This year, the 225th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin has become one of the cornerstone events of the theatre season at the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. On the threshold of the anniversary, the Theatre Company will once again present a series of famous operas based on Pushkin’s plots, which will be crowned by performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s cult mystical opera The Queen of Spades staged by Yuri Temirkanov. The performance will be the top event of the 2023/24 season.
On May 18, 2024, the caravan of festive events will be launched by Ruslan and Lyudmila, a theatrical concert with sand animation to the music of another hero, whose anniversary is celebrated this year, Mikhail Glinka. This “playful creation” by Alexander Pushkin in the musical interpretation by the Primorsky Stage has adorned the repertoire of the Chamber Hall quite recently, but has already gained many fans of the new format.
On May 19, 2024, the fairytale theme will continue in the Great Hall, where Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s merry opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan will be performed. Written to Pushkin’s plot, it was timed to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the poet’s birth. The audiences will enjoy an exuberant production where the signs of the Old Russian life are reliably recreated. It seems that the openwork lace of wooden architecture and bright national costumes have come straight from the illustrations to a book of folk tales.
On May 26, 2024, Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s lyrical opera Eugene Onegin, an unsurpassed musical embodiment of the great novel, will be performed. The heart of the opera is the sophisticated scene of Tatyana’s letter, imbibed with lyricism and emotionality. It was with that scene that the composer began his work on the opera, praising the poetry of the soul of Pushkin’s heroine. Along with this, Tchaikovsky’s music accurately conveys the atmosphere of noble life of those times. Then-popular waltz, mazurka and polonaise are widely represented by the composer, along with the Russian folklore motifs.
On May 29, 2024, the Primorsky Stage will unfold a large-scale costume historical drama about the Time of Troubles in Modest Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov. Its central theme is the tense relationship between Tsar and the ordinary people, who are presented as the main characters here. This musical drama sets a multifaceted picture of the era and amazes the viewer with its deep psychologism. The public will be able to learn more interesting facts about the opera from Scenic Introduction that is going to take place an hour before the beginning of the performance.
May 31, 2024 will be marked by special events, that are performances of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s one-act operas Aleko and The Miserly Knight. The composer has written only three operas, but two of them are inspired by Pushkin. Aleko, based on the plot of the poem The Gypsies, was written as a graduation work by 19-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff, then a student at the Moscow Conservatory. For the composer, it became the first serious step along his creative path. Aleko’s aria “The Whole Camp is Asleep” has become a favorite piece in the bass repertoire and has a rich history of performances dating back to Feodor Chaliapin himself. The Miserly Knight is another chamber theatre masterpiece by Rachmaninoff. Its centerpiece is the old Baron’s monologue, where the composer masterfully reveals the character’s ambiguous personality. In his soul, nobility and greatness coexist with a manic passion for power and wealth, which ultimately chokes all human feelings. An hour before the beginning of the performance, Scenic Introduction for the audience will be taking place.
On June 2, 2024, the Theatre season will be crowned with another opera to Pushkin’s plot, The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in a luxurious production by Yuri Temirkanov. The re-created fence of the Summer Garden, a magnificent ball, camisoles, crinolines and wigs make the performance a classic paragon. The audiences will be able to take a look at the mystical St. Petersburg of the 19th century, where the events of the famous novel unfold.
