On March 26, March 27 and March 28, 2021 the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present the premiere of Johann Strauss’s high-spirited operetta Die Fledermaus staged by Alexei Stepanyuk. The Orchestra is to be under the baton of Pavel Smelkov, Principal Conductor of the Primorsky Stage.
Die Fledermaus is a classic dance operetta by Johann Strauss II who is also known as “The Waltz King” from Vienna. It is a pearl of the repertoire of the world’s leading opera houses. Its comic plot hinges on a relationship between the husband, Heinrich Eisenstein, and his wife, Rosalinde, who go through a family crisis. The unfaithful husband has to newly fall in love with his own wife, opening new facets of her womanly charm and wit.
The operetta will be presented in its stage version by the Saint Petersburg maître Alexei Stepanyuk, an Honored Art Worker of Russia. Having many times collaborated with the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, he has staged Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Verdi’s Aida. Judging by reviews from critics, Alexei Stepanyuk’s productions are notable for their meaningful details and the marriage of music and visual dressing. The Stage Director says about his new production of the Strauss’s operetta, “Now we are in serious times, and such joyfully inspiring music and such operetta, gay with songs and full of champagne splashes and beautiful setting and costumes, may become an antidote for a somewhat depressed mood, to which we may be spurred by the circumstances.”
The sets and costumes for Die Fledermaus were designed by Vyacheslav Okunev, a People’s Artist of Russia; Ilya Ustyantsev is a Stage Director and Choreographer. The operetta will be performed in Russian, and according to the producers, such performance is intelligible and close to the audience and gives more scope for artists’ creative improvisations.
The premiere is prepared by several casts. The role of Heinrich Eisenstein will be sung by Alexei Kostyuk, Yevgeny Mizin or Alexei Smirnov. Alena Diyanova, Anastasia Kikot or Elizaveta Senatorova will appear as his wife Rosalinde, and Olga Zharikova, Alina Mikhailik or Maria Suzdaltseva as Adele. The full list of performers is on the Primorsky Stage website.
