FULL Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia (Vladimir Kuptsov) St. Petersburg 2025

Information on the Performance

• Work Title: Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia  
• Composer: Kuptsov Vladimir   
• Libretto: Viktor Dobrosotsky, based on the poems by Oleg Grisevich  
• Venue & Opera Company: Hermitage Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia  
• Recorded: June 1, 2025
• Type: Concert Live
• Singers: Yaroslav Petryanik, Ekaterina Latysheva, Elizaveta Zakharova, Alexander Koryakov, Dmitry Voropaev, Artem Aleshin, Denis Begansky, Dmitry Fedorov, Bakuri Kalichava, Dmitry Grigoriev, Pavel Stasenko, Igor Chikishev
• Conductor: Anton Lubchenko  
• Orchestra: Governor's Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg  
• Chorus: Choir "Petersburg Serenades"  
• Chorus Master: Egor Losev  
• Stage Director:   
• Costume Designer:   

Information about the Recording

• Published by: Orpheus  
• Date Published: 2025  
• Format: Streaming
• Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
• Subtitles: nosubs  

• ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE

  Broadcast of the world premiere of the opera “Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia” based on a plot from Russian history, composed by Vladimir Kuptsov and with a libretto by Viktor Dobrosotsky, from the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg.

   

  Tsar Ivan the Terrible is perhaps the most controversial figure in Russian history. His personality and reign remain controversial. On the one hand, there were important domestic reforms and successful military campaigns; on the other, there was the crushing defeat in the Livonian War, the oprichnina with its bloody terror, and the endless search for internal enemies.

  The opera’s composers saw a direct connection between Ivan the Terrible’s successes during his reign and his marriage to Anastasia Zakharyina-Yuryeva. They call this marriage “a beautiful love duet in the history of royal dynasties.” The tragic death of the tsarina became a fateful turning point for Ivan the Terrible’s reign.

  Viktor Dobrosotsky, author of the libretto, about the Russian Tsar: “Ivan IV the Terrible was considered the most prestigious suitor in Europe. In rank, he was comparable to the emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. He spoke Latin, Greek, Church Slavonic, and Tatar, and composed church hymns – six of which have survived to this day. Brilliant persons, such as Queen Elizabeth I of England or the sister of the King of Poland, Catherine Jagiellon, at different times claimed the Tsar’s hand, but were refused because they did not convert to Orthodoxy. The Tsar married for love, personally choosing his chosen one, Anastasia, from two thousand beauties. Walking through life hand in hand with Anastasia, for the first time in the history of our country, he created the Elected Council – the prototype of the government, the Zemsky Sobor – an analogue of parliament, and adopted the Sudebnik, which unified all the laws of the country. The Tsar made a huge contribution to the arts, created buffoon troupes, which became the prototype Russian theater, and the Tsar’s Choir—the first Russian musical ensemble. He supported composers and founded the Donskoy Monastery. Tsarina Anastasia, the Tsar’s beloved wife and faithful companion, played a huge role in its success. She was a patron of the arts and crafts: gold embroidery, embroidery, and icon painting. Their mutual love was Tsar Ivan’s most powerful moral and psychological support in his triumphal march, and the loss of his beloved left a terrible, bloody, and unhealing scar on his reign.

  The premiere of the opera “Ivan the Terrible and Anastasia” was produced by Anton Lubchenko, Music Director and Conductor of the St. Petersburg Governor’s Symphony Orchestra, together with Larisa Gergieva, Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers and People’s Artist of Russia, and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre. 

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