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The Bolshoi Theatre has appeared several times in Austria. In 1971 and 1997 there were two major tours by the Theatre’s Opera Company. The tour programs what is more were identical — they consisted of 3 of the most popular titles in the Russian repertoire: Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades and Prokofiev’s large-scale epic War and Peace.

This year the Bolshoi is also presenting (in concert version) two staple items of its operatic repertoire — Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tsar’s Bride and The Golden Cockerel.

The Tsar’s Bride occupies a very special place among the Bolshoi’s operatic masterpieces — along with Boris Godunov and Eugene Onegin it has always formed the core of the Company’s Russian repertoire.

This year saw a new production of The Tsar’s Bride at the Bolshoi — its seventh version of the opera. Appearing to great acclaim in the new production are the Company’s Young Artists Opera Program soloists Olga Kulchinskaya and Bogdan Volkov, the Bolshoi’s guest artists Agunda Kulaeva and Alexander Kasyanov, a recent Young Artists Opera Program graduate and now an Opera Company soloist Oleg Tsybulko, plus the Bolshoi’s regular soloists — Irina Udalova, Elena Novak, Alexander Naumenko, Marat Gali. Conducting at the Theater an der Wien, as at the Bolshoi Theatre première, will be Gennady Rozhdestvensky. His sensitive interpretation of The Tsar’s bride was warmly received by both public and critics: ‘A particular ‘Russian’ sound — not sharp, muted, though pregnant with emotion — and at the same time great breadth and an infinitely melodic line. ... Forte and fortissimo are extremely rare with Rozhdestvensky — he puts the accent on inner movement, inner dynamic. Piano and pianissimo, on the contrary, are the basic colors of his interpretation. Rozhdestvensky resorts to semi tones, hints he revels in the subtle details of the score, emphasizing now one, now another soloing instrument or — as in the overture — bringing into the foreground (the maestro corrects the score at times deliberately) unexpected timbre combinations (Nezavisimaya gazeta/The Independent Newspaper).

The Golden Cockerel, Rimsky-Korsakov’s last opera, is his most biting and paradoxical work. And it is a work rarely performed abroad. The Bolshoi’s present — sixth — production of The Golden Cockerel caused a sensation. And this was due both to Kirill Serebrennikov’s original interpretation and — as noted by all the critics — to brilliant performances by Vladimir Matorin and Venera Gimadieva in the main roles. Also taking part in the concert performance of The Golden Cockerel will be Bolshoi theatre soloists Tatiana Erastova, Stanislav Mostovoy, Nikolai Kazansky, Konstantin Shushakov and guest soloists Darya Zykova and Boris Rudak. Pavel Klinichev will conduct.