P.I. Tchaikovsky

Opera in two acts

"Iolanta" is the last and lightest opera of the great composer. The theater offers the viewer a modern reading of "Iolanta".

A blind girl, guarded by her father from real life, existed in a beautiful, but artificial and isolated world. Her path from complete blindness to insight is the path of love, the path of spiritual maturation, the path from the fictional world to the real world. In the opinion of the creators of the play, the theme of the awakening of the soul has always worried, but today it sounds particularly alarming and acute.

Libretto by M. Tchaikovsky on the dramatic poem by G. Hertz "The daughter of King René"

Musical Director and Conductor: People's Artist of Russia Pavel Bubelnikov

Director: Honored Art Worker of Russia Alexander Petrov

Set Designer: Vyacheslav Okunev

Choreographer: Irina Novik

Characters and performers:

IOLANTA:

A. Resanin

M. Rubinshtein

RENE,

The king of Provence, her father:

Soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, laureate of Int. Competition M. Kolleishvili,

Soloist of the Bolshoi Theater P. Migunov

Ebn-Khakya,

Doctor: S. Belousov

ROBERT,

Duke of Burgundy:

Hon. Art. And laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Komi A. Byron,

Soloist of the Chamber Music Theater "St. Petersburg-Opera" S. Granqvist

VODEMON,

Count of Burgundy:

Soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, laureate of the All-Russian Contest and Golden Mask Award E. Akimov

S. Gavrilov

ALMERIC,

The king's retainer:

A. Egorov

N. Pogorelov

Laureate of Int. Competitions A. Matveev

BERTRAN,

The gatekeeper of the palace:

V. Alexandrovich

A. Sazonov

MARCH, his wife, the nurse Yolanta:

N. Vinogradova

V. Ermachenkova

BRIGITT,

Girlfriend Iolanthe:

E. Vitis

LAURA,

Girlfriend Iolanthe:

A. Snegov

Summary:

In the south of France, in Provence, is the castle of King René. Here the king hides his daughter Iolanthe, blind from birth. Iolanta herself does not suspect her illness, since her father, under pain of death, forbade her to reveal the truth to her. In the beautiful garden Iolanta conducts her days. But she grows up, and an incomprehensible melancholy increasingly embarrasses her soul. Friends and a nurse are trying to comfort her.

King Renee brings the famous Mauritanian doctor Ebn-Hakia and anxiously awaits his help. The doctor announces that Iolanthe should learn about his misfortune and with all the strength of the soul to desire insight, otherwise no treatment will help her. But even in this case, Ebn-Khakya does not know for certain whether Iolanta will be healed or not. Therefore, Renee can not decide anything.

There are two young people - this is Robert and Vodemon. They are struck by the beauty of an unusual garden, although they see a warning in front of the entrance: any outsider who dares to enter here will die.

But Robert thinks unconvincingly about something else: soon he will have to marry Iolanthe. They were betrothed as a child, but they do not know each other and never met. And Robert's heart already belongs to another. And he wants to ask King Renee to terminate the engagement.

Vaudemon sees Iolanthe. He expresses his admiration for her, because he is fascinated and subjugated by it. Vaudemont asks the girl to tear off a red rose for him. But she tears off the white one. He once again asks for red and again gets white, because Iolanthe does not know what "red" is. Then Vodemon guesses that the beautiful stranger is blind, but does not suspect about it. And he tells her about that world, which she does not know and which is deprived.

Returning, the king in horror understands that the secret is revealed and Iolanthe knows about his misfortune. But now Ebn-Hakia can start treatment! However, Iolanta can not wish for something that has no idea. She does not have that desire to see clearly, without which treatment is impossible. Then the king, guessing about the feeling that arose among young people, declares that Vodemon will be executed if Iolanthe is not healed. For the sake of Vodemona's rescue, the girl is ready for any suffering.

Robert appears to free his friend. But Vademon tells him about his feelings for Iolanthe. Now Robert must confess to the king that he loves the other and ask to terminate the engagement.

The treatment was successful. Iolanthe had already begun to see. The happy father returns Robert his word. Iolanta connects her fate with Vodemon and enters an unfamiliar, but beautiful world ...