An Overview of Russian Opera in the Area

Russian opera was my first opera love. I was already interested in Russian history and music as a teenager, but I think Russian opera in particular promised the experience of something really exotic. A college semester spent in Moscow in 1981 offered the opportunity for frequent visits to the Bolshoi. Memories of that time might be the subject of another post. Here I want to give a quick overview of Russian opera performance in the Baltimore-Washington area in recent years.

Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" (or "Yevgenii Onegin"), his most popular opera, has fared well in this area. The National Symphony Orchestra's concert performance with Kirov Opera singers within the past week is what I regretted missing in a recent post. Virginia Opera also did this piece earlier this year. The first Russian opera performance which I attended around here was Baltimore Opera's excellent Onegin in March 1999 with Dwayne Croft in the title role. That production was distinguished also by the lighting and sets. November 2000 saw Temirkanov bringing Russian opera stars to the Meyerhoff for a concert performance of Tchaikovsky's "Iolanta" with the Baltimore Symphony. I remember that the cast included Sergei Leiferkus, who was here for the NSO's Onegin, and the late Sergei Larin. (There was also a very promising young bass, but I can't remember his name.)

A couple of years later -- the 2002-2003 season? -- Baltimore held the season-long "Vivat!" celebration of Russian arts, which included exhibits and concerts around the city. While the BSO blazed under Temirkanov's baton for Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade," Baltimore Opera ventured into the 20th century with Shostakovich's violent "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk." Somebody also performed Stravinsky's "Mavra." I didn't see it, but wasn't it performed in English? Was the company perhaps one that I'm more familiar with now?

In spring 2005, Mirella Freni was a splendid Joan of Arc in Tchaikovsky's "The Maid of Orleans." This was also a memorable production, and it was good to see this less familiar gem by Tchaikovsky. (I think the production design was used by the Met in the same or previous season.)

That completes the list of Russophone opera performed by area companies that I can remember. Gergiev and the Kirov Opera have helped to fill the gap during their annual visits in the winter. I made it to their Onegin and Mazeppa (another Tchaikovsky rarity), given in the same visit a few years ago. (More recently, the Kirov has been pairing a Russian work with a non-Russian one in its visits.) I had a ticket to the Kirov's Godunov a couple of years ago, but we had a snow emergency and I missed the performance. The performance still took place, but I wasn't going to take a chance trying to get to the Kennedy Center from the suburbs. I wonder, what did Russian opera singers make of opera lovers reluctant to journey through snow?

(Thanks for another visit from blogger and director John Bowen and the interest in my posts. Yes, I'm looking forward to the baroque works at Artscape and the Britten next season. I hope to post about these opera categories soon.)

Later: Yes, it was Opera Vivente which performed "Mavra" and more during the Vivat fesivities. Director John Bowen posted a comment with details and interesting developments. (They also performed a work called "Renard" by Stravinsky.) Thanks once again!

Comments

[John Bowen]

Hi Clayton. The company that performed Mavra (along with some Russian opera arias and ensembles) was Opera Vivente. We performed it at the beautiful Leon Bakst theatre at Evergreen House. We did Mavra in English, but the arias and ensembles were in Russian. We repeated that program at the White Nights Festival at Hillwood Gardens and Museum in DC. Hillwood then asked us back at which time we performed Stravinsky's even rarer Renard. Maybe someday OV will do a double bill of Mavra and Renard on our mainstage. Oddly, in spite of the fact that these pieces each barely last a half hour, they both use a rather large orchestra. We did them with piano but that wouldn't really fit in with our mainstage ethos.