Il trovatore nominated for Golden Mask

The nominations for the Golden Mask Awards for the 2014/15 season have been announced. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s staging of Il trovatore is among the productions recognized by the national theatre award’s board of experts. This dazzlingly original interpretation of Guiseppe Verdi’s masterpiece was the main event of our opera season. Performed in two premiere runs, the first during November and December 2014 and the second in July 2015, Il trovatore played to a full house for every performance and caused a major stir. As a result, the production, which was described by Izvestia as «delivering a breathtaking challenge to opera as a genre,» will compete for a Golden Mask in the Opera — Best Production category. In addition, Tatiana Ryaguzova and Scott Hendricks are both individually in the running for a Golden Mark for their roles in Il trovatore, as Leonora and the Count di Luna respectively. They have been shortlisted in the Opera — Best Actor and Opera — Best Actress nominations.

Renowned dancers Ivan Vasiliev and Natalia Osipova also have a chance to add to their individual prize collections. They have been nominated for Best Role prizes in the Ballet/Contemporary Dance category, for their participation in Sergey Danilian’s international Solo for Two. Volume 2 project. The premiere took place at the Mikhailovsky Theatre at the end of the season on 30 July. Critics praised Ivan Vasiliev’s role as Mozart in Vladimir Varnava’s staging of Mozart and Salieri, while Natalia Osipova is in the running for a Golden Mask after dancing the main part in Alastair Marriott’s choreography composition Facada.