25 April 2014, Friday

The company will present concert versions of the operas "The Tsar's Bride" and "The Golden Cockerel" by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

The Bolshoi Theatre has gone on tours to Austria numerous times. The company's big tours took place in 1971 and 1997. The audience saw operas that are cornerstones of the Russian repertoire - "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky, "The Queen of Spades" by P. Tchaikovsky and the grand opera "War and Peace" by S. Prokofiev.
This year the Bolshoi Theatre will also present its two landmark productions - "The Tsar's Bride" and "The Golden Cockerel" by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov; however, this time the audience will see concert versions of the operas.
"The Tsar's Bride" is a special opera in the Bolshoi's repertoire; together with "Boris Godunova" and "Eugene Onegin" it has always been one of the cornerstones of the theatre's Russian repertoire. The most recent, the 7th production of this opera at the Bolshoi was staged at the Bolshoi this year. The new production, which was a big success, starred young singers, participants of the Young Artists Opera Program Olga Kulchinskaya and Bogdan Volkov, guest soloists Agunda Kulaeva and Alexander Kasyanov, a recent graduate of the Young Artists Opera Program Oleg Tsybulko, who is now the Bolshoi opera company soloist, and the Bolshoi's soloists Irina Udalova, Alexander Naumenko and Marat Gali. Gennadi Rozhdestvensky will conduct the orchestra at the Theater an der Wien, just like he did at the premiere performances at the Bolshoi.
Critics and audience appreciated his interpretation of "The Tsar's Bride". "This is a special "Russian" sound; it is soft and a bit muffled, but at the same time full of emotions. It has both space and endless melodic line… Rozhdestvensky gives forte and fortissimo very rarely; instead he uses inner motion and inner dynamics. On the contrary, piano and pianissimo are the main colors of his interpretation. The conductor uses half-tones and hinds, he enjoys sophisticated details of the music score, as he highlights this or that solo instrument, or - as he does in the overture - brings to the front unexpected timbre combinations (this is done on purpose; maestro has changed the score a little)" ("Nezavisimaya Gazeta").

"The Golden Cockerel" is Rimsky-Korsakov's last opera; it is the most acerbic, sensitive and paradoxical. It is rarely performed abroad. The 6th production of the opera, which is now performed at the Bolshoi Theatre, can be called sensational. This is not only because of the director's (Kirill Serebrennikov) interpretation, but also because of the impeccable performance of title roles by Vladimir Matorin and Venera Gimadieva, which all critics talked about.
The Bolshoi Theatre's soloists Tatiana Erastova, Stanislav Mostovoy, Nikolai Kazansky and Konstantin Shushakov, as well as guest soloists Darya Zykova and Boris Rudak will perform in the concert version of the opera. Pavel Klinichev will conduct the orchestra.

Theater an der Wien

April 28th, 7 p.m.
"The Tsar's Bride"
Conductor - Gennadi Rozhdestvensky
Vasily Stepanovich Sobakin, a Novgorod merchant - Alexander Naumenko
Marfa, his daughter - Olga Kulchinskaya
Grigory Grigorevich Gryaznoy, oprichnik - Alexander Kasyanov
Grigory Lukiyanovich Malyuta Skuratov, oprichnik - Oleg Tsybulko
Ivan Sergeyevich Lykov, boyar - Bogdan Volkov
Yelisey Bomelius, the Tsar's foreign physician - Marat Gali
Domna Ivanovna Saburova, merchant's wife - Irina Udalova
Dunyasha, her daugther and friend to Marfa - Elena Novak
Petrovna - Anna Matsei

April 29th, 7 p.m.
"The Golden Cockerel"
Conductor - Pavel Klinichev
The Tsaritsa of Shemakha - Venera Gimadieva
Tsarevitch Gvidon - Boris Rudak
Tsarevitch Afron - Konstantin Shushakov
Amelfa, the royal housekeeper - Tatiana Erastova
The Astrologer - Stanislav Mostovoy
The Golden Cockerel's Voice - Darya Zykova