The premiere of Un Ballo in Maschera on February 17 is just days away.
The last rehearsals are being held now and a booklet for the production is being prepared. It has been developed by the stage director of the opera Vyacheslav Starodubtsev with attention to all the details of design and content which is natural to him. Illustrative part of the booklet is especially interesting and original. Its design features stylistics of European paintings of the XVII century. Reproductions of the artists of that time are combined with traditional portraits and genre scenes with characters of the opera, arranged in keeping with the spirit of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Frans Hals and Diego Velasquez. These posed pictures look really stylish and with a grain of irony, while luxurious costumes by Zhanna Usachyova create a feeling of real dipping into the atmosphere of another era.
"The booklet reflects a historical period corresponding to the opera, and not by coincidence that popular medieval theme emerged. We can demonstrate the stylistics of that era in the opera, - said Dmitry Jurowski, the musical director and principal conductor of the Theatre. - One unwillingly takes part and listens to the music through perception of that time. For in our production a costume is a visualization of an idea."
"Verdi under censorship" lecture by Vyacheslav Starodubtsev
On February 17, right before the premiere performance of Un Ballo in Maschera opera by Giuseppe Verdi, the stage director of the production Ph. D. in Art History Vyacheslav Starodubtsev will deliver a lecture titled "Verdi under censorship" in the framework of the "Open NOVAT" educational project.
Why "the most operetta-like opera" underwent such harsh censorship and what thorny path has led Un Ballo in Maschera to the audience, you will be able to get answers for these questions from a lecture on February 17 at 6 p.m. in the foyer of the Theatre (attendance by tickets for Un Ballo in Maschera performance).
