In May, the Moscow Musical Theatre Helikon-Opera will take the stage of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. The two-day tour of the Moscow performers will be a part of the federal project Theatrical Marathon.

Helikon-Opera is going to present two performances: Operetta Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II on May 26; Siberia by Umberto Giordano on May 28. Artistic Director of one of the most popular Russian theatres Dmitri Bertman directed both performances.

Die Fledermaus was created by Helikon-Opera more than 20 years ago with the participation of Mstislav Rostropovich; it’s a light flirt, funny gags, comical misunderstandings and sparkling champagne. The plot is well known even to those who are far from music and vocal art. But the opera Siberia is a real rarity. It was first staged in Italy in 1903, however, it is in Krasnoyarsk where the first performing of it in Russia took place only 90 years later. This enthralling drama with a tragic finale is called the Russian Traviata. It’s a story about a woman of pleasure who followed her lover serving a penal sentence in Siberia, and perished there while trying to escape.

“- The opera is tragic, therefore there’s no irony... Our mentality is directly related to love: the Russians love, the Russians hate or take revenge with such a pathos that no one in any country could come near them in it. We always rush into extremes. Therefore, our love is often destructive, eventually becoming hard labour for both partners. My performance is about it, about the Russian mentality developed from the fact that we live in a cold country with a warm heart,” - said the director of the Siberia performance Dmitri Bertman.