Испанский час by Ravel, Маддалена by Prokofiev, С (2021/2022), Режиссер Vladislavs Nastavševs, Дирижёр Alexey Vereshchagin, Boris Pokrovsky Chamber Stage, Москва, Россия

Sergei Prokofiev's Maddalena and Maurice Ravel's The Spanish Hour have never been performed on stage in the same evening. However, these two one-act operas have a lot in common. Both of them were born in the early twentieth century. The driving force of the plot in both is the love passion of several men for one woman, fueled by southern blood (the scene of the first is Venice, the second is Toledo). The rapidity of the passage of time in both operas is similar: his rapid pulse, like a barometer, fixes the alarming atmosphere of the approaching world cataclysms of the early twentieth century. At the same time, operas of the same age in many respects contrast to each other. "Maddalena" is a dark, almost expressionistic tragedy, in which all the action is directed to a bloody denouement - a duel. The Spanish Hour is a light situation comedy. According to the director of the production Vladislavs Nastavshevs, this contrast is a reflection of the difference between the two cultures, Russian and French: "Where Russians see deadly passions, the French are an excuse to smile and joke."