Under the sign of Tchaikovsky

17.03.2017

In 2015/2016, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse performed on the Bolshoi Historical stage for the first time. The orchestra has been conducted by Tugan Sokhiev, who is Music Director and Chief Conductor of both Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse (ONCT) and the Bolshoi Theatre. Tugan Sokhiev serves as chief director of the Toulouse orchestra since 2008 and he can be seen as an honorary citizen of this city. The ONCT tour in 2016 as well as the upcoming tour of the Bolshoi were subject to the same idea – to demonstrate the national traditions of performing national music.

Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse received many praise for the performance of Requiem by Hector Berlioz. The response ‘replic’ of the Bolshoi, according to our Chief conductor, will be performed in Russian - the mother tongue of Tchaikovsky.

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Zurich Tonhalle

Concerts, included in the Swiss tour will be held in the most beautiful halls of the country - the Zurich Tonhalle and the Victoria Hall in Geneva. Performances will be held in the framework of the Bolshoi’s subscription “Outstanding performers”. The program of the first part includes arias from operas by Tchaikovsky, alongside with the aria from The Tsar's Bride by Rimsky-Korsakov. The leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre – Agunda Kulaeva, Igor Golovatenko and Bogdan Volkov will perform at this concert. In the second part the Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre will present the Symphonic suite Nutcracker. The chief conductor and music director of the Bolshoi Tugan Sokhiev will lead concerts.

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Victoria Hall in Geneva

In France, Bolshoi will present the most "French" opera by Tchaikovsky (in concert performance) - The Maid of Orleans. Tchaikovsky's opera about Joan of Arc, was the composer's attempt to make his name in the most lucrative and crowd-pleasing genre of his day, Parisian grand opera.

From Switzerland Bolshoi will go on in Toulouse, where it will perform at Halle aux Grains, which has a rich historical past and no less glorious present. This building used to be not only grains and vegetables market, but also a stadium, and then in 1974 it was transmuted into a concert hall. After the reconstruction the hall became one of the best concert halls in Europe, besides the ability to take more than two thousand spectators. Today it is the residence of Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse.

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Halle aux Grains

The next destination is Paris, Grande Salle of Philharmonie de Paris. Construction of a new concert complex was initiated by the French composer Pierre Boulez and embodied in one of the most ambitious and large-scale architectural projects in Paris (the author is Jean Nouvel). The opening of the concert hall took place quite recently, in 2015.

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Philharmonie de Paris. Grande Salle

The Moscow premiere of The Maid of Orleans in a concert performance took place in September 2014, on the Historic stage of the Bolshoi Theatre and it was dedicated to the 175th anniversary of Tchaikovsky. It was the first major project of Tugan Sokhiev with the Orchestra and the Opera Company of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Tour Program

Zürich, Switzerland

Tonhalle
March 12, 19:30

Geneva, Switzerland
Victoria Hall
March 13, 20:00

Bolshoi Opera Soloists Concert

Part I

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Olga`s arioso “I was not made for melancholy singing” from the opera Eugene Onegin
Agunda Kulaeva (mezzo-soprano)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Scene and Lensky`s arioso “How happy, how happy I am!.. I love you, I love you, Olga” from the opera Eugene Onegin
Agunda Kulaeva (mezzo-soprano)
Bogdan Volkov (tenor)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Onegin`s aria “You wrote to me” from the opera Eugene Onegin
Igor Golovatenko (baritone)

N. Rimsky-Korsakov
Lubasha`s aria from the opera The Tsar`s Bride
Agunda Kulaeva (mezzo-soprano)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Yeletsky`s aria “I love you beyond measure” from the opera The Queen of Spades
Igor Golovatenko (baritone)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Lensky`s aria “Where, oh where have you gone” from the opera Eugene Onegin
Bogdan Volkov (tenor)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Joan`s aria “Yes, The time has come!” from the opera The Maid of Orleans
Agunda Kulaeva (mezzo-soprano)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Robert`s aria “Who can be compared with my Matilda” from the opera Iolanta
Igor Golovatenko (baritone)

Part II

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Suite from the ballet The Nutcracker

Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra
Conductor: Tygan Sokhiev

Toulouse, France
Halle aux Grains de Toulouse
March 15, 20:00

Paris, France
Philharmonie de Paris
March 17, 19:00

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
The Maid of Orleans

Opera in concert performance

Tygan Sokhiev, Conductor
Oleg Dolgov, King Charles VII
Stanislav Trofimov, The Archbishop
Andrii Goniukov, Dunois, a French knight
Igor Golovatenko, Lionel, a Burgundian knight
Pyotr Migunov, Thibaut d'Arc, Joan's father
Anna Smirnova, Joan of Arc
Bogdan Volkov, Raymond, Joan's betrothed
Nikolai Kazansky, Bertrand, a peasant
Andrei Kimach, Soldier
Anna Nechaeva, Agnès Sorel
Marta Danusevich, Angel, solo voice in the choir of angels

Bolshoi Theatre Choir and Orchestra