or added to the opera repertoire of the Primorsky Stage. Among them there is Pietro Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana as one of the classic verismo operas, which digs in a lot of opera repertoires. On August 30, 2020 the opera will feature Ekaterina Semenchuk, a world-known star who will sing the role of Santuzza. Another leading roles will be performed by Akhmed Agadi as Turiddu, Anna Kiknadze as Lola, Roman Burdenko as Alfio, and Elena Vitman as Lucia. At night Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (3rd act of the opera) will be performed; this masterpiece is rarely staged in Russia and has been prepared under a stay-at-home order. The parts will be sung by leading soloists of the Mariinsky Opera including Mikhail Petrenko as Hans Sachs, Irina Churilova as Eva, Sergei Skorokhodov as Walther von Stolzing, Andrei Popov as David, Roman Burdenko as Sixtus Beckmesser, and Anna Kiknadze as Magdalena. All premieres are performed under the baton of Valery Gergiev.
Please, be reminded that the Festival was opened on August 14, 2020 with Fikret Amirov’s A Thousand and One Nights that was choreographed by Eldar Aliev, a Ballet Master in Chief of the Primorsky Stage. The ballet was highly acclaimed by spectators who considered it as a true gift to ballet lovers. At the Festival the ballet will be also performed on September 3, 2020 but the performance has been fully booked up.
Finally, on September 5, 2020 and September 6, 2020, Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace will be performed under the baton of Pavel Smelkov, a Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage. This opera being the last spring premiere in the 2019/2020 season, will unite the Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok opera companies and become a spectacular finale of the three-week music festival.
