"Aleko" and "Iolanta", Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 27. July 2009

The fourth performance of Rachmaninov's first opera "Aleko", with John Relyea in the title role, and Tchaikovsky's last opera "Iolanta", with Anna Netrebko in the title role and Piotr Beczala as Graf Vaudemont, took place on Monday 27. July 2009 at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Valery Gergiev conducted the Chorus and Orchestra of the Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg. The stage director, in a co-production by the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg, was Mariusz Treliński.

Aleko
one act opera
Music by Sergei Rakhmaninov
Libretto by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenkoafter the poem by Alexander Pushkin

Cast
Aleko: John Relyea
Young Gypsy: Sergei Skorokhodov
Zemfira: Irina Mataeva
Old Gypsy: Sergei Aleksashkin
Old Gypsy Woman: Elena Vitman

Iolanta
one act opera
Music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky after the play "Kong Renés Datter" by Henrik Hertz

Cast
Iolanta: Anna Netrebko
Graf Tristan Vaudémont: Piotr Beczala
René, König der Provence: Mikhail Kit
Robert: Alexei Markov
Ebn-Hakia: Alexander Gergalov
Alméric: Andrei Zorin
Bertrand: Fyodor Kuznetsov
Martha: Natalia Evstafieva
Brigitte: Eleonora Vindau
Laura: Ekaterina Sergeeva

Production
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Stage Director: Mariusz Trelinski
Set Designer: Boris Kudlička
Costume Designer: Magdalena Musial
Lighting Designer: Marc Heinz
Cinematographer: Wojciech Puś
Choreographer: Tomasz Wygoda
Animators: Michał Jankowski and Tomasz Popakul
Literary Consultant: Piotr Gruszczynski
Musical Preparation: Marina Mishuk
Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko
Co-production of the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg

Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg

Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden
Monday 27. July 2009

About the Operas
Synopsis
Premiere of "Aleko" and "Iolanta" at the Mariinsky Theater, St. Petersburg 17. Apr 2009
Variations in "Iolanta" Libretto
Iolanta
Iolanta's Russian/Spanish Libretto
Iolanta's English Libretto

Reports
Our friends Anne-Laure and Roxanne, who had previously attended the premiere and the performance on 21. July, have attended also this fourth performance. Anne-Laure has kindly written the following report for the blog:

I think that it was the best performance of the four. Anna was as usual really convincing, touching (and gorgeous)as Iolanta and vocally even more secure (better projection for example) than at the premiere. This music (a trully wonderful music. Thank you Tchaikovsky!) suits her very well and she is really inspired by it even if the role is sometimes maybe a little low for her. Her singing is like velvet for the ears.


Beczala was also very good and their duet was fabulous. Markov was good too. Gergiev and the Mariinsky orchestra and chorus were really excellent. We can feel that they understand that music very well. The colors of the orchestra were magnificent.


But I think that on this night, Anna owned the stage and as a consequence she had the more cheerful applauses. The team was granted a real standing ovation and bravi (not a "false" as during the premiere, where they upped the curtain while people were standing to leave). When they brought flowers for the singers, Gergiev as usual gave his bouquet to Anna, who finally threw them to the musiciens in the pitch. Unfortunately, I think that one of them didn't see the bouquet coming, because Anna started to smile and laugh quite embarassed and shameful and made a sign of apologize before returning to her place. That was really funny.


After the performance she signed autographs, posed for pictures with fans and chatted a little bit with some of them before going to the party organized for the cast.


A shame that there will not be a dvd of this production!!!

Reports, written in Japanish, and some nice photos of the performances of "Aleko" and "Iolanta" at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden on 27. July 2009 can be found at the Japanish blog dognorah.exblog.jp.

Photos
Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala at the curtain calls of "Iolanta" on 27. Jul 2009. Photos [1-3] by Anne-Laure

Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczala and Valery Gergiev at the curtain calls of "Iolanta" on 27. Jul 2009. Photos [1-2] by Britta

Anna at the stage door of the Festspielhaus after the performance. Photo by Roxanne.

Radio Broadcasts
One of the last two performances of "Aleko" and "Iolanta" will be broadcast on SWR2 Kultur, on Sunday 7. February 2010 at 20:03

Related posts
Anna Netrebko at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus 2008-2009 Season
Planned DVDs releases with Anna Netrebko
Breaking News - Piotr Beczala replaces Rolando Villazón in Iolanta, Baden-Baden
Press Conference of Anna Netrebko in Baden-Baden
"Aleko" and "Iolanta", Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 18. July 2009
"Aleko" and "Iolanta", Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 21. July 2009
"Aleko" and "Iolanta", Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden 24. July 2009

Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala at the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala were on Saturday evening at the Museum Frieder Burda in Baden-Baden, in an invited private guided tour, to visit the exhibition "Der Blaue Reiter".

Source
Anna Netrebko besucht Ausstellung „Blauer Reiter“ im Museum Frieder Burda - Museum Frieder Burda [German]

Photos
Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczala in front of Franz Marc's painting "Blaues Pferd I" (Blue Horse I) from 1911. Photos [1-2] by Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden

Long-term cooperation agreement between Universal Music Classical Management & Productions (UMCMP) and First Classics GmbH

UNIVERSAL MUSIC CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIONS (UMCMP), a leading international company of the UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP (UMG), and FIRST CLASSICS GmbH, the new network of German classical concerts organizers, have a long-term cooperation agreement. It includes new and innovative ways of cooperation in classic live events.

Initial projects are due to start this autumn, continuing on a larger scale in the 2010/2011 season. Existing contracts for UMCMP artists will be honored.

"For us, First Classics is the perfect partner because it focuses on artistic quality and reaches out to a well-informed public that wishes to experience the stars of classical music as well as new artistic developments," said Manfred Seipt, UMCMP managing director, in a statement. "By working closely with our group's labels such as Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, we will, through this new partnership, be able to present artists in Germany more successfully than ever before."

Andreas Schessl, managing director of First Classics, added: "The partnership with Universal Music opens up new opportunities for us to include top international stars on our prestigious concert series and also allows us to familiarize our public with the stars of tomorrow."

UNIVERSAL MUSIC CLASSICAL MANAGEMENT & PRODUCTIONS (UMCMP), with headquarters in London, is part of the UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP and is one of the leading companies in the field of artist management and event production / promotion for classical music. Among the artists managed by UMCMP they are world stars like Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón, Elina Garanca, Thomas Hampson, and many more. Jeffrey Vanderveen and Manfred Seipt are the Managing Directors of UMCMP.

FIRST CLASSICS GmbH was founded by renowned private concert organizers from Germany, mainly in the field of classical music business. It develops projects for classical music and organizes tours of top artists and ensembles.

Sources
UNIVERSAL MUSIC und FIRST CLASSICS starten langfristige Kooperation - PR-inside.com, 27. Jul 2009 [German]
UMCMP Inks Deal With First Classics - Billborad.biz, 28. Jul 2009 [English]