Opera of the Week – Tchaikovsky at the Royal Swedish Opera

Slipped Disc’s latest Opera of the Week from OperaVision is Iolanta by Tchaikovsky live from Stockholm, a joint production of Moscow’s Helikon-Opera and Royal Swedish Opera.

Live from Friday at 19.30 CET 18.30 London and  13.30 NY

Plot: Princess Iolanta’s blindness is a well-guarded state secret that risks sparking another war. When Count Vaudémont falls in love with her and offers to cure her blindness, Iolanta is faced with a choice: to continue as before or live her life in a way she has never experienced.

Director Sergey Novikov moves the story of the king’s blind daughter to our own time when an overpowering wealth of information prevents us from seeing the true beauty of the world. Tchaikovsky’s last opera – at the peak of his career – was much acclaimed at the premiere in St. Petersburg in 1892. A year later, it premiered at Royal Swedish Opera, but the one-act opera has not been performed in Stockholm since then.

Olga Shcheglova stars in title role and Igor Morozov performs as Count Vaudémont.

See this video of a  conversation between director  Sergey Novikov and conductor John Fiore discussing their production of Iolanta.