St.Petersburg Times, Russia
Dec 28 2007

Best classical music

>From a new take on a neglected Janacek work to a premiere of a
classic opera written in 1710, classical music thrived this year.

By Galina Stolyarova
Staff Writer
For The St. Petersburg Times

Johann Mattheson’s 1710 `Boris Goudenow’ premiered in Russia in
October.

French director Alain Maratrat’s adrenaline-driven production of
Sergei Prokofiev’s opera of Carlo Gozzi’s `The Love For Three
Oranges’ that saw its premiere on March 14 at the Mariinsky Theater
became 2007’s first remarkable event.

The show was the Mariinsky’s third take on the opera after
productions in 1926 and 1991. The opera originally saw the stage in
Chicago in 1921, and immediately became a favorite on the
international opera scene. It enjoyed its first staging at the
Mariinsky five years later. Prokofiev welcomed the Russian premiere –
staged by director Sergei Radlov – by saying that the show was by far
the most successful production of the opera he had ever seen.

Alain Maratrat, who thrives on lively extravaganzas, was a
predictably good choice to direct the new production. He boldly
responded to the challenges set by both Gozzi and Prokofiev. The
performance spills generously off the stage, and the show’s
unruliness flows into the far corners of the auditorium. In the best
traditions of courtyard theater, spectators in the higher balconies
leaned over the banisters and stood up from their seats to catch a
fuller view of the constantly fleeting show, as if admiring vagrant
performers in a street show through the windows and doorways of their
courtyard. Every row and every circle was filled with cheer.

Leos Janacek’s dark expressionist drama arrived in St. Petersburg on
April 4 with the premiere of `Jenufa,’ the composer’s best-known
opera, at the Mariinsky Theater.

The work of Janacek has been notably absent from the Mariinsky
repertoire for many decades.

The 23-year-old Moscow director, Vasily Barkhatov, has created a
spectacular show where a visually unchanging landscape is contrasted
with razor-sharp, noir-tinged dramatic acting.

Based on `Jeji Pastorkyna’ (Her Stepdaughter), a story by Gabriela
Preissova, a contemporary of Janacek, `Jenufa’ is a domestic drama
about a Moravian family. The Mariinsky’s staging is set in what
resembles a settlement or an unfinished construction site.

The unrelenting chain of miseries suffered by these doomed people is
certain to resonate greatly with a Russian audience.

`Three quarters of Russia lives like this anyway – and it certainly
did a hundred years ago,’ joked the show’s set designer Zinovy
Margolin in an interview before the premiere.

True to its intentions, the production team placed the story in a
forgotten, humble village, totally lacking character and devoid of a
sole distinctive feature. The Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra under the
baton of Valery Gergiev was flawless. The musicians produced an
outstanding sound and balance both during subtle ensembles and
ecstatic climaxes, treating Janacek’s expressionist score with rare
lucidity, raising the composer’s drama to the height of tragedy.

Reuters

The Mariinsky Theater performs at Beijing’s new National Grand
Theater this week.

The distinguished American baritone Thomas Hampson made his Russian
debut on May 29 at the Mariinsky Theater’s new state-of-the-art
concert hall with a program of Liszt, Mahler and American songs.

Meanwhile, the renowned Italian tenor Roberto Alagna was in town for
only one concert on Nov. 1 at the Mikhailovsky (Mussorgsky) Theater.
His visit was organized by the internationally established Musical
Olympus Foundation that has already brought to Russia the likes of
cellist Yo Yo Ma.

`Boris Goudenow,’ the first-ever opera written by a European composer
on a Russian theme, enjoyed a timely arrival on the Russian opera
scene this fall when it premiered on Oct. 26 at the Mikhailovsky
(Mussorgsky) Opera and Ballet Theater.

Johann Mattheson’s opera was produced by the Early Music Festival and
directed by Berlin choreographer Klaus Abromeit.

`The opera was written in 1710 in response to Peter the Great’s
victory over Sweden at Poltava, and was clearly an attempt to answer
the question `what is this new strong emerging Russia?” Marc de
Mauny, the producer of the new production, said. `It made an attempt
to decipher the enigma that Peter the Great presented.’

Mattheson’s take on the story of the doomed Russian tsar was never
performed during the composer’s lifetime (1681-1764) for reasons that
remain obscure. Mattheson was the director of the Hamburg Opera House
when he composed `Boris Goudenow.’ He also served as a secretary to
the British ambassador, and gained political experience.

`No-one knows why the opera was not staged then; it could be that the
message which he was conveying and the way he was portraying Russia
was no longer politically correct or simply no longer relevant,’ de
Mauny said.

Until very recently the score was thought to have been lost to
posterity. But, after having not been performed for nearly 200 years,
the story behind its rediscovery is itself suitably dramatic.

`The document was at first gathering dust in a library in Hamburg,
then it was taken to Dresden during World War II, and then it was
brought to post-war Leningrad by the Soviet army in a haul of war
trophies,’ De Mauny said. `After the distribution of trophies across
the U.S.S.R., the manuscript ended up in Yerevan, Armenia, and only
found its way back to Hamburg in 1999 when there was a commission set
up for the restitution of the library.’

The production joined the company’s repertoire for at least a season
and Vladimir Kekhman, the new general director of the Mikhailovsky,
has acquired the rights to ensure that it will be staged for St.
Petersburg audiences on a regular basis.

In the last week of December the Mariinsky Theater became the first
foreign company to perform on the freshly inaugurated stage of the
new home for the National Grand Theater of China. From last Tuesday
and until Jan. 6, the Russian company is showing some of its hits
productions, including `Swan Lake’ and `Prince Igor.’
In the last week of December the Mariinsky Theater became the first
foreign company to perform on the freshly inaugurated stage of the
new home for the National Grand Theater of China. From last Tuesday
and until Jan. 6, the Russian company is showing some of its hits
productions, including `Swan Lake’ and `Prince Igor.’