The Mariinsky Theatre

The last two days have been consumed with two things, my new Russian class and the Mariinsky Theatre. Victoria suggested that I attend the Russian class for foreigners at the Conservatory. Just getting there is a bit of a challenge. It is located in side rooms of the Conservatory Auditorium. The Auditorium is laid out like many English and European theatres; that is, to keep the hoi polloi from mingling with the elite, there are separate stairways on the ground floor to the different levels. Since the cross over is on the second floor, we have to go down the stairs to the first floor, then find another stairway up to the third.

At any rate, arriving in the class I spoke briefly with the teacher who asked me a few questions in Russian: why was I here, where am I from, do I have parents in the States. When I responded in Russian that my mother lives in Memphis, she decided that I was way ahead of the beginning class, so she shunted me over to the advanced class. This class was over my head, but I now find that with painstaking preparation (ca. 4 hours) I can look up every word in the chapter and have some idea what is going on. The class meets three days a week between two and three hours apiece.

My fellow students are all young, beautiful ballerinas and sopranos, as well as one pianist, mainly from Korea and the US.  It is nice to know a couple of people who speak English, but there is no opportunity in class of course.

After class on Thursday I bravely hopped over to the Mariinsky Theatre to buy tickets for performances of Tchaikovsky’s most famous operas, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades. When I asked the ticket clerk if she spoke English, she said in Russian “very little.” Thereupon, I spoke a mixture of English and Russian and she spoke Russian. The critical issue is the cost of the tickets. Russian citizens and those working in Russia get a much lower rate, less than half of the ticket price for tourists. I was able to convince her that I was working at the Conservatory, even though they hadn’t yet issued me an ID card. My tickets in the upper boxes cost about $25 apiece.

The Mariinsky Theatre is ornately beautiful, reminding me of a bigger Cuvillés-Theater in Munich. At intermission you can snack on smoked salmon or caviar while waiting for the next act to begin.

Eugene Onegin was just heavenly. The production was traditional and the singers acted and sang well and looked their parts. Onegin was handsome and slender and definitely had the effete “I am just a bit too good for you” attitude that the character requires. The sets were stunning, particularly the second party scene in which 32 dancers—16 men!—filled the stage with period movement. The singers were young and filled their roles well. It was an ensemble cast; both the Onegin and the Tatyana have some international experience, but everyone did a fine job. Much to my amazement and delight, since the opera was in Russian, they had English supertitles. I found that, reading the English, I was able to make out various familiar phrases of Russian.

The Queen of Spades was also traditional, but with a higher powered cast featuring international tenor sensation Vladimir Galouzine whom I have heard at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Met. He is still singing brilliantly and his acting has improved; he really through himself into the part of the tortured Hermann. Another standout was the comic baritone who played the part of Tomsky, a part I could sing if only I could carry off a Russian army uniform convincingly.

There was a special thrill to seeing The Queen of Spades in that theater, where it premiered 120 years ago this year. The action also takes place in St. Petersburg in some cases in recognizable locales.

Mariinsky Theatre Official Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariinsky_Theatre

Young Baritone Moroz he sang Onegin

Moroz sings Count's aria on Youtube

Galouzine sings final scene of Queen of Spades