On December 25 and 26, 2025, the first opera premiere of the season will be taking place on the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre: The Story of Kai and Gerda by Sergei Banevich. This Primorsky Stage production will come as a fresh take on the beloved fairy tale.
Tatiana Kalinina’s libretto draws not only upon the fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, but also upon the screenplay of the 1966 fantasy drama film, written by Evgeny Schwartz, thereby imbuing the narrative with particular psychological depth. It’s not just a magical story that unfolds before the audience, but a parable about the choice between the animate, vulnerable feelings and the temptation of cold, painless perfection.
Sergei Banevich is a significant figure in the Saint Petersburg school of composition, a follower of the traditions of Galina Ustvolskaya and Orest Evlakhov. In his opera, he sets up a clear and expressive system of leitmotifs. Gerda’s music is warm, smooth, and lyrically open, as opposed to the Snow Queen whose image sounds fragile and detached, with the timbres of celesta, harp, and bells, creating a sense of icy, lifeless beauty. Kai undergoes a complex journey: his musical image changes from childlike spontaneity to alienation and, in the finale, to epiphany.
The opera is a seamless blend of symphonic episodes, including the famous Flight on the Reindeer scene, the dance interludes, and the musings of the wise Lamplighter. The part of the Atamansha, being sung by a bass (this technique is specific for the Russian operatic tradition) adds a comical touch to the performance.
Originally titled The Story of Gerda and Kai, the opera was first performed at the Leningrad Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre in 1980, and underwent over a hundred performances then. The composer subsequently returned to the score several times, creating new Russian versions in 1996 and 2009, and a version to a German libretto for international productions, including a performance in the Haydnsaal of the Schloss Esterházy. In the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, the popular fairy tale is presented in its version of 2016, a production staged by Alexei Stepanyuk and designed by Elena Orlova.
On the Primorsky Stage, this production has come as a fresh take on one of the most significant musical works; created for children, it speaks also to adults through the language of sincerity, faith, and inner strength. The production is being prepared by Stage Director Alexander Ponomarev and Production and Costume Designer Pyotr Okunev.
One of the highlights of this interpretation will be the participation of students from the Primorsky branch of the Moscow State Academy of Choreography (the Bolshoi Ballet Academy). Young ballet dancers are preparing their performances under the direction of Vladislav Rzhevsky, a member of the Ballet Company of the Primorsky Stage and choreographer, prizewinner at the All-Russian Competition of Ballet Dancers and Choreographers (2025).
The performances on December 25 and 26, 2025 will be conducted by Mikhail Leontiev. Premiere performances will also take place on January 7, 8, and 9, 2026.
Mikhail Leontiev is a Saint Petersburg conductor and a graduate from the N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, specializing both in Choral and Opera & Symphony Conducting. He has taken classes from outstanding masters of the Russian conducting school, Vladislav Chernushenko and Ravil Martynov. Leontiev has also taken international master classes from Jorma Panula, Neeme and Paavo Järvi, Mark Gorenstein, and other renowned maestros.
Leontiev’s career has been shaped in the leading national orchestras: he has worked at the Academic Glinka Capella and the Mikhailovsky Theatre, served as Artistic Director of the Tambov Symphony Orchestra, and led the Surgut Symphony Orchestra and the Far Eastern Academic Symphony Orchestra in Khabarovsk. Since August 2023, Mikhail Leontiev has been conductor of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre.
Leontiev regularly performs with orchestras in Russia and abroad, from the Saint Petersburg and Moscow Philharmonic Orchestras to symphony orchestras from Japan, Poland, and Estonia. In 2017, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation recognized him as one of the 90 best young cultural figures in Russia.
