The Epiphany Festival
Dialogues and Doubles
January 14 – February 7 2016
The 2016 Epiphany Festival studies the theme of “Dialogues and Doubles” in a wide variety of its aspects. The Novaya Opera invites spectators to enjoy pieces inspired by one source (occasionally, in interpretations that are very different in spirit and letter) and to join the dialogue between epochs, styles, genres, biblical and fiction plots, languages, and national cultures. The core subjects of the Festival are the biblical story about Princess Salome (Massenet’s Hérodiade and Strauss’ Salome), Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliette, (Gounod’s opera of the same name and Bellini’s I Montecchi e I Capuleti), and Puskin’s dramatic poem Tsygany (Leoncavallo’s opera of the same name and Rachmaninov’s Aleko). Two requiems, separated by almost two centuries and composed by classical music genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and by musical genius Andrew Lloyd Webber, will be performed as a fascinating stylistic experiment. Two performances of the Novaya Opera Chamber Choir, The Ebony and The Ivory, – are a diptych study of “alien people”.
Another edge of the dialogue is a cross-talk of actors and characters: Romeo performed by a mezzo-soprano (in Bellini’s opera) and by a tenor (in Gounod’s opera); Prophet Jochanaan (John the Baptist) performed by a tenor (in Massenet’s opera) and by a baritone (in Richard Strauss’ opera). The 2016 Epiphany Festival is being held in the year of the 25th anniversary of the Novaya Opera’s foundation and the 70th anniversary of the birth of the theatre’s founder, Evgeny Vladimirovich Kolobov (1946–2003). Invisible mental dialogue with the Maestro is going on even after his death. There are two events dedicated to the memory of Evgeny Kolobov: a chamber music concert in the Mirror Foyer on January 19 (the conductor’s birthday) and the final Gala concert of the Festival. Begin the New Year at the Novaya Opera! Mikhail SEGELMAN
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