16.03.2018
The Realm of the Glorious Saltan
On 1 April, the dress circle foyer will provide the venue for a performance of children’s musical drama The Tale of Tsar Saltan, set to music by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.
Opera is a complex art, and an acquaintance that should be made gradually — especially when it comes to our youngest audiences. Based on Alexander Pushkin’s tale of the same name, which is a favourite of every Russian child, opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan will be performed at our theatre in an abridged version on the last day of the spring holidays. Fragments of Rimsky-Korsakov’s compositions will be interlinked with recitations of Pushkin’s lines; it will be as if characters from this leisurely narrative had suddenly sprung to life and emerged from the fairytale’s pages, drawing viewers into a magical world filled with music, and with people who sing rather than speak.
„The production is a real challenge from a director’s point of view“, says director Olga Kokh. „What you can show on the stage using extras, lighting effects, and gadgetry is all far harder to achieve in the foyer. And it’s also a fairytale that involves magic. That’s why we’re trying to create a setting for this magical land with the help of props, costumes, makeup, and lights.“
Meeting in the fairytale realm will be some of the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s main soloists: Svetlana Moskalenko will be transformed into the exquisite Tsarevna Swan-Bird, Tatiana Ryaguzova into Tsaritsa Militrisa, Yury Monchak into Tsar Saltan, Ekaterina Egorova and Svetlana Monchak into the wicked sisters, and Boris Stepanov into Tsarevich Gvidon.
„We experimented with creating scenes from children’s operas in the foyer last season“, says Concert Master Maria Kopyseva. „We performed three fragments: the prologue from The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Yuri Levitin’s opera Moidodyr, set to the poetry of Korney Chukovsky, and The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda by Dmitri Shostakovich. The children’s opera evening was a great success, which is why we have decided to extend the initiative to a 50-minute performance.“
Opera is a complex art, and an acquaintance that should be made gradually — especially when it comes to our youngest audiences. Based on Alexander Pushkin’s tale of the same name, which is a favourite of every Russian child, opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan will be performed at our theatre in an abridged version on the last day of the spring holidays. Fragments of Rimsky-Korsakov’s compositions will be interlinked with recitations of Pushkin’s lines; it will be as if characters from this leisurely narrative had suddenly sprung to life and emerged from the fairytale’s pages, drawing viewers into a magical world filled with music, and with people who sing rather than speak.
„The production is a real challenge from a director’s point of view“, says director Olga Kokh. „What you can show on the stage using extras, lighting effects, and gadgetry is all far harder to achieve in the foyer. And it’s also a fairytale that involves magic. That’s why we’re trying to create a setting for this magical land with the help of props, costumes, makeup, and lights.“
Meeting in the fairytale realm will be some of the Mikhailovsky Theatre’s main soloists: Svetlana Moskalenko will be transformed into the exquisite Tsarevna Swan-Bird, Tatiana Ryaguzova into Tsaritsa Militrisa, Yury Monchak into Tsar Saltan, Ekaterina Egorova and Svetlana Monchak into the wicked sisters, and Boris Stepanov into Tsarevich Gvidon.
„We experimented with creating scenes from children’s operas in the foyer last season“, says Concert Master Maria Kopyseva. „We performed three fragments: the prologue from The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Yuri Levitin’s opera Moidodyr, set to the poetry of Korney Chukovsky, and The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda by Dmitri Shostakovich. The children’s opera evening was a great success, which is why we have decided to extend the initiative to a 50-minute performance.“
