On August 8, 2021 Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s mystic opera The Queen of Spades will become the final event at the Mariinsky Festival. The opera staged by Yuri Temirkanov will be powerfully represented by a cast of guest performers and soloists of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.
In 1890 Pyotr Tchaikovsky composed his opera The Queen of Spades based on Alexander Pushkin’s short story of the same name. It is a story in which a consuming passion for gambling is opposed with an unearthly love. The poor officer Herman falls in love with Liza, a girl from a noble family. Having heard of a secret of three winning cards which is kept by the old Countess, Herman resolved to draw the secret from her, win a large sum of money and be with the one he loves. Will Herman be able to stop in time on a slippery slope towards easy money?
The Queen of Spades staged by Yuri Temirkanov and designed by Igor Ivanov became a rare classic example of opera direction having a long happy life on the stage. The features of Saint Petersburg in the Catherine Age, in which the scene of the opera is laid, were thoroughly reconstructed in Temirkanov’s staging. All costumes and furnishings in a gambling house, quarters or rooms were in accordance with their prototypes in the past. Premiered in 1984 at the Kirov Theatre (presently the Mariinsky Theatre), the opera was accorded international recognition and had a long happy life on the stage.
The opera staging was shifted from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok in December 2015. At the premiere the opera was performed by the Mariinsky Theatre lead soloists under the direction of the maestro Valery Gergiev. Since then the Far East audience has heard legendary singers and young stars performing the primary roles of this opera.
At the closing of the VI Mariinsky Festival on August 8, 2021 the primary roles in The Queen of Spades will be sung by Najmiddin Mavlyanov as Herman, Elena Razgulyaeva as Liza, Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar as Prince Yeletsky, Marat Mukhametzyanov as Count Tomsky, Yulia Matochkina as Polina, and Irina Kolodyazhnaya as the Countess. The opera will be conducted by Pavel Smelkov.
