April 1, 2020
Start at 19:00
Giuseppe Verdi
RIGOLETTO
A singing hunchback? Why not? I find it quite exciting to make this character ugly and clumsy outside and passionate and full of love inside, wrote Verdi when composing one of his best operas. His masterly score is dynamic and theatrical and has powerful dramatic personalities. The wonderful arias and ensembles sung by the main characters (Rigoletto, the Duke, and Gilda) and amazing memorable melodies have become world opera hits.
Rigoletto is a classic example of the Verdi theatre: passionate, tearful, tender and evil,with historical costumes and a romantic environment. The co-project of the Novaya Opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Rigoletto has run on stage more than fifteen years, enjoying unvarying success.
Conductor Alexandru Samoilă
Duke of Mantua Alexander Bogdanov
Rigoletto Andjey Beletsky
Gilda Ksenia Nesterenko
Sparafucile Alexey Tikhomirov
Maddalena Polina Shamaeva
Count Monterone Otar Kunchulia
Marullo, a courtier Alexander Popov
Borsa, a courtier Maxim Ostroukhov
Count Ceprano Boris Zhukov
Countess Ceprano Galina Badikovskaya
Giovanna Tatyana Tabachuk
Warder Mikhail Pervushin
Page Ekaterina Kichigina
April 2, 2020
Start at 19:00
Giuseppe Verdi
STIFFELIO
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Stiffelio (1850) ushered in the lyrical drama genre of the latter half of the 19th century. This work predated the composer’s best operas of the 1850s – Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata. The libretto to Stiffelio was written by Francesco Maria Piave after Émile Souvestre and Eugène Bourgeois’s play Le pasteur, ou L'évangile et le foyer.
Alexandru Samoilă, conductor: “Without going to historical details, I would mention that the opera was simply mutilated by the censor; then Verdi redid it into another composition but in fact the original plot disappeared for over a century. And only in the late 1960s, when two manuscripts were found, the opera Stiffelio resurfaced. Of course, the censor was mostly indignant with the reading of the New Testament from the stage, and then the minister’s wife who is unfaithful and so on. And it is Verdi at his best – between Luisa Miller and Rigoletto. It is “a delight opera”, as Boris Pokrovsky said: the parts, ensembles and chorus are made well.”
Conductor Alexandru Samoilă
Stiffelio (Rodolfo Müller) Hector Sandoval
Lina Marina Nerabeyeva
Count Stankar Andjey Beletsky
Raffaele von Leuthold Stanislav Mostovoy
Jorg Sergey Artamonov
Federico di Frengel Vasily Gurylyov
Dorotea Olga Terentieva
April 3, 2020
Start at 19:00
Giacomo Puccini
LA BOHÈME
The appealing legend about the talented and noble inhabitants of the Latin Quarter of Paris inspired Henri Murger’s Scènes de la vie de bohème and made its author famous throughout Europe. Puccini’s opera is based on Murger’s novel whose characters have once and for all chosen art, creation and love…
Georgy Isaakya, stage conductor: "To my mind, La Bohème is a deeply internal story: reflections about the artist and art, about a crisis,when you have to write but you can’t;when you can’t feel the pulse of time when you go with the stream which pushes you out again and again. Clinging to your ties with people, you hope that they can “pull you out”, but you are more likely to sacrifice these people and these ties to your crisis and to your art. Puccini’s music “warms the story up” lifting you above the kitchen sink story."
Music Director Fabio Mastrangelo
Mimì Irina Lungu
Rodolfo Aleksey Tatarintsev
Marcello Vasily Ladyuk
Musetta Irina Bozhenko
Schaunard Artyom Garnov
Colline Evgeny Stavinsky
Benoît Anatoly Grigoriev
Alcindoro Mikhail Pervushin
Parpignol Anton Bochkaryov
April 4, 2020
Start at 19:00
Gaetano Donizetti
LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR
In Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) there is everything that should attract a true music lover: a love story full of passion, the romantic atmosphere of Northern Britain where the opera is takes place, and,obviously, beautiful belcanto music.
Hans-Joachim Frey, stage director: "Lucia di Lammermoor is one of the key pieces of the Italian opera art at its zenith, a belcanto masterpiece! The main component of the opera’s musical drama is the melody: the flexible legato of singing expresses wholly the depth of life and love. At the same time, Lucia di Lammermoor is a psychological drama full of intrigues. The love story of Lucia and Edgardo is akin to the story of Romeo and Juliet. They come from the feuding families and fight for their love, trying to resist the endless intrigues. In the finale of the opera they kill themselves, as they see no other way to defend their eternal love."
Conductor Alexandru Samoilă
Lord Enrico Ashton Pavel Yankovsky
Lucia Irina Kostina
Edgardo Di Ravenswood Aleksey Tatarintsev
Lord Arturo Bucklaw Alexander Skvarko
Raimondo Sergey Artamonov
Alisa Galina Badikovskaya
Normanno Anton Bochkaryov
April 5, 2020
Start at 19:00
Giuseppe Verdi
AIDA
Opera in concert
Aida (1871) is one of Verdi’s greatest pieces. An exotic plot, based on an ancient Egyptian legend, beautiful melodies, inimitable Oriental flavour — all this makes this opera special among Verdi’s other operas. There is a lot of decorative splendor, brightness and colours in Aida. Extensive ensembles and massive crowd scenes, solemn marches and ballet numbers make this piece one of the “grand opera” genre.
Conductor Evgeny Samoilov
Aida Veronika Dzhioeva
Amonasro Boris Statsenko
The King Of Egypt Andrey Fetisov
Amneris Anastasia Lepeshinskaya
Radamès Mikhail Gubsky
Ramfis Aleksey Antonov
The High Priestess Liana Sass
A Messenger Vladimir Koval