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'Kitezh' Casts a Spell at the Kirov
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George W. Loomis International Herald Tribune
Wednesday, January 31, 2001
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ST. PETERSBURG It is easy to understand why Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya" has been called the Russian "Parsifal." Each opera mixes Christian myth with medieval legend in a way that gives off an otherworldly glow. Each also moves at its own ruminative pace. "Time has stopped," says a character in "Kitezh," just as in Wagner's realm of the Holy Grail time and space allegedly become one.
"Kitezh" occupies a hallowed place in the Russian repertoire, and after an absence of half a dozen seasons from the Kirov Opera, it is once again exerting its spell.
Plot details tend to confirm the Wagner link, but Rimsky rejected Wagner where his influence might have mattered most: in the music. Instead of ripe chromaticism, we hear serene, hymn-like melodies of diatonic songfulness (though "Parsifal" has a few of those too) as well as other tunes derived from folk idioms.
And the subject matter of "Kitezh" is thoroughly Russian, with the marauding Tartars typecast as villains menacing the sister cities of Kitezh in the 13th century. Lesser Kitezh is laid low, but in answer to the prayers of the forest maiden Fevroniya, Greater Kitezh is transformed into an invisible paradise whose inhabitants experience eternal bliss.
Rimsky made sure that the plot is kept in the forefront so that even the opera's most discursive moments have theatrical life. At least that's the way it seemed in the Kirov's new production. The conductor, Valery Gergiev, let the work take all the time it needs (just over three hours, excluding three intermissions) but kept the music alive with pulse, in the process making a persuasive case for "Kitezh" as Rimsky's masterpiece. The Kirov's practice, begun last year with "War and Peace," of having English supertitles for Russian operas also helped hold the foreigner's attention rapt.
The young director Dmitry Cherniakov, in his Kirov debut, raised asmany questions as he answered. He seems to have sought out a contemporary message, for Olga Lukina's costumes had the citizens of Lesser Kitezh looking like a motley crowd of present day Russian urbanites. Strangely, though, Greater Kitezh's occupants were pale and statuesque in elegant 19th century dress. Yet Cherniakov's work was intriguing even when you weren't sure what he was driving at. And, most important, he never diminished the majesty of the opera.
Two singers relatively new to the Kirov were strong in key roles. Olga Sergeyeva displayed an attractive, smoothly produced soprano and succeeded in sustaining Fevroniya's air of religious wonder over the course of the evening. The young tenor Oleg Balashov sang ardently as her lover Prince Vsevolod. But best of all was the veteran tenor Yuri Marusin's vivid performance as Grishka, a role that stands as the apotheosis of the drunkard/fool of Russian opera.
Gergiev, also the Kirov's director, has a number of Western connections on his agenda, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but recently added to them a new and potentially important link to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
In the first sign of a change in direction since new management was installed at the financially troubled theater in the autumn, the Bolshoi announced an alliance with the Kirov. Details are sketchy, but Gergiev at the very least is expected to have a chance to conduct at the Bolshoi, which, for all its problems, is still regarded as Russia's premiere theater. Another sign that things may be looking up for the Bolshoi is its new production of "Nabucco."
Mikhail Kislyarov's hyper-energetic staging captures the exuberance of Verdi's youthful opera, and the conductor Mark Ermler follows suit with a rousing account of the music. Kislyarov employed the full resources of the Bolshoi ballet, starting with a battle scene during the overture. And the chorus was in top form, singing a hushed but intense "Va, pensiero."
The principals weren't perfect, but Irina Rubstova's astringent soprano stood up to the brutal demands of Abigaille and Yuri Vedeneyev's Nabucco was dramatically powerful and richly intoned.
George W. Loomis is a music writer based in Moscow.
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