Opera Opera evening: Iolanta. Aleko World famous Mariinsky Ballet and Opera - established 1783
Running time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Schedule for Opera evening: Iolanta. Aleko 2022
Composer: Peter Tchaikovsky Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko Musical Director: Maestro Valery Gergiev Musical Preparation: Marina Mishuk Composer: Sergey Rachmaninov Stage Director: Mariusz Treliсski Set Designer: Boris Kudlichka Costume Designer: Magdalena Musial Lighting Designer: Marc Heinz Literary Consultant: Piotr Gruszczynski
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Iolanta – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's last opera – was written two years before the composer’s death. In 1884 Tchaikovsky read the one-act play King Rene’s Daughter by the Danish dramatist Henrik Hertz. The poetic story of Iolanta who has been blind from birth and is cured of her ailment through love inspired Tchaikovsky, who was looking for a subject for a short, lyrical opera. The eternal gloom in which Iolanta lives peacefully becomes a symbol of spiritual blindness and the source of deep pain for those close to her. Love ignites her heart’s desire to see the world and inspires her courage to undergo the pain that will enable her to see. At the request of the composer, his brother Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote an operatic libretto after the plot of King Rene’s Daughter. The opera was written between July and December 1891, and the premiere took place at the Mariinsky Theatre on 6 December 1892. It is believed that the composer’s philosophical intentions are reflected in the plot of the opera, as he had a keen interest in the philosophy of Spinoza. Whether that is the case or not Iolanta stands apart from Tchaikovsky’s other works because of its unusual "otherworldly" plot and the touching, light and serene music.
Aleko, composed in 1892, was Rachmaninoff's graduation work for the Moscow Conservatoire. The complex conditions for writing the opera (the pre-prepared libretto was by Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko after Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin's poem The Gypsy; nothing could be altered and there was a time limit – just one month could be spent on the score) did not prevent the young composer from becoming truly engaged in the subject. As Rachmaninoff later recalled, his opera drew Tchaikovsky's attention and Tchaikovsky's influence in Russia's music circles was so great that at his advice the young composer´s opera was accepted for production by the Bolshoi Theatre. The premiere took place on 27 April 1893. After the stunning success of the opera, Tchaikovsky asked Rachmaninoff if he would agree to a combined production of Iolanta and Aleko at the Bolshoi Theatre in autumn the same year. Tchaikovsky's unexpected death prevented this plan from coming to fruition…
Aleko
one act opera
Music by Sergei Rakhmaninov
Libretto by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenkoafter the poem by Alexander Pushkin
Iolanthe
one act opera
Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky after the play Kong Renes datter by Henrik Hertz
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Director: Mariusz Trelinski
Production Designer: Boris Kudlicka
Costume Designer: Magdalena Musial
Lighting Designer: Marc Heinz
Cinematographer: Wojciech Pus
Choreographer: Tomasz Wygoda
Animators: Michaі Jankowski and Tomasz Popakul
Literary Consultant: Piotr Gruszczynski
Musical Preparation: Marina Mishuk
Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko
Co-production of the Festspielhaus Baden Baden
The Performance has one intermission
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky´s Iolanta and Sergei Vasilievich Rakhmaninov´s Aleko are, arguably, two of the most widely-loved Russian chamber operas. There performance together in one evening is first and foremost a tribute to these two great composers as well as an observance of the composer´s own wishes.
Iolanta was Tchaikovsky´s last opera, one of the most vivid and unusual works he wrote. The bibretto was created by the composer´s brother Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky after the drama King René´s Daughter by Danish playwright Henrik Hertz. At the composer´s own admission, he was seeking a subject “not of this world”, of purely lyrical quality and specifically for a chamber opera. He found all of this in Iolanta, which reflects Tchaikovsky´s moral and philosophical searches from the closing years of his life. The opera was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre on 6 December 1892.
Aleko, also composed in 1892, was Rakhmaninov´s graduation work for the Moscow Conservatoire. The complex conditions for writing the opera (the pre-prepared libretto was by Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko after Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin´s poem The Gupsy; nothing could be altered and there was a time limit – just one month could be spent on the score) did not prevent the young composer from becoming truly engaged in the subject. As Rakhmaninov later recalled, his opera drew Tchaikovsky´s attention and Tchaikovsky´s influence in Russia´s music circles was so great that at his advice the young composer´s opera was accepted for production by the Bolshoi Theatre. The premiere took place on 27 April 1893. After the stunning success of the opera, Tchaikovsky asked Rakhmaninov if he would agree to a combined production of Iolanta and Aleko at the Bolshoi Theatre in autumn the same year. Tchaikovsky´s unexpected death prevented this plan from coming to fruition…
Vladimir Goryachikh
Iolanta
Opera in two acts by Peter Tchaikovsky
Libretto
by Modest Tchaikovsky based on Heinrich Hertz’s dramatic poem Koenig Renes
Tochter
Premiere: 18 December, 1892 at the
Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Performed in Russian with English supertitles.
Synopsis
The action takes place in XV century. Iolanta, the blind daughter of the King
of Provence, is whiling away the time in the garden of the castle. As the
curtain rises she is talking to her nurse, Marta. She tells Marta that she
has never ever felt so depressed, Iolanta’s friends, Brigitte and Laura, try to
cheer her up by singing songs and bringing her posies of flowers. Marta also
tries to comfort Iolanta by singing her favourite lullaby. This sends Iolanta to
sleep. The sleeping Iolanta is carried into the castle. There is a fanfare of
trumpets and Almerik, King Rene’s sword-bearer, appears. He informs the castle
doorman, Bertrand, that very soon the King will be arriving with a famous
Physician who, it is hoped, will cure Iolanta of her blindness. The trumpets
sound again, announcing the arrival of the King. King Rene enters accompanied by
the Moorish Physician, Ibn-Hakia. King Rene tells Ibn-Hakia that Iolanta has
been betrothed from infancy to Robert, Duke of Burgundy, and is soon to marry
him, but the Duke does not know that his future wife is blind and, indeed,
Iolanta herself is totally unaware of her misfortune, Iolanta had been brought
up by her father in this remote castle and he had surrounded her with loyal
retainers whom he had ordered on pain of death not to tell her the truth.
Ibn-Hakia says that the only cure for Iolanta is to inform her of her disability
and then, so long as she passionately wishes to recover her sight, she will do
so. King Rene, full of anxieties for his daughter, retires in indecision to the
castle together with the Physician.
Robert, Duke of Burgundy, and his friend the Knight, Count Vaudemont, appear
on the scene. They are impressed to find a beautiful garden in such a wild,
remote spot. The notice over the entrance to the garden which threatens with
death anyone entering it without permission, puzzles them. Robert is
downhearted for he is soon to be united in matrimony with Iolanta whom he has
never met and his heart already belongs to another, Iolanta appears on the
castle terrace. Vaudemont is struck by her beauty. Hearing voices, she does
not recognize, Iolanta suggests to the strangers that they rest under the shade
of the trees and she hurries off to fetch them some wine. Left alone with his
friend, the Duke, who has a sceptical attitude to the world, voices his
apprehensions and decides to leave; Vaudemont, who is quite enchanted by
Iolanta’s beauty, stays behind. When Iolanta returns he tells her of the great
impression she has made on him and asks her to pick him a red rose in
memory of their meeting, Iolanta plucks him a rose, but it is a white one.
Vaudemont repeats his request and again he is handed a white rose. The Count
begins to suspect something is wrong. He picks a bunch of roses and asks Iolanta
to tell him how many flowers there are in the bunch, Iolanta asks him to give
her the roses so that she may count them. Vaudemont now realizes that Iolanta is
blind. And he tells her so. He tries, in so far as is possible, to comfort
Iolanta but, getting somewhat carried away, he starts to describe to her the
beauties of God’s world which she is destined never to see.
Voices are heard: the King enters, followed by Physician Ibn-Hakia and
servants. Rene is horrified when he learns that Vaudemont has told Iolanta of
her disability; he does not know what to do to help his daughter and eventually
suggests that she should try Physician Ibn-Hakia’s course of treatment, Iolanta
is not enthusiastic about this and says she is quite happy as she is which makes
the Physician lose all hope that his treatment will be effective. Noticing that
Iolanta is very much taken by Vaudemont, King Rene tells the Knight that he will
be executed unless his daughter recovers her sight, Iolanta, out of her
mind with love for Vaudemont, begs the Physician to cure her and goes with him
into the castle.
A fanfare of trumpets announces the arrival of the Duke of Burgundy who, with
a group of armed knights, is hurrying to the rescue of his friend. Robert is
amazed to see King Rene. Vaudemont confesses to Robert that he is in love with
Iolanta, the latter’s betrothed, and asks him to tell the King that he, Robert,
has given his heart to someone else. Rene consents to the marriage of Iolanta
and Count Vaudemont. Shouts of joy are heard, Iolanta, who has recovered
her sight, appears at the castle door. Overjoyed, King Rene hurries to embrace
his daughter and then leads Vaudemont up to her. Falling on her knees, Iolanta
gives passionate thanks to God for her recovery.
Aleko
Opera in one act by Sergey
Rakhmaninov
Aleko is the first of
three completed operas by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The Russian libretto was written
by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and is an adaptation of the poem The
Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin. The opera was written in 1892 as a graduation
work at the Moscow Conservatory, and it won the highest prizes from the
conservatory judges that year. It was first performed in Moscow in
1893.
Premiere: 9 May, 1893 at the Bolshoy Theatre
in Moscow, Russia.
Sung in Russian.
Synopsis
Weary of his boring upper-class life, Aleko runs off with a band of Gypsies.
He moves in with Zemfira, a young gypsy, and she bears him a child. The Old
Gypsy, Zemfira's father, warns Aleko not to become too possessive of Zemfira.
However, Aleko kills both Zemfira and the man he thinks is her lover. The
Gypsies cast him out and disown him.
Schedule for Opera evening: Iolanta. Aleko 2022
Anna Netrebko & Rolando Villazon - Iolanta (Tchaikovsky) |
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About This Video 10:02 Extract from the Paris recital, March 2007 |
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