KALMANIYA
Gala Concert to the 130th Anniversary of Imre Kalman
Stage Director - Edwald Smirnov
Music Director - Konstantin Chudovsky
Set and Costumes - Igor Nezhny and Tatiana Tulubieva
Playing time: 1 hour 45 minutes (no intermission)
Premiere: November 28, 2012
Language of perfomance: Russian
The 130th anniversary of Emmerich Kalman was celebrated in 2012. Moscow Musical Theatre "Helikon-Opera" under Dmitry Bertman devoted a production called "KALMANiYA" to this date.
When Imre (Emmerich) Kalman began his career in musical theatre, the great and horrible Giacomo Puccini prevailed in opera. Melodrama was highly popular with the corpses of young and beautiful heroines wept over by unalloyed tenors, baritones and sympathizing audience. The creators of operetta proved, that all these things could be dispensed with. Everybody should be happy there! Kalman put on the stage a gallery of characters and gave them marvelous melodies: artists and Hungarian hussars, aristocrats and gypsies… In 2012 world celebrated the 130th Anniversary of the composer. The Helikon-Opera Theatre devoted a play to this celebration. But which of the 22 Kalman’s operettas suits the occasion best? “Die Csardasfürstin”, “Die Bajadere”, “Gräfin Mariza”, “Der Zigeunerprimas”, “Die Zirkusprinzessin”? Or may be “Das Veilchen vom Montmartre” based on novel “Scènes de la vie de bohème” by Henry Murger? There Kalman proposed his own vision of history and dared to argue with “La Bohème” by Puccini, having devoted the new work to his young wife — actress Vera Makinskaja, emigrated from Russia.
“Kalmaniya” performance unites all the masterpieces of the composer. In this word one may see the root “mania” meaning “obsession with the Kalman’s music”. But it may also be interpreted the other way, as an individual perception: “Kalman i ya” (from Russian — “Kalman and I”).