Gleb Peryazev

Graham Vick devises a version of La Bohème set in modern-day Athens, transporting Puccini’s beloved opera from 19th century Paris to 21st century Exarchia. The faces of the four ambitious young artists and their camaraderie are known to all. Their problems, concerns, jokes were run of the mill back then; they remain so even today. Rodolfo’s ill-fated love for Mimi assumes an unexpected tragic dimension given that their tale could be played out in the apartment right next door; right among us.

Russian literature is inconceivable without Pushkin. It draws its sustenance from Pushkin; it breathes Pushkin. During his brief 38-year life, he produced a torrent of some of the most wonderful poems, plays and stories. Pushkin wrote the short story The Queen of Spades in 1833, in the space of a few days and ‘in a cold fury’: a brief text, with strong accents and a focus on psychology. More than 50 years later, Tchaïkovski drew inspiration from this story to compose an opera. For the 2018 Salzburg Festival, Mariss Jansons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and Hans Neuenfels directs Tchaïkovski’s ‘The Queen of Spades’ at the Großes Festspielhaus. Hanna Schwarz plays the Countess. Evgenia Muraveva sings the role of Lisa, Brandon Jovanovich is Herman, Vladislav Sulimsky plays Count Tomsky / Plutus, and Igor Golovatenko is Prince Yelezky.