TSAR’S BRIDE
Helikon Opera from
Moscow was giving a guest performance of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s
Bride at Estonia Theatre in Tallinn (Estonia) and of course that had to be
seen.
The advantage of
Tallinn as an opera target is, of course, short distance to Helsinki. By boat
you can reach it in a couple of hours and if the schedule requires an overnight
stay, there are plenty of hotels to choose from. I normally stay either in the
city center or in the old town which are only a short walk from Estonia
Theatre. This time I stayed in the old city at the hotel Three Crown Residents http://threecrowns.ee, which turned out to be
quite a nice place to stay and the location was ideal.
Even though the stage
in Estonia Theatre is quite small and the technique is rather humble, time
after time I am surprised how good sets they can create. This time also the
arched vaults and a few movable elements created a good illusion of 16th
century Russian boyar houses.
The opera itself was
very Russian; the music, production and costumes. To me personally the naked
upper bodies of some men (and these men were obviously carefully chosen)
brought to mind the present ruler of Russia and his athletic performances. The
impression was fortified by the mass-like chanting of “Glory to the Ruler” in
the end of the opera. The opera itself is full of passion, jealousy, insanity
and intrigues. And of course, in the end according to proper opera tradition, several
people die.
The orchestra of
Helikon Opera played Rimsky-Korsakov’s music with great passion and my
favourite soloist was Aleksei Issajev in the role of Grigory Gryaznoy. What a
beautiful baritone voice, which I would love to hear also in other roles.
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| The Tsar's Bride |
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| Estonia Theatre |
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