Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Modest Mussorgsky is recognized as one of the most original geniuses from the Russian operatic tradition and VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert pays tribute to his musical creativity with a single performance of KHOVANSHCHINA on Sunday, March 26, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. at the St. Lawrence Centre. Filled with historical and social detail surrounding the turbulent period between 1682- 1698, the work has some of the most striking and original music in all Russian opera.
The opera will be performed in Russian and VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert has assembled a cast largely fluent in the Slavic languages. Emilia Boteva takes the role of Marfa with Andrey Andreychik as Shaklovity in this gripping tale of conflict between the old ways of the ancient Rus and the new world introduced by Peter the Great. Also in the cast are Lynn Isnar, Dion Mazerolle, Hassan Anami, Mikhail Shemet, Cian Horrobin and Michael Robert-Broder, making his OIC debut in the pivotal role of Khovansky. Respected for her expertise with the music of Eastern Europe and Russia, Narmina Afandiyeva leads the cast and chorus from the piano as music director. The VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert Chorus will be under the direction of Robert Cooper and Guillermo Silva-Marin will be Dramatic Advisor and Lighting Designer.
Mussorgsky began work on KHOVANSHCHINA in 1872 immediately after he finished revising BORIS GODUNOV. He wrote the libretto in tandem with the score and worked sporadically on the work until his death in 1881, leaving the finales of Acts II and V incomplete. Rimsky Korsakov undertook the completion of the work and it premiered in St. Petersburg in 1886. Rimsky’s version was performed worldwide and it is this version OIC presents in its Canadian Premiere.
The work is ‘Russian’ through and through and Mussorgsky packed the work with dramatic confrontations between reactionary nobility and the young progressives who sought to bring a more westernised point of view to the kingdom, led by young Tsar Peter. The machinations of both sides are brought up short at the finale by the sacrifice of the old believers, who immolate themselves to show how men can die for the world’s salvation.
VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert is supported by the Members of the PATRONS CIRCLE, the Jackman Foundation, J. P. Bickell Foundation and Nancy’s Very Own Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council. Media partners include Classical 96.3 FM and EPOCH Times. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre’s Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone – 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 – or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking. All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30 pm.
Photo: Andrey Andreychik. ©2015 Cole Burson.
2017-02-24
Toronto: Voicebox: Opera in Concert presents Mussorgsky's "Khovanshchina" March 26