
Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Alexander Tchaikovsky

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Carl Maria von Weber — Gustav Mahler

Antonín Dvořák

Dmitri Shostakovich

Mieczysław Weinberg

Giacomo Puccini

Richard Strauss

Benjamin Britten

Richard Strauss

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Modest Mussorgsky

Grigory Frid. Udo Zimmermann

Giuseppe Verdi

Antonio Salieri

Giuseppe Verdi

Dmitri Shostakovich

Giuseppe Verdi

Alexei Verstovsky
Umberto Giordano
Hector Berlioz

Georges Bizet

Gaetano Donizetti

Sergei Prokofiev. Maurice Ravel

Anton Rubinstein

Pyotr Tchaikovsky


Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Giacomo Puccini

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Benjamin Britten. Camille Saint-Saëns

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Gioacchino Rossini

Gioachino Rossini

Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Gaetano Donizetti

Sergei Banevich

Georges Bizet

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

George Frideric Handel

Sergei Prokofiev

Jacques Offenbach

Pyotr Tchaikovsky

Tatiana Kamysheva

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Georg Philipp Telemann

Dmitri Shostakovich
Giuseppe Verdi

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Dimitry Rostovsky

Richard Wagner

Tchaikovsky received the commission for Iolanta and The Nutcracker from the directorship of the Mariinsky Theatre. It is considered that the idea to combine a one-act opera and a two-act ballet in one evening belonged to the director of the Imperial Theatres, Ivan Vsevolozhsky. In July 1891, the composer started working on the opera. In September, the vocal score was completed, and the orchestration was finished in December.
In Autumn 1892, the rehearsals began in the Mariinsky Theatre. The opera was conducted by Eduard Nápravník while Riccardo Drigo conducted the ballet. On the 5th of December 1892 the general rehearsal took place in the presence of Alexander III. “The Sovereign was delighted, invited me to the box and spoke many sympathetic words. The production of both is stunning, and is even too magnificent in ballet, the eyes get tired of the splendour”, as the composer wrote. On the 6th of December 1892 the premiere was a great success. Despite the enthusiastic reception by the audience, the critics took a rather cool attitude to the new creations.
Premiered on October 28, 2015.
Presented without interval.
Sunday, 14:00
Saturday, 19:00
Saturday, 12:00
Sunday, 14:00
Saturday, 19:00
Saturday, 12:00
Sunday, 14:00
Saturday, 19:00
Saturday, 12:00
Friday, 19:00
Thursday, 19:00
Wednesday, 19:00
Wednesday, 19:00
Tuesday, 19:00
Sunday, 14:00
Saturday, 19:00
Saturday, 12:00
Thursday, 19:00
Iolanta, the blind daughter of the King of Provence, is telling her nurse, Martha, that she is full of some unknown longing. Iolanta's friends, Brigitte and Laura, try to cheer her up by singing songs and bringing her flowers. Martha also tries to comfort Iolanta by singing her favorite lullaby. This sends Iolanta to sleep.
Enter Alméric, King René's sword-bearer. He informs the castle porter, Bertrand, that very soon the King will be arriving with a famous Physician who, it is hoped, will cure Iolanta's blindness. The trumpets sound, announcing the arrival of the King. King René enters accompanied by the Moorish Physician, Ibn-Hakia. The King explains that Iolanta has been betrothed from infancy to Robert, Duke of Burgundy, and is soon to marry him, but the Duke does not know that his future wife is blind. Indeed, Iolanta herself is totally unaware of her misfortune. Iolanta has been brought up by her father in this remote castle. He surrounded her with loyal retainers and forbade them on pain of death to tell her the truth. Ibn-Hakia says that the only hope for Iolanta is to inform her of her disability and then, so long as she passionately wishes to recover her sight, she will do so. King René is full of doubts and fear for his daughter's future.