The international festival “Stars Parade in the Opera” is in full swing! On March 3, the opera “Iolanta” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky will be performed in the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre named after Dmitri Hvorostovsky.

The Bolshoi’s soloist Yekaterina Morozova will sing the main role. “She’s a singer of a beautiful voice and scenic charisma - she’s a remarkable singer”, “Her soft voice is ideal for the role of Iolanta - that’s the image Tchaikovsky created. The singer’s artistic grace and skills allowed her to personify the famous character the best way possible”, - wrote the music critics about the artist after the opera’s first performance in the Bolshoi Theatre. The role of the King René is performed by Honoured Artist of Russia Mikhail Kazakov, the Bolshoi’s soloist who also sang in the performances of the “Stars Parade in the Opera” festival - “Prince Igor” by Borodin and “Requiem” by Verdi that was performed in the memory of Dmitri Hvorostovsky. The role of Count Vaudémont will be performed by our frequent visitor - the Buryat Opera and Ballet Theatre’s soloist of heroic tenor Mikhail Pirogov.

“Iolanta” is one of the most famous operas in the world - it’s known even to those who don’t visit theatres. It’s a heart-melting story about a blind girl Iolanta, the King René’s daughter, who recovers her sight, finds her love and her new happy life. The opera is poetic and inspiring, its touching sincerity makes it one of the most harmonic and lucid Tchaikovsky’s works.

Also, the peculiarity of “Iolanta” is that it’s the last opera of the composer, Op.69. “I’m going to create a real sob opera to make everybody weep”, - said Tchaikovsky while working on it. He managed to do that - spectators can’t help shedding tears of joy at the end of the opera.

The Krasnoyarsk Opera’s soloists will take the stage along with the guests from the Bolshoi Theatre - Inna Spodina, Anna Gichik, Alexander Mikhalev, Andrei Silenko are among them. The orchestra will be conducted by the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre’s maestro, Honoured Artist of Russia Anton Grishanin.