On May 23 and 25, 2025, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will present the premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Il trovatore, directed by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev and designed by Pyotr Okunev.
The plot of Il trovatore borrowed from the play of the same name by Spanish dramatist Antonio García Gutiérrez is based on real events that took place in the 15th century in Spain. Verdi was attracted by the romantic drama’s seething passions and heroic theme, which excited the composer’s compatriots and contemporaries – liberation movement activists. The story centers on love, revenge and a fatal secret from the past. Conte di Luna and the troubadour Manrico fight for the heart of the beautiful Leonora, but their destinies are linked by a terrible mystery known only to the gypsy Azucena. Giuseppe Verdi has endowed all the characters with excellent musical qualities which they reveal in monologue arias, duets and ensembles. The premiere of Il trovatore took place on January 19, 1853 in Rome and won popular affection straight away.
Stage Director Vyacheslav Starodubtsev, preparing one of the most popular operas in the world repertoire on the Primorsky Stage:
“Our production, like the opera itself, is done in a classic key, which is very difficult today, when there is a tendency to distort the main line, plot, and aesthetics of the composition. My task is to proceed from the composer’s music and to convey the traditional interpretation of musical images in compliance with Verdi’s concept. Fortunately, the composer always leaves very detailed dynamic and emotional guidance, and if a stage director puts himself in immersion in the opera score, it becomes easy for him to interpret the emotional storyline. By the way, this opera’s emotional structure is very intense, so another important goal is to bring this emotion closer to the realities of today’s world. After all, this is what the audiences come to the theatre for! At the same time, the stage design of the production promises to be thrilling and unforgettable, with today’s vivid and intense visual context. Together with the Set Designer Pyotr Okunev, we have done our best to create a colorful, beautiful, emotional Italian opera”.
In the Stage Director’s opinion, all the characters in the opera Il trovatore are “multi-faceted and not monotonous”.
“To my mind, this story is about the tragedy of motherhood. It is in this opera that Verdi talks about it a lot and shows mother’s love as something not so unambiguous, sometimes even brutal and cruel. Therefore, in my production, I wanted to make each character unconventional. Fortunately, the Primorsky Stage company has already dealt with Verdi’s heritage, and is prepared, to the maximum extent, to embody vivid characters”.
The scenery is done in laconic but expressive colors. The historical costumes are being made in the workshops of the Primorsky Stage based on the sketches by the Theatre’s Chief Designer Pyotr Okunev.
“In this production, we wanted to achieve maximum expressiveness with minimal means. That is, to emphasize all the drama of the plot, music and its intrinsic mood using a minimum of visual art”, Pyotr Okunev noted.
The parts for the premiere performances are being rehearsed by soloists of the Opera Company of the Primorsky Stage: Leonora – Anna Barkhatova, Samira Galimova, Alena Diyanova, Anastasia Kikot, Liliya Kadnikova, Galina Cheplakova; Azucena – Laura Bustamante, Irina Kolodyazhnaya, Tatiana Makarchuk; Manrico – Dagvadorj Davaasuren, Sayan Isin, Alexei Kostyuk, Alexei Smirnov, Medet Chotabayev; Conte di Luna – Sergey Krylov, César Méndez, Dmitry Migulyov, Nikita Odalin, Alexei Repin; Ferrando – Bat-Erdene Dorjtseden, Yevgeny Plekhanov, Sergei Pleshivtsev, Vladislav Chibirev; Ines – Elena Glushenko, Victoria Kangina, Svetlana Rozhok, Natalia Yakimova; Ruiz – Roman Krukovich, Vsevolod Marilov, Yevgeny Mizin.
Both evenings, the Mariinsky Orchestra of the Primorsky Stage will be conducted by the Theatre’s Principal Conductor Pavel Smelkov.
