The 8th Saint Petersburg International Festival “All Together Opera”
The opening of the festival will be marked with opera “The Maid of Orleans” by Piotr Tchaikovsky on July, 12th at 7 p.m.
Peter and Paul Fortress, Sobornaja (Cathedral) square
Free admission.
The 8th St Petersburg International Festival “All Together Opera” will take place July 12-21 2019 in the most beautiful places in St Petersburg.
Start will be given on July 12 on the Day of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in the very heart of St. Petersburg, on the Cathedral Square of the Peter and Paul Fortress. On that day Tchaikovsky’s opera «The Maid of Orleans» will be performed.
This opera is the result of creative work of four geniuses: French playwright and philosopher Voltaire, German romantic poet Friedrich Schiller, his Russian translator Vasily Zhukovsky, and Russian composer Piotr Tchaikovsky.
By virtue of this fact, «The Maid of Orleans» is an excellent confirmation of the idea that a creative spirit knows no national boundaries.
Despite the fact that «The Maid of Orleans» has eventually fell into the shadow of the more famous operas by Tchaikovsky, it is a composition with great dramatic power where drama is based on the eternal conflict between feeling and duty.
The composer filled this opera with inspiration, which is felt especially keenly in major choral scenes, emotional arias and ensembles.
The performance of «The Maid of Orleans» at the «All Together Opera» festival is an important event in its history, since it significantly expands the boundaries and deepens the audience’s understanding of the oeuvre of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and of the Russian classical opera as a whole.
Religious and patriotic motifs are strong in «The Maid of Orleans» which makes this opera consonant with the main mood of the Cathedral Square in the Peter and Paul Fortress with a soaring angel on the spire of the Peter and Paul Cathedral.
Art Director of the festival Victor Vysotsky will stage the opera. Production Designer – Julia Goltsova, Music Director – Fabio Mastrangelo. The St. Petersburg Northern Sinfonia Orchestra of the Music Hall Theatre. Choir of the St. Petersburg State Music Hall Theatre led by the Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Valentina Kopylova-Panchenko.
