A premiere of "Un ballo in maschera" in "Helikon-opera"

05.09.2013

The premiere of "Un ballo in maschera" in "Helikon-Opera"

2013-2014 season at the Moscow musical theater "Helikon- Opera" opened with the premiere of "Un Ballo in Maschera" opera by Giuseppe Verdi, staged by Artistic director of “Helikon-opera”, People's Artist of Russia Dmitry Bertman. The first performance conducted by Maestro Simone Fermani, a direct living descendant of Giuseppe Verdi. Musical Director and Conductor - People's Artist of Russia Vladimir PONKIN. Set design and costumes by Honored Artists of Russia Igor Nezhny and Tatiana Tulubeva. Chorus Master - Eugene Ilyin. Choreographer Edvald Smirnov. In the premiere performances of theater artists were engaged by the People's Artist of Russia Natalia Zagorinskaya, Elena Mikhaylenko, Karina A. Flores (Amelia), Vadim Zaplechny, Maxim Paster, Dmitry Ponomarev (Riccardo), Maxim Perebeynos, Alexander Miminoshvili, Konstantin Brzhinsky, Alexey Isaev (Renato), Larisa Kostyuk, Xenia Vyaznikova, Irene Reynard, Maria Maskhulia (Ulrika), Marina Andreeva, Anna Grechishkina, Lydia Svetozarova (Oscar), Sergey Toptygin, Alexei Dedov, Mikhail Davydov (Silvano), Andrey Vylegzhanin, Mikhail Nikanorov (Samuel), Dmitry Skorikov, Dmitry Ovchinnikov (Samuel), Nikolay Galin, Mikhail Egiazaryan (Judge), Mikhail Seryshev, Andrey Palamarchuk (Servant of Amelia), Mikhail Ditkovsky (son of Amelia and Renato), Xenia Lisanskaya, Vitaly Fomin (dance), artists of the choir and orchestra. The press conference was held before the performance.

Further performances are scheduled for September 6, 7, 8, 11 , 12, 13.

For Dmitry Bertman, the director of the play, "Un ballo in Maschera" opera is about the main passions, the two "drugs" that attract almost anyone - power and love. The heart of intrigue is a secret political plot in which love becomes a bargaining chip. The governor is interested in the wife of his friend, the second person in the state. From this passion conspirators inflated the whole story, and turned the absolutely faithful supporter into oppositionist.

The premiere of "Un Ballo in Maschera" opened the festival WAGNER / VERDI, dedicated to the double anniversary of the great opera composers - Richard Wagner and Giuseppe Verdi, which takes place in "Helikon " from September 5 to October 27, 2013.  In Helikon’s playbill there are two performances on Richard Wagner’s music: his only comic opera - "Das Liebesverbot" and the premiere of this year, the show «WWW.NIBELUNGOPERA.RU», which includes vocal and symphonic fragments from all thirteen Wagner operas. "Helikon" also has an extensive Verdi’s repertoire: "Aida", "La Traviata", "Macbeth", "Nabucco" and "Falstaff". The concert repertoire conists of rarely performed Verdi’s "The Hymn of Nations" for soloists, chorus and orchestra. These works are included into the playbill of WAGNER / VERDI festival, which will end on October 27 with a gala-concert at Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music.

Photos by Anastasiya Ditkovkaya, Serkhat Kavas and Ivan Gorbulich