The Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre has launched a new project on social media titled Reading Astafyev Before the Premiere. In the lead-up to the world premiere of the opera To Love in Wartime by Alexander Tchaikovsky, well-known Russian public figures are reading excerpts from the works of writer and war veteran Viktor Astafyev.

The opera, specially commissioned by the Krasnoyarsk Theatre, is based on two of Astafyev’s poignant wartime novellas, The Shepherd & the Shepherdess and Falling Stars.  These very texts serve as the source material for the readings featured in the documentary-style video series.

A total of 13 episodes have been filmed.  Among the first readers are legendary ice hockey player Alexander Semin (two-time World Champion, Honoured Master of Sports of Russia, and president of the Krasnoyarsk hockey club Sokol), popular TV and radio host Alexander Anatolyevich, and internationally acclaimed coloratura soprano, Honoured Artist of Russia Albina Shagimuratova who has graced the Krasnoyarsk stage on numerous occasions.

Joining them are celebrated Russian performers from the worlds of theatre, cinema, and opera, including Irina Dolzhenko, Elena Ksenofontova, Dmitry Miller, Boris Khvoshnyansky, Viktor Loginov, and world-renowned violinist Vadim Repin. Prominent Krasnoyarsk residents are also taking part, such as the Minister of Culture of the Krasnoyarsk Region Arkady Zinov, Chief Physician of the Regional Clinical Hospital Yegor Korchagin, and media personality Alexey Verbitsky. Composer and librettist Alexander Tchaikovsky, the creator of To Love in Wartime, will also appear in the project.

New episodes will be posted on the Theatre’s official VKontakte page in the lead-up to the  world premiere of the opera on May 1 and 2. The world premiere of the opera To Love In Wartime is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 101st anniversary of Viktor Astafyev’s birth.