Scene from the Met’s production of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades © Ken Howard/Met Opera
Elijah Moshinsky’s production of Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece The Queen of Spades returns to the Metropolitan Opera. Soprano Sonya Yoncheva and tenor Brian Jagde make their role debuts as Lisa and Hermann, and Igor Golovatenko returns to take the role of Prince Yeletsky. Keri-Lynn Wilson leads the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
Tchaikovsky’s last opera, The Queen of Spades was composed in just 44 days. Based on an 1833 short story by Alexander Pushkin, it has a libretto by the composer and his brother, Modest, and premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on 19th December 1890. It has been performed only 78 times at the Met, most recently in 2019.
The opera – set in the glamorous ballrooms and rather disreputable gambling dens of 18th century Saint Petersburg – revolves around passion, tragedy, fate, life and death. It tells of a young officer, Hermann, who is obsessed by gambling, and who has fallen in love with Lisa, and although she is the fiancée of Prince Yeletski, she is also drawn to Hermann. Lisa’s grandmother, a Countess, made her fortune at the gambling table in Paris some years previously, through the mysterious combination of three particular cards. Prophecy has it that the Countess will die at the hands of the person who forces her secret from her. Hermann knows that he needs to learn what this combination is.
At a ball attended by the Russian aristocracy, Lisa passes Hermann the key to a garden door which leads to her bedroom, and beyond that, the room of the Countess. Confronted in her room by Hermann, the Countess refuses to talk to him, and when he draws a pistol, she dies of fright. Lisa sends Hermann a note, asking him to meet her by the River Neva at midnight, but he sees a vision of the Countess, who tells him that the three lucky cards are three, seven, and the ace. As requested, he meets Lisa, who suggests that they should leave the city, however having learned the secret of the cards, he is on his way to a gambling house. Realising that she has lost him, Lisa throws herself into the river and drowns. At the gambling house, Hermann wins on the first of his two cards, the three and the seven, then bets on the ace. To his horror, when he turns it over, he sees that it’s the Queen of Spades, and imagining that he sees the Countess’s face on the card, he stabs himself, asking forgiveness from both Count Yeletsky and Lisa.
One of opera’s most versatile artists, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva recently hosted the Rolex Ambassadors Concert at the Opéra Garnier in Paris, celebrating the 150th anniversary of this venue. She will follow this run of The Queen of Spades with a performance of Opera in Concert at the Wiener Konzerthaus – singing arias by Wagner, Verdi, Dvorak and Puccini – followed by a repeat performance at the Elphilharmonie in Hamburg. Ms Yoncheva will also appear as Dido, in Purcell’s Dido and Aneas, and Schoenberg’s Erwartung at the Bavarian State Opera, and will appear at the Verbier Festival where she will sing works by Haydn and Rossini.
Brian Jagde – described as an artist with “a remarkable future” by Opera World – returns to the Met as Hermann following his critically acclaimed performance as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca earlier this season. He will sing the role of Hermann again for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Radamès in Verdi’s Aida at the Arena di Verona festival, he returns to the role of Don Alvaro in a concert version of Verdi’s La forza del Destino with the Lyon Opera Orchestra, and will appear in the title role of Verdi’s Otello at Teatro Real Madrid.
Earlier this season, Igor Golovatenko – a leading baritone at the Bolshoi Opera in Moscow – made his Met role debut as Count di Luna in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, and next season he will reprise the title role of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and also sing Carlo Gérard in Andrea Chénier, both for the Met. Before then, he will take the role of Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida at the Arena di Verona festival, and will appear as Count di Luna at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Also in the cast are mezzo-sopranos Violeta Urmana and Maria Barakova, making their Met role debuts as the Countess and Pauline, respectively. Baritone Alexey Markov reprises the role of Count Tomsky.
Set and costume designer is Mark Thompson, lighting design is by Paul Pyant and choreography by John Meehan.
Maestro Keri-Lynn Wilson, founder and music director of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, conducts five performances of Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades between May 23rd and June 7th. Further information and details of ticketing can be found on the Metropolitan Opera website.
Information sourced from:
Metropolitan Opera program notes
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