In late November, the visitors of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will be able to see the second premiere of the season, a show for the whole family The Town Musicians of Bremen to the music of Gennady Gladkov. Three premiere shows at once will take place on the Small Stage of the theater on November 25.
The famous “musical fantasy” based on the fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm was composed by the cult Soviet and Russian composer Gennady Gladkov, the author of music for popular films, musicals and animated films. In 1969, the cartoon The Town Musicians of Bremen brought all-Union fame to the outstanding author. Soon his music started to live on its own on gramophone records, whose total circulation reached almost 30 million in a mere two years.
The Town Musicians of Bremen is the fifth performance of the Mariinsky for Children project which is intended to introduce the musical theatre to kids. The story about the resourceful wandering musicians led by the Troubadour will be transferred to the Primorsky stage from St Petersburg, but according to tradition, it will receive a new, original stage incarnation.
“This music gives rise to associations with the cartoon that we love so much and for which this music was originally created. Our task was not to do something radically different, but rather to take a slightly different look at the familiar plot, at the same time avoiding the likeness to the numerous plays and musicals made in the cartoon aesthetics. A small, ancient town will appear on stage; to that town, our main characters, the musicians arrive and the story starts unfolding. I hope we have created our own little fairy tale, one with a slightly different aesthetic, but no less fun, and as exciting and colorful as the original cartoon”, said Pyotr Okunev, the Art Director of the Primorsky stage of the Mariinsky Theatre.
There is Nothing Better in the World, The Song of the Bandits, Oh, the Guards Wake up Early, and many other famous songs will be performed by soloists of the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre on November 25, as well as on December 23, 30, and January 4, 8.
