The Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre presents the program of events marking the anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
On May 7 and May 8, 2025 at 17:00, soloists of the Theatre’s Opera Company will perform beloved wartime songs in the Chamber Hall. These marching, lyric and heroic songs were born on the front and in the rear from the beginning to the end of the war. The musical memorials of the Great Patriotic War will be presented by such opera singers as Anna Barkhatova, Anastasia Kikot, Irina Kolodyazhnaya, Roman Krukovich, Alexei Smirnov, Gennady Akhmedov, Dmitry Nelasov, Nikita Odalin, and Sergei Pleshivtsev. The programme will include songs by Isaak Dunayevsky, Konstantin Listov, Valentin Levashov, Boris Terentyev, Bulat Okudzhava, and other composers.
On May 9, 2025 at 19:00, the monumental opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin will be performed in the Great Hall. The libretto is based on the early Russian epic The Tale of Igor’s Raid. The composer adapted the poem by himself while composing the music and writing the poetics almost simultaneously. At the same time, he studied other sources concerning discords and wars between Russian princes, battles and cooperation between Prince Igor and Polovtsian Khans. When composing his opera, Alexander Borodin as a learned amateur adhered to the European pattern well known to him, namely: a large French opera with a plenty of choruses, dramatic scenes and extensive monologues. However, having shared his friends’ likes and dislikes in the Mighty Handful, the composer charged melodies with Russian intonations and Oriental motifs. Nowadays, even those who have never visited an opera theatre are familiar with the chorus “Glory to the beautiful Sun” or Igor’s aria “No sleep, no rest for my tormented soul”. The slaves’ chorus “Fly away on the wings of the wind” has become a worldwide hit and part of the mass culture.
Prince Igor was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre in October 1890, and the premiere was a great success. At the Primorsky Stage in Vladivostok, Alexander Borodin’s masterpiece was presented in concert in May 2023. At the upcoming concert the opera will be performed by such soloists as Marat Mukhametzyanov, Irina Novikova, Laura Bustamante, Alexei Kostyuk, Vladislav Chibirev, Bat-Erdene Dorjtseden, and Sergei Pleshivtsev. The Orchestra will be conducted by Pavel Smelkov.
