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The Enchantress Tickets

Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Duration: 3h 40min with 1 interval
Acts: 4
Intervals: 1
Sung in: Russian
Titles in: English,Russian

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast
Performers
Choose the date to see the peformers
Overview

Two interwoven love triangles, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, flight, a sorcerer, poison, two murders, sheer craziness and ominous thunder as the curtain falls: The Enchantress has the full range of tried and tested tricks of 19th century Romantic opera. The Enchantress was written by a great composer then at the peak of his creative genius and by a popular playwright trying his hand at a libretto for the first time. This circumstance was to define the opera's outer appearance, its music brilliant from the overture to the very finale, though in terms of its own qualities the dramaturgy does not always match the music. 

The characters, their emotions and their relationships are written subtly, in depth and with animation; the situations in which the characters find themselves often seem to audiences – particularly those of the present day – to be overly melodramatic. This trait of The Enchantress was to make itself felt on its none-too-happy on-stage destiny. Regardless of the fact that in musical terms it cedes nothing to either Eugene Onegin, composed almost one decade before, or The Queen of Spades, written three years later, it is not often to be heard on the operatic stage.

The Enchantress was Tchaikovsky's favourite brainchild, and he dedicated two years of hard work to it (1885–1887) while on the picturesque estate of Maidanovo where the composer had rented the mansion house. Tchaikovsky's correspondence and diaries document the various stages of the work which at times raised him to elated delight and at others left him a nervous wreck. The composer did not possess a completed libretto: Ippolit Spazhinsky sent it to him in instalments, and Tchaikovsky in his own letters to the former would set out his wishes. On 20 October 1887 the premiere took place at the Mariinsky Theatre; the first four performances were conducted by the composer. Among those performing the vocal roles were outstanding Mariinsky Theatre singers including Ivan Melnikov (the Prince), Maria Slavina (the Princess) and Fyodor Stravinsky (Mamyrov). The opera was not a success and was performed just twelve times. The failure was a deep blow to Tchaikovsky; in a letter to Nadezhda von Meck he wrote "I remain absolutely steadfast in my conviction that The Enchantress is my finest opera, and yet it is soon to be shelved in the archives."

The Enchantress' rightful place indeed is not in any archive but on the theatre stage today. Love and freedom – its two principal themes – are among those that may be categorised as "eternal". The Enchantress is almost a treatise on various forms of love. Kuma's love for the Young Prince is the transformative, reckless and all-encompassing love of an independent young woman. The Young Prince's love for Kuma is the first fervent love of a youth who through this love spurns his parents to the point of renunciation. The Prince's love for Kuma is almost brutish, tortuous, the suffocating passion of a cruel man, no-longer-young, who has become inured to violence. The marital love of the Prince and the Princess is crushed by both of them: by him through lasciviousness and by her through vengeful jealousy. The maternal love of the Princess for the Young Prince turns her soul inside out, and in the "frenzied aristocrat" (Tchaikovsky's words) at the last minute we succeed in catching a glimpse of a mother weeping for her lost child.

The theme of love is almost always connected with the theme of liberty. The love of Kuma and the Young Prince can only exist in conditions of absolute freedom – from class distinctions and from the arbitrariness of the parents. The reverse also holds true, lack of freedom resulting in hatred and violence, which the Prince commits in his enslavement to his "love" and which the Princess and Mamyrov commit in their enslavement to their "honour".

British opera director David Pountney staged The Enchantress in Lisbon in 2003, bringing the production to St Petersburg that same year. For him, the Tchaikovsky-Spazhinsky opera is a "'domestic' play constructed on a massive scale", the plot of which is not tied to a specific time in history and which can be enacted wherever and whenever. Domestic abuse existed in the 15th century, and it was still happening in Tchaikovsky's time, neither has it vanished today. Denuded of its ethnographic details, the story of the freedom-loving Volga enchantress is transformed into "a series of major melodramatic collisions between a husband, a wife, her indulged son, 'a family friend', a half-crazed aunt and an old man à la Rasputin" (David Pountney). It is not a noble tower house and a widow's little cottage that are being compared, but a respectable and respected house alongside a brothel; it transpires that one destroys the other, and in one sense the morals of the bordello even outshine those of everyday family life. The production has been designed using just three colours – red, black and white – the unambiguous symbolism of which underscores the director's idea. Despite the laconic nature of the sets – the same white walls, one tree instead of an entire forest as per the original libretto – the production is vivid and visually rich. "Those who listen and look will leave the theatre amazed, and yet reconciled and satisfied," Tchaikovsky wrote to Spazhinsky. Audiences today, in addition to the direct emotional impressions promised by the composer and the librettist, will also receive important messages from the production team and the brilliantly depicted allusions which are so interesting to read and decipher. 

Khristina Batyushina

History
Premiere of this production: 20 October 1887, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg

The Enchantress (or The Sorceress) is an opera in four acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on the libretto by Ippolit Shpazhinsky, using his drama with the same title. The opera was composed between September 1885 and May 1887 in Maidanovo, Russia, and was first performed in St Petersburg in 1887.

Synopsis

This is a story of two households – the seemingly respectable aristocratic household of the Prince, and the household run by Kuma, devoted to pleasure and freedom. The first household is highly emotionally dysfunctional, but the second is a serene environment controlled with grace and charm by its proprietress, Kuma.

Act I
The men are gathered at Kuma’s house where she bewitches them with a serene song about the wide flowing Volga. They are interrupted by the sudden announcement that the Prince is mounting a raid on the house, under the leadership of Mamyrov, his puritanical and straight-laced Minister. But the Prince is surprised to find that proprietress of this seemingly dissolute establishment is in fact a beautiful, dignified woman. The Prince is charmed, and Mamyrov’s puritanical admonitions are ignored, to the extent that the Prince humiliates him by ordering him to dance before the entire company.

Act II
The Princess is grief stricken by the fact that her husband The Prince has abandoned her. She demands that Mamyrov tell her the truth, and he reveals that the Prince is spending all his time at Kuma’s house. She swears to have revenge, and orders Mamyrov to find out all the details of the Prince’s infidelity.
Her adoring son Yuri is very disturbed by the fact that his mother is evidently so unhappy, but she refuses to tell him the reason.
Mamyrov bribes the corrupt Priest Paisi to spy on Kuma.
The Prince reflects on the fact that his obsession with Kuma is destroying his family. But left alone with the Princess to discuss his son’s marriage, their conversation breaks down into a terrible argument, with the Prince threatening physical violence.
An angry mob breaks into the palace, demanding redress from the extortionate taxes that Mamyrov is exacting. The young prince Yuri calms them down and persuades them to leave. Mamyrov takes this opportunity to reveal to Yuri that it is Kuma who is responsible for his mother’s misery, and Yuri resolves to kill his father’s mistress.

Act III
At Kuma’s house, the old Prince attempts to persuade Kuma to succumb to his desires with promises of luxurious gifts, but this only disgusts her and she repulses him. He threatens violence against her, but her independent spirit prevails and he leaves. She learns that Yuri is coming to murder her, but nonetheless decides to receive him, as she has long nurtured powerful feelings for him. When his murderous attempt fails, she is gradually able to win him round. Together they rejoice in their newly discovered passion.

Act IV
Paisi guides the Princess to a magician who can provide a deadly poison which she intends to inflict on Kuma. Kuma is intending to run away with Yuri, as his father has determined to kill her. The Princess, in disguise, offers her refreshment, and Kuma drinks the poison. She is briefly united with Yuri, but the poison starts to take affect, and the Princess reveals her identity. Yuri finds himself torn between his mother and his lover, Kuma. Kuma dies.
His father finds them, and demands to know what has happened to Kuma. When his son defies him, the old Prince kills him, and then himself descends into a delusional state of violent madness.

Time: The last quarter of the 15th century

Place: Nizhny Novgorod and its vicinity

The action takes place at the last quarter of the 15th century at a tavern and brothel near Nizhny Novgorod. Nastasya (Kuma), the charming owner of the inn, has made herself an enemy in rejecting the devious Mamïrov, the right-hand man of the local governor Nikita Danilovich Kurlyatev. He spreads the gossip that Nastasya is an enchantress, and every man whom she meets falls for her. Yuriy, Nikita's son, begins to frequent the inn, as does his father, who falls madly in love with Nastasya (without any success), who threatens her that he will reach his goal by whatever means. Mamïrov confronts Nikita's wife, Yevpraksiya, with the truth, while her son – not yet personally involved with Nastasya – swears to avenge his mother. While confronting Nastasya he learns that it is he whom she loves. They both plan to flee during the night not knowing that, by now, Mamïrov has worked out an elaborate plot to wreak his revenge on Nastasya as well as on Nikita and his family with devastating effect.

Venue Info

Mariinsky Theatre - Saint Petersburg
Location   1 Theatre Square

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as the theatre's general director.

The theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer. The theatre's name has changed throughout its history, reflecting the political climate of the time.

The theatre building is commonly called the Mariinsky Theatre. The companies that operate within it have for brand recognition purposes retained the Kirov name, acquired during the Soviet era to commemorate the assassinated Leningrad Communist Party leader Sergey Kirov (1886–1934).

The Imperial drama, opera and ballet troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783, at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden Karl Knipper Theatre on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day Tripartite Bridge (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The Hermitage Theatre, next door to the Winter Palace, was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.

A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783. Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building. Both names – "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big") – were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Catterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.

On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre. It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, Albert Cavos rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style auditorium, the theatre opened on 2 October 1860, with a performance of A Life for the Tsar. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its imperial patroness, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Under Yuri Temirkanov, Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas. Although functioning separately from the Theatre’s Ballet Company, since 1988 both companies have been under the artistic leadership of Valery Gergiev as Artistic Director of the entire Theatre.

The Opera Company has entered a new era of artistic excellence and creativity. Since 1993, Gergiev’s impact on opera there has been enormous. Firstly, he reorganized the company’s operations and established links with many of the world's great opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra Bastille, La Scala, La Fenice, the Israeli Opera, the Washington National Opera and the San Francisco Opera. Today, the Opera Company regularly tours to most of these cities.

Gergiev has also been innovative as far as Russian opera is concerned: in 1989, there was an all-Mussorgsky festival featuring the composer’s entire operatic output. Similarly, many of Prokofiev’s operas were presented from the late 1990s. Operas by non-Russian composers began to be performed in their original languages, which helped the Opera Company to incorporate world trends. The annual international "Stars of the White Nights Festival" in Saint Petersburg, started by Gergiev in 1993, has also put the Mariinsky on the world’s cultural map. That year, as a salute to the imperial origins of the Mariinsky, Verdi's La forza del destino, which received its premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1862, was produced with its original sets, costumes and scenery. Since then, it has become a characteristic of the "White Nights Festival" to present the premieres from the company’s upcoming season during this magical period, when the hours of darkness practically disappear as the summer solstice approaches.

Presently, the Company lists on its roster 22 sopranos (of whom Anna Netrebko may be the best known); 13 mezzo-sopranos (with Olga Borodina familiar to US and European audiences); 23 tenors; eight baritones; and 14 basses. With Gergiev in charge overall, there is a Head of Stage Administration, a Stage Director, Stage Managers and Assistants, along with 14 accompanists.

Important Info
Type: Opera
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Duration: 3h 40min with 1 interval
Acts: 4
Intervals: 1
Sung in: Russian
Titles in: English,Russian

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

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