The Moscow Stanislavski Ballet And Opera Theatre Company, via Opera Vision, have allowed a recording of their 2016 production of the Tchaikovsky gem, The Queen Of Spades (Piques Dame) to be shown on YouTube for a limited time.
Composed in just 44 days with a libretto by his brother, Modest, Tchaikovsky himself considered this work to be a masterpiece; and yet it is one of his most neglected and unperformed works, with opera companies preferring his Eugene Onegin over this. I am a huge Tchaikovsky fan, and have yet to see a live production of this opera. I have two separate CD recordings, and have now seen this videoed production too, but somehow nothing can compare to seeing the spectacle live.
Based on the novella by Alexander Pushkin of the same title - although the plot has been drastically reworked - the opera is set in Imperialist Russia - and this production has chosen to set it in the roaring '20s. It is a fantastical thriller of epic proportion which tells the destructive story of a young soldier partial to gambling, and his infatuation with a young, beautiful and unknown lady. He finds out that her grandmother is some kind of modern day sorceress and has the power to know how to win at cards, and so he obsesses over this and his thirst for this knowledge drives both his love away from him and himself into madness and ultimately death.
The stage for this production is a large revolve of tall grey columns; simple, pure, minimalist, and yet strong and decorative; mirroring both the aesthetics of the decade and the protagonists' feelings. It also gives it an air of something more ancient, more permanent perhaps, than the ephemeral longings and lives of the mere mortals who stand beneath.
The costuming and indeed the lighting for the entire length of this 2,5 hour opera was predominently blue with greys and a little white. Steel hues from the lighting emphasising the shadows and darker flows of the material and stage. It makes the whole appear like something out of a dream, something not quite real; but sadly for the length of the oepra, it was visually unsatisfying. It became very samey, there was not even a scene change for each of the three acts. Tchaikovsky's music is soaring, dramatic, colourful, melodic and highly Romantic - as is the case with all of his music - but even this couldn't bring any more colour onto the set and costume. The opera is a study in betrayal, ambiguity, secrecy, and even the supernatural; and so I understand the colour and set choices, but from an audience point of view, we needed some change.
The singing and performances from all were wonderful, exciting, and superbly measured. Even the young children deserve full credit for their short scenes. Najmiddin Mavlyanov took the lead role of Herman, and his nuanced and assured performance was at times electric. He was more than ably supported by Elena Guseva (Liza), Elena Zaremba (Countess), Alexey Shishlyaev (Tomsky) and Evgeny Kachurovsky (Yeletsky), alongside a superb ensemble and chorus all directed by Alexander Titel, and orchestra under the direction of Alexander Lazerev.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 8/10/20
No comments:
Post a Comment