Valery Gergiev pins Russia’s future on Rimsky-Korsakov
OperaThe almighty head of Moscow’s Bolshoi theatre and St Petersburg’s Mariinsky has pledged to restore operas by Nikolai Rimsk–Korsakov to the performing repertoire of Russia’s leading theatres.
‘The enormous legacy of Nikolai Andreevich is the subject of our great concerns,’ said Gergiev. ‘The Rimsky-Korsakov Opera Festival has just started at the Bolshoi Theatre. I think this is just the beginning. We will return most of his works to the stages of leading theatres.’
Boring. Give me Zauberflöte through a intersectional prism instead.
With the exception of Mlada, Pan Voyevoda (and Servilia) all the Rimsky-Korsakov operas are in the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg.
Yeah, I was going to say …
… Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas aren’t already in the repertory of Russia’s leading opera houses??
I saw Mlada once. With the exception of the parade of the nobles, an utter bore-fest.
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Good idea. I hope that it includes’The Golden Cockerel’ – a cautionary tale about the downfall of a loathsome despot, written in 1906, just after the Russian fleet had been trashed by the Japanese, and the abortive revolution that followed – a precursor of the events of 1917.
Just had it in Berlin – a magnificent score.
Perhaps the height of that was the ballet choreographed by Fokine with singers onstage with the dancers (or in the pit), and costumes and sets by Gontcharova.
I just hope they stage them in a manner respectful to the composer’s vision (no Eurotrash!) and make them all available on Blu Ray. It’s been a long time since Gergiev made those fabulous Philips recordings and I’ve never tired of listening to the glorious music.
I thought comments were moderated. So how have we got an advert for casino software here?
Perhaps N.L. got confused and forgot that it was Prokofiev, not Rimsky, who composed “The Gambler.”
The Bolshoy and Maryinsky already produce a lot of Russian operas – Rimsky, Glinka, Mussorgsky, etc.. Just as the Czechs present a lot of operas by Smetana and Dvorak that aren’t seen much outside the Czech Republic. By all means I’d like to see more of them travel. Even though Gergiev by and large won’t.
Golden Cockerel used be in the repertory of the Old Met aka the ‘Faustspielhaus’.
Rimsky should have just written a sequel to his Sheherazade and forget the opera stuff …
The arias in his operas are magnificent. The rest, deadly boring. They need very good stagings.
As much as I’d like to indulge in a Rimsky-Korsakov binge, it will have to wait for a more peaceful political climate before I would dare travel to Russia.
Isn’t Boris good enough?
Poor Rimsky-Korsakov never received the professional respect from his contemporary, Tchaikovsky. Many of his operas are based on Russian folklore, myths, and legends that require a certain resoluteness to get through an entire evening. Even when I allow the gorgeous sounds of Scheherazade to wash over me, the monotonous development invariably induces sleep. I find the shortcut version of his operas, the opera suites, more enjoyable.
Gergiev’s comment could mean almost anything – which is perhaps the intention. it sounds good for a certain Russian audience and he can do as much or as little as he likes and it can be seen as fulfilling this non-specific quote… Classic politics!
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I would rather attend a performance of any Russian opera to anything composed by an American.