Admin

Organization

Singer

Bass

Ante Jerkunica

Tsar Saltan

Soprano

Svetlana Aksenova

Militrisa

Mezzo-soprano

Stine Marie Fischer

The weaver

Bernarda Bobro

Cook

Contralto

Carole Wilson

Matchmaker-Crone

Tenor

Bogdan Volkov

Prince Gvidon

Olga Kulchynska

Swan-Princess

Vasily Gorshkov

Old man

Alexander Vassiliev

Buffoon

Baritone

Nicky Spence

Messenger

Aleksander Kravets

First sailor

Conductor

Alain Altinoglu

Stage director

Dmitri Tcherniakov

Set designer

Lighting designer

Gleb Filshtinsky

Chorus master

Martino Faggiani

La Monnaie/De Munt

Orchestra

La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra

Russian

The Tale of Tsar Saltan

Brussels

Belgium

La Monnaie

Grande Salle

The titles of some operas are in themselves sufficient to capture the imagination. For the centenary of Pushkin's birth in 1899, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov drew inspiration from one of his celebrated fairy tales and composed a delightfully imaginative opera, with the Flight of the Bumblebee as instant hit.
The composer's gift for melody and orchestration combines perfectly with the poet's often absurd humour and overflowing imagination. Alain Altinoglu can here revel in the role of orchestral wizard, while the Russian director Dmitri Tcherniakov returns with a many-layered psychological staging.

Tsar Saltan marries the youngest of three sisters, having heard that it is her dearest wish to present him with a heroic son and heir. Her jealous sisters and the old Aunt Barbarikha cannot bear this, and by trickery see to it that the Tsaritsa and her newborn son Gvidon are thrown into the sea. In their barrel they are washed ashore on an enchanted island where the rapidly growing tsar’s son saves a swan from the clutches of a wizard. In gratitude, the swan helps Gvidon to visit his native country once again in the guise of a bumblebee. Three wishes, three miracles and three bee-stings later, father and son are finally able to get to know each other.

The Tale of Tsar Tsaltan
Opera in prologue and four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908)
Libretto by Nikolai Andreivitch Belsky after Alexander Pushkin
First performance in Moscow, Solodovnikov Theatre, November 3, 1900

Registration: June 27, 2019 - La Monnaie / De Munt Brussels
Directed by: Andy Sommer
Duration: 02:37

Production booklet

Further reading