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FULL The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh St.Petersburg 2024 Alexander Bezrukov, Alexander Kuznetsov, Olga Cheremnykh, Andrei Popov
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh
- Composer: Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai
- Libretto: Vladimir Belsky Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Cathedral Square of the Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia
- Recorded: July 12, 2024
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Alexander Bezrukov, Alexander Kuznetsov, Olga Cheremnykh, Andrei Popov, Ekaterina Krapivina, Pavel Shnipov, Anna Vikulina, Alexandra Khasanova, Iosif Piliev, Vladislav Uspensky
- Conductor: Fabio Mastrangelo
- Orchestra: Northern Symphony Orchestra and Choir of the Shalyapin Musical Theatre
- Chorus: Concert Choir of St. Petersburg
- Chorus Master: Lev Dunaev, Vladimir Begletsov
- Ballet: Ballet of the F.I. Chaliapin Musical Theatre
- Choreographer: Konstantin Chuvashev
- Stage Director: Viktor Vysotsky
- Stage Designer: Yulia Goltsova
- Costume Designer:
Information about the Recording
- Published by: TV channel St. Petersburg LIVE
- Date Published: 2024
- Format: Broadcast
- Quality Video: 4 Audio:4
- Subtitles: nosubs
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Opera by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia”.
This is one of the most magnificent creations in the Russian opera school along with Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar and Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. Kitezh can be considered a symbol of the Russian national spirit. This is a unique case in the entire history of Russian opera – an opera-legend, an opera-mystery. The main idea of the work: a feat in the name of the Fatherland is pleasing to God. Those who suffered for it are righteous. The music of the opera is full of lyrical beauty, contains vivid dramatic scenes of conflict with the alien Tatar force. An outstanding monument of Russian literature is also the libretto of the opera, written by Vladimir Belsky, masterfully stylized as an ancient epic-chronicle tale. “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh”, despite the plot reliance on the Trans-Volga legends and the lives of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom, symbolically fits into the St. Petersburg text of Russian culture. Peter the Great called the new capital of Russia founded by him a paradise, that is, a heavenly abode, and in parallel to the heavenly Kitezh, we also treat the city of St. Petersburg as a special national shrine. Therefore, it seems natural to perform this opera by Rimsky-Korsakov on the Cathedral Square of the Peter and Paul Fortress.
The stage design will use motifs of ancient Russian architecture and nature with a hint of icon painting and toy style. The crown of sunbeams in the background of the stage reminds us of the heavenly light and the holiness of the main characters of the legend. In addition, this structure is a frame for the screen, used for the first time as a backdrop for the festival’s performances.