WNO's acclaimed new production of Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina is part of our major Russian Series. Read on for details ofthe operas and productions plus recommended recordings and further reading.

WNO's Russian Series brings together operas by the greatest Russian composers. Since the inaugural production in 2004 of this major programme, WNO's Russian Series has attracted both critical and audience acclaim alongside a major TMA award for achievement in opera for Mazepa].

THE VISION

Performances of the major pieces in the Russian repertoire have been few and far between outside London over the last thirty years, and as a company that aims to expand the operatic appetites of our audiences, this was something we wanted to address. Through the Russian Series, audiences across the UK are offered the opportunity to experience the masterpieces of Russian opera and large attendances and box office success are testament to the hunger for this glorious repertoire.

THE PERFORMANCES

Eugene Onegin - Tchaikovsky

"Tchaikovsky's masterpiece fizzed, seared and tugged at the heartstrings in all the right places." THE TIMES

The Russian Series began in February 2004 at the New Theatre in Cardiff, with Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, his epic operatic adaptation of the much-loved Pushkin poem.   The new production was directed by James Macdonald, whose work has included acclaimed productions at the Royal Court Theatre where he is Associate Director, and WNO's 2002 production of Rigoletto.   The cast included Amanda Roocroft as Tatyana, Vladamir Moroz as Onegin, Marius Brenciu as Lensky and Ekaterina Semenchuk as Olga. Eugene Onegin was conducted by Tugan Sokhiev.

Due to overwhelming popular demand, this major production will return in Spring 2008 with a cast including Nuccia Focile and Paul Charles Clarke. Following huge acclaim for his interpretation of Mazepa in 2006, Alexander Polianichko returns to WNO to conduct Eugene Onegin. See calendar for performance details.

Iolanta - Tchaikovsky (Concert performance)

"No Tchaikovsky fan should miss it" The Daily Telegraph

In Summer 2005 WNO presented three concert performances of Tchaikovsky's fairy-tale opera Iolanta, rarely performed outside of Russia.  Both critics and audiences were delighted to experience this unjustly neglected but overwhelmingly beautiful one act opera. The cast included Nuccia Focile as Iolanta, Peter Hoare as Vaudemont, Vladimir Moroz and Pavel Baransky. Iolanta was presented in its original pairing with highlights from The Nutcracker.  The orchestra and members of the WNO Chorus were conducted by Vassily Sinaisky. WNO's performances of Iolanta concluded with a rapturously received performance at the BBC Proms 2005.

Mazepa - Tchaikovsky TMA AWARD WINNER FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN OPERA 2006

"Welsh National Opera hits the bullseye with a viscerally thrilling new production of Tchaikovsky's Mazepa...A gripping yarn with some glorious Slavic melodies, this Mazepa comes highly recommended" The Daily Telegraph

"Get a ticket if you can" The Times

"...a powerful if harrowing production." The Guardian

Compared with Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, Mazepa has often been regarded as a lesser opera, a view that was corrected by WNO's award-winning production of this searing masterpiece. Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser updated the original setting of Tchaikovsky's adaptation of Pushkin's Poltava to the tumult of Eastern Europe in the early 1990s bringing this opera to life for British opera audiences.

Alexander Polianichko conducted an acclaimed interpretation by the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera, with the best of Russian and British singing talent joining forces in an all-star cast including Robert Hayward, Gidon Saks, Tatiana Monogarova and Mariyana Tarasova.

Khovanshchina - Mussogsky

"a major achievement...profoundly moving" The Guardian

"an electrifying experience" The Daily Telegraph

David Pountney's first production of Mussorgsky's powerful, political masterpiece was performed to major critical and audience acclaim.

MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO READ, SEE AND HEAR WNO'S RUSSIAN SERIES

WNO Dramaturg, Simon Rees has created ideas and inspiration for further reading and listening focused on each work performed as part of the Russian Series.  All the recommended books and recordings are available to buy from the Amazon website, click on the appropriate link to make a purchase.

KHOVANSHCHINA

BOOKS
Click here to request a copy of WNO's Khovanshchina programme, which includes an in-depth synopsis, interviews with David Pountney and Lothar Koenigs plus an article on the historical context of the opera by Roger Clarke.

CD
Orchestra of Vienna State Opera: Conducted by Claudio Abado DG This is a great choice for this opera on CD

DVD
The above recording is also available on DVD

EUGENE ONEGIN

BOOKS
Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, translated by Charles Johnston, Penguin Books.  Eugene Onegin (Penguin Classics) This translation works the miraculous feat of imitating Pushkin's intricate rhyming and metrical scheme. It inspired Vikram Seth to write his verse novels using the Pushkin meter.

Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin, a novel in verse. Translated by Vladimir Nabokov. Vol 1, Introduction and translation. Princeton University Press, Bollingen series LXXII. Eugene Onegin (Princeton University Press) Nabokov (a great translator) mistrusted verse translation, and so he produced his Onegin translation as literally as possible, without imitating either the rhyme scheme or the meter.

Euegene Onegin is available alongside Pushkin's Poltava (which inspired Mazepa) in Roger Clarke's collection Eugene Onegin and four tales from Russia's southern frontier.Eugene Onegin and four tales from Russia's southern frontier (Wordsworth Classics)

RECORDINGS

CD
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden/ Sir Georg Solti / Bernd Weikl - Eugene Onegin/ Teresa Kubiak - Tatyana/ Stuart Burrows - Lensky   DECCA (2 discs) Catalogue Number: 4174132
Eugene Onegin (DECCA)
This CD is a favourite of mine, and is also the soundtrack of the DVD (see below for further details).
 
DVD
There are several versions available on DVD including the performance selected above. DECCA Catalogue Number: 0711249
Eugene Onegin DVD (DECCA)
Graham Vick's production for Glyndebourne Festival is also highly recommended.

PUSHKIN AND TCHAIKOVSKY (GENERAL READING FOR EUGENE ONEGIN AND MAZEPA)

TJ Binyon, Pushkin. A biography. Harper-Collins.

TJ Binyon's prizewinning biography is the standard work in English on Pushkin.

Alexander Poznansky. Tchaikovsky, the quest for the inner man.  Biography, published by Lime Tree. Tchaikovsky, the quest for the inner man

Alexander Poznansky. The Tchaikovsky Handbook. Indiana University Press. The Tchaikovsky Handbook  Massive bibliographical and documentary study in two volumes.
 
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Tchaikovsky: letters to his family. Translated by Galina von Meck. Cooper Square Press. Tchaikovsky: letters to his family
 
Orlando Figes, Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History Of Russia. Penguin. Natasha's Dance
Serena Vitale, Pushkin's Button: the story of the fatal duel, which killed Russia's greatest poet. Fourth Estate Pushkin's Button
 

IOLANTA

BOOKS
For suggested reading on Tchaikovsky's Iolanta see the reading list selected for Eugene Onegin

RECORDINGS
CD
Kirov Opera and Chorus/ Valery Gergiev/ Galina Gorchakova/ Gegam Gregoriam Philips 2 Discs Catalogue Number: E4427962
A recording from Philips highly acclaimed Kirov/ Gergiev series, must be worth considering.
 
MAZEPA
 
BOOKS
Mazepa is another Tchaikovsky version of a Pushkin work, the poem Poltava, as with Iolanta the same biographical reading list as Onegin would be useful.

Pushkin's poem Poltava is available in Roger Clarke's collection Eugene Onegin and four tales from Russia's southern frontier.Eugene Onegin and four tales from Russia's southern frontier (Wordsworth Classics)

Pushkin was inspired to write Poltava by Byron's poem Mazeppa, so a collected Byron (there's an affordable Wordsworth edition) would be worth consulting.
Collected Byron (Wordsworth Classics)

RECORDINGS
CD
Kirov Opera Chorus and Orchestra/ Valery Gergiev/ Nikolai Putilin/ Irina Loskutova   Philips 3 discs    Catalogue Number: 4622062
Mazepa (Philips)
Another recommendable recording in the Kirov/ Gergiev series