“Pharaoh’s Daughter” premiered in 1862 and did not leave the stage for a record 66 years, even surviving the October Revolution. In every way, the golden performance of its time has become the favorite production of many generations of legendary artists.
In 2023, the audience at the Mariinsky will have the unique opportunity to see the ballet in the form in which Marius Petipa himself conceived it. The Italian dancer and choreographer Tony Candeloro, using archival records, carefully reconstructed the choreography, and the artist Robert Perdziola, author of sets and costumes for the productions of the American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Metropolitan Opera, created the appearance. scenic of St. Petersburg performance based on original old sketches. Five hundred costumes and a luxurious set that the public will see are direct heirs to the first versions of the 19th century ballet. The performance will impress with a variety of combinations, constructions and dances in the Dovagan style, an abundance of scenes with pantomime – the main means of ballet expressiveness of the 19th century – and brilliance in the best traditions of imperial ballet.
St. Petersburg connoisseurs of operatic rarities have not been forgotten: in March, they will be able to enjoy Amilcare Ponchielli’s Gioconda in concert and Alexander Serov’s Judith in a chamber version on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in March. And in April, the Mariinsky Theater will show the premiere of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s lyric opera Iolanta. The story of the power of true love will be presented on the historical stage on April 15 and 16.
This last opera by Tchaikovsky was created two years before the composer’s death. The libretto is based on the play King René’s Daughter by the Danish writer Henrik Hertz. The poetic story of Iolanthe, blind from birth, who is cured of an illness thanks to love, inspired Tchaikovsky, who was looking for a plot for a short lyric opera. At the composer’s request, his brother Modest wrote an opera libretto based on the plot of King René’s Daughter. The opera was created from July to December 1891, and the premiere took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater on December 6, 1892.
Director Anna Shishkina and artist Pyotr Okunev are working on the performance, the authors promise to “follow the composer”, and Tchaikovsky’s light and serene music will take the stage like a philosophical fairy tale with a happy ending.
On the eve of the premiere on March 24, the opera will be performed in the Concert Hall by a new generation of outstanding soloists: Ekaterina Savinkova, Kirill Belov, Anatoly Mikhailov and Miroslav Molchanov.
