Mariinsky Theatre tickets 11 May 2025 - The Story of a Real Man (concert performance) | GoComGo.com

The Story of a Real Man (concert performance)

Mariinsky Theatre, Concert Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia
All photos (1)
Select date and time
Sunday 11 May 2025
7 PM
Request for Tickets

Leave a request to get notified when tickets become available

We'll send you an email as soon as tickets are available with a link directly to the event. You will get up to 5% advance booking discount and will be the first to book the best selection of tickets.

Save5%
Important Info
Type: Opera in Concert
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Starts at: 19:00
Duration: 2h 35min

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
Chorus: Mariinsky Chorus
Creators
Composer: Sergei Prokofiev
Overview

Music by Sergei Prokofiev
Libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Mira Mendelson-Prokofieva Based on a novella of the same title by Boris Polevoy

Setting: World War II, 1942, Karelia

Act I
Scene 1 A dense forest. Parts of a crashed aeroplane lie scattered in the snow &dnash; enemy fighters have shot down Alexei Maresiev’s plane in a dogfight. The pilot curses the enemy, but at the same time is glad to be alive and in one piece: he will not be taken captive. Maresiev quickly leaps up then falls again from the sharp pain in his legs. But he cannot remain here, to the rear of the enemy, where every rustle of the trees could signal death. Alexei decides to make a break for the east to his own people.

Scene 2
On a trek lasting three painful days Alexei comes to the edge of the forest that shows traces of recent fighting. Alexei’s energy deserts him. The pilot takes out a photo of his beloved girlfriend Olga. He dreams that she speaks to him with words of love and support... In his mind he sees a vision of his hometown of Kamyshin and the Volga. These memories give rise to new energy. Crawling and dragging himself forward with his hands, Alexei moves towards the place where explosions are going off and where his comrades are.

Scene 3
A burnt tree covered in snow. Alexei can no longer crawl, his arms are too weak. He thinks he is being pursued. He takes out his pistol, but hears children’s voices &dnash; they are speaking in Russian; they are the village boys Fedya and Seryonka. Recognising Alexei as one of their own, Fedya rushes to call the people while Seryonka relates how Germans attacked the village and the boy’s father and brother were killed. All of the villagers had to flee for the woods.
Fedya returns with Old Granddad Mikhailov and other villagers. The Granddad tells Seryonka to get back to the others, and Alexei is carried on sleds to the forest community’s hideout.

Scene 4
Alexei lies in gloomy dug-out. Granny Vasilisa brings Alexei some chicken broth &dnash; she has killed the only chicken she had left. The sound of a plane can be heard which lands close by. It is Seryonka, having accomplished his task, who has flown in together with a nurse and a military pilot. In him, Alexei recognises his friend Andrei from the same company. The latter, on seeing Alexei, cannot disguise his joy. The Granddad discovers from Andrei that Olga, mad with love for the wounded pilot, is Alexei’s fiancée.

Scene 5
A military hospital. Alexei awakes after his operation. In his concussed state he sees images of his brothers, mother, Olga and Andrei. Maresiev is haunted by a gloomy thought &dnash; he has lost his legs, his comrades in the regiment will wait for him in vain, they will be oppressed by it. The nurse Klavdia tries to calm Alexei. Life in the ward continues at its own pace. The commissar speaks of the determination of the Red Army’s ranks during the civil war, and Kukushkin teases Grisha Gvozdev who is in love &dnash; Gvozdev dreams of meeting Anyuta. Only Alexei is silent, having sunk into his own dark thoughts.
The commissar shows Maresiev an old magazine that relates an article that was published during the First World War: a Russian pilot called Karlovich was severely injured and lost one foot, yet he returned to the ranks. Initially Alexei pays no heed to the story, but gradually the commissar’s words “but you’re a Soviet person” get through to the young pilot’s soul. “But after all I’m a Soviet person,” Alexei says to himself.

Act II
Scene 6
The hospital. The arrival of spring can be sensed. Alexei is in constant training following his operation. Overcoming the terrible pain through willpower he learns to walk using prosthetic limbs. The surgeon Vasily Vasilievich enters. Himself having lost his only son on the front lines he cheers Alexei up and supports him.
His comrade in the ward Gvozdev is visited by his girlfriend Anyuta. Gvozdev is thrilled at Alexei’s willpower.
Andrei comes to see Maresiev. Alexei tells him about his beloved girlfriend Olga, about his doubts and his feelings for her, about his intention to write to her “after the first air strike, after the first plane to be shot down.” Supported by Klavdia and Kukushkin, the commissar enters. The talk about things in general suddenly breaks off: the commissar’s weak heart could take no more... Everyone is amazed at the death of this great “true” man.
All leave the ward, switching off the light. Only Klavdia remains; she sits in a chair, almost invisible in the semi-dark...

Scene 7
Early autumn. The garden of a sanatorium near Moscow. Alexei is in despair, he is trying to write to Olga. All of his attempts to become a pilot once more have met with no support. He is offered work in the home guard. Olga should know how difficult things are for him. But Alexei resolves not to give in to this moment of weakness and will write only after he is fully well.

Scene 8
In a sanatorium on the shore of a lake lively events are unfolding &dnash; a group of patients is released early. They set off to defend Stalingrad where Russia’s destiny will be decided. Alexei also hoped to return to the front with them, but the medical board has not approved his request and sent him to the home guard. In order to show how well he copes with his prosthetic limbs, enduring the pain Alexei dances a waltz with Anyuta, followed by a rumba. His endurance and self-control make the senior doctor change his mind: “We believe in you, we will help. You will fly!”

Scene 9
Together with Andrei and Anyuta, Alexei is on a boat on the lake near the sanatorium. Their thoughts are with their loved ones from whom they have received only short letters. Alexei seems to think that their three voices are joined by a fourth &dnash; Olga who is waiting for him and loves him. She is on the Volga &dnash; for which Alexei and Andrei will soon depart.

Scene 10
The first air raid involving Alexei is over. One after another the silver planes land at the aerodrome, but still Alexei does not come. According to the colonel’s estimations he must have run out of fuel. The comrades are all anxious. But suddenly a roar is heard &dnash; it is Alexei’s plane coming in to land. They all clasp his hands and congratulate him &dnash; Alexei shot down three enemy planes.
His dream has come true! Once more he is a pilot and once more he is fit and well! Alexei recalls those who helped save his life and helped him achieve his goal. Now he has the right to write to Olga and tell her everything... But Olga, a junior lieutenant in the guards with the Order of the Red Star on her blouse, has come to Alexei herself. She has become even closer and dearer to Alexei. She has known everything for a long time through a letter from Andrei. A correspondent who comes to visit Maresiev asks him to tell him about himself...

It is performed without the third, fourth and tenth scenes

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 in Concert
City: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Starts at: 19:00
Duration: 2h 35min
Top of page