Modest Moussorgski (1839-1881)
Boris Godunov, opéra en 4 actes et 1 prologue

Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovski (1840-1893)
Eugène Onéguine op. 24, opéra en 3 actes et 7 tableaux
La Dame de pique op. 68, opéra en 3 actes et 7 scènes

Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov (1844-1908)
La légende de la ville invisible de Kitège et de la demoiselle Fevronia, opéra en 4 actes

Dimitri Chostakovich (1906-1975)
Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk, opéra en 4 actes

Orlin Anastassov
Ian Storey
Vladimir Vaneev
Peter Bronder
Chœur et orchestre du Teatro Regio
Gianandrea Noseda, direction
Andrei Konchalovsky, mise en scène
(Boris Godounov)

Bo Skovhus
Krassimira Stoyanova
Andrej Dunaev
Mikhail Petrenko
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, direction
Stefan Herheim, mise en scène
(Eugène Onéguine)

Misha Didyk
Emily Magee
Lado Ataneli
Ludovic Tézier
Ewa Podles
Chorus Intermezzo Escolania de Montserrat
Chœur et orchestre du Gran Teatre del Liceu
Michael Boder, direction
Gilbert Delfo, mise en scène
(La Dame de pique)

Svetlana Ignatovich
John Daszak
Vladimir Vaneev
Maxim Aksenov
Ante Jerkunica
Vladimir Ognovenko
Alexey Markov
Mayram Sokolova
Chœur de l'Opéra des Pays-Bas
Orchestre Philharmonique des Pays-Bas
Marc Albrecht, direction
Dimitri Tcherniakov, mise en scène
(La légende de la ville invisible de Kitège)

Eva-Maria Westbroek
Christopher Ventris
Carole Wilson
Vladimir Vaneev
Lani Poulson
Ludovít Ludha
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, direction
Martin Kušej, mise en scène
(Lady Macbeth de Mtsensk)

With Boris Godunov Mussorgsky sets the stage, managing to embody Mother Russia in his monumental tale of Nation and Tsar at an eventful turn in history. Two more texts by Pushkin see achingly lyrical realisations by Tchaikovsky, who first tells of the callous, young Eugene Onegin and his tragic story of illusion, disaffection and frustrated love, and then, in Pique Dame, of the soldier Hermann, who is obsessed with the aristocratic Lisa and with coaxing a winning secret from her gambling grandmother, the Queen of Spades. In Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh, his finest work for the stage, the master orchestrator spins a supernatural tale with the mystical flavour and steady unfolding of a legend of redemption, while Shostakovich runs the gamut of love, lust, power and oppression in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, a drama exploring the shadowy boundaries between victim and perpetrator. Orlin Anastassov, Bo Skovhus, Ewa Podles and Eva-Maria Westbroek shine in the title roles, as does Svetlana Ignatovich as the forest maiden Fevronia, in vivid, opulent productions from De Nederlanse Opera and Barcelona’s Liceu.