We left at the interval...

La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday December 17 2023 Conductor: Timur Zangiev. Production & Sets: Dmitri Tcherniakov. Costumes: Elena Zaytseva. Video Art Direction & Lighting: Gleb Filshtinsky. Czar Saltan: Ante Jerkunica. Czaritza Militrisa: Svetlana Aksenova. Tkachikha: Stine Marie Fischer. Povarikha: Bernarda Bobro. Babarikha: Carole Wilson. Czarevitch Gvidon: Bogdan Volkov. Czarevna Swan-Bird/Lyebyd: Olga Kulchynska. Skomorokh/Shipman: Alexander Vassiliev. Messenger/Shipman: Nicky Spence. Old man/Shipman: Alexander Kravets. La Monnaie Orchestra, Chorus and Children's Choir. Photos: Forster/La Monnaie This run of Czar Saltan is a reprise of Dmitri Tcherniakov's 2019 production in the same house. It was actually included that year in my old-fogey-special Sunday matinee subscription, but I missed it because I was away for work. So I'd only seen it on video so far, and was very glad to have a chance to see it live, both because I think Rimsky is scandalously underperf...

State Academic Bolshoi Theatre named after Alisher Navoi, Tashkent, Friday May 24 2019 Conductor: Bobomurod Khudaykulov. Choreography: Michel Fokine, recreated by Andris Liepa and Igor Pivorovich. Sets and Costumes: Léon Bakst, Aleksandr Golovin, Natalia Goncharova, recreated by Anatoly Nezhny, Elena Netsvetaeva. Orchestra, Soloists and Ballet of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre named after Alisher Navoi Part of the legacy of Russian and later Soviet domination of Uzbekistan until the declaration of independence in 1991 is the possibility, on almost any evening, to see an opera or ballet at the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre in Tashkent. In May this year, for example, you could see Aleko, La Bohème, Aida, The Czar's Bride or Iolanta , or, if a ballet fan, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote or the aptly-named Nutcracker , as well as concerts and other performances by local and visiting artistes. Tashkent, 6,000 km from western Europe but only 600 from C...

ONP bastille, Monday April 25 and Wednesday May 3 2017 Conductor: Mikhail Tatarnikov. Production and Sets: Dmitri Cherniakov. Costumes: Elena Zaitseva. Lighting: Gleb Filshtinsky. Snegurochka (the Snow Maiden): Aida Garifullina. Lel: Yuriy Mynenko. Kupava: Martina Serafin. Tsar Berendey: Maxim Paster. Mizgir: Thomas Johannes Mayer. Spring Beauty: Elena Manistina. Grandfather Frost: Vladimir Ognovenko. Bermyata: Franz Hawlata. Bobyl Bakula: Vasily Gorshkov. Bobylikha: Carole Wilson. Wood-Sprite: Vasily Efimov. First Herald: Vincent Morell. Second Herald: Pierpaolo Palloni. Tsar's page: Olga Oussova. Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra National de Paris. Maîtrise des Hauts-de-Seine. Photos: Elisa Haberer/ONP I’d been delighted to see some Rimsky-Korsakov on this year’s schedules at last, but maddeningly missed the Golden Cockerel in Brussels, in Laurent Pelly’s production, because a sudden cold snap froze the trains. Fortunately there was still The Snow Maiden to come, and my ...

Châtelet, Paris, Friday June 27 2003 Conductor: Hans Graf. Production: Temur Tchkeidze. Liubasha: Elena Manistina. Sobakine: Denis Sedov. Marfa: Olga Triofonova. Griaznoï: Ludovic Tézier. Skuratov: Albert Schagidullin. Lykov: Mikhaïl Dawidoff. Orchestre National Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Chorus of the Opéra National de Bordeaux. Ill-timed strikes hit wrong opera I’d planned at this time to write a post about  Don Giovanni , tacking on brief coverage of Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Czar’s Bride at the end. In the event, strikes have hit the end of the season in Paris and summer festivals throughout France. So, instead of Don Giovanni at the Bastille I had an unexpectedly early dinner, without the Commandatore, at the brasserie next door, and all I have left to recount is the very forgettable production of the Czar’s Bride . This was presented as part of a “Festival of the Regions” and was the city of Bordeaux’ contribution, rounding off a Russian season at the Châtelet (a kind of Paris equival...