27.09.2022

Mazepa, the September Premiere of the Primorsky Stage

As early as this weekend, the audience of the Primorsky Stage will have the chance to enjoy one of the most famous historical productions of the Mariinsky Theatre, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Mazepa, performed by the soloists of the Primorsky Stage. On September 30 and October 2, 2022 two premiere performances will take place in the Great Hall of the Theatre.

Recalling the time when he worked over this masterpiece, the composer noted that none of his works had ever been as challenging and time-consuming as this monumental drama.

Nevertheless, Tchaikovsky managed to create a unique work of art. The love duet of soprano and baritone is a rare case for the operatic genre. Maria is young, Mazepa is old. The story looks implausible, and yet it is historically accurate. The power and charm of Pushkin’s poetry with its unique vivid images came as a strong creative stimulus for Tchaikovsky. Alexander III was so impressed with the opera that he even awarded the composer with the Fourth-class Order of St. Vladimir after the premiere. The drama of love and betrayal unfolds against the background of a vast historical panorama of vivid national coloring, so well known to Tchaikovsky.

“After Eugene Onegin, Mazepa is the second performance of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre where the two great names, Alexander Pushkin and Pyotr Tchaikovsky, come closely converged. The plot reveals one of the complicated pages of Russian history: the victory of Peter I over Charles XII of Sweden during the Great Northern War, which lasted almost 20 years, and the defeat of Hetman Mazepa, who betrayed the Russian Tsar. Against the backdrop of dramatic events, the audience will be able to enjoy wonderful lyrical music and glorious ballet scenes. The decision taken by Maestro Gergiev to show this opera to the Vladivostok audience and to incorporate it in the Theatre repertoire is due to the fact that our company and soloists possess sufficient professional and vocal resource that allows them to cope with very beautiful, and at the same time very technically complex opera parts”, said Irina Soboleva, Honored Artist of Russia, Artistic Director of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage.

The Stalin Prize winner, Stage Director Ilya Shlepyanov and the renowned Soviet Set and Costume Designer Alexander Konstantinovsky have created a “grand style” standard that is well suited to the music of this opera. Here, young ladies are black-browed, and the Cossacks wear wide trousers; the outfits are embroidered with pearls and trimmed with sable furs. The powerful operatic Empire style of Mazepa is sure to delight fans of the traditional theatre. Today, this opera is a true godsend and an exciting, challenging test for any opera soloist with a pronounced baritone. The leading soloists of the Theatre are rehearsing the parts for the premiere on the Primorsky Stage. The Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov will take the console.

Let us remind you that in November 2020, the Primorsky Stage already presented a concert performance of this opera to honor the composer’s 180th anniversary. The only performance staged by Ilya Shlepyanov was held as part of the VII International Mariinsky Far East Festival with the participation of the Mariinsky Theatre soloists. Now the production will remain in Vladivostok, and Mazepa will become part of the Primorsky Stage repertoire.

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