Tchaikowsky - Iolanta/Stravinsky - Persephone DVD

01 "Iolanta"
Iolanta is one act lyric opera by Tchaikovsky, sung in Russian. Princess Iolanta is born blind; her father, King René, forbids anyone to talk of beatuy, light or the natural world hoping that she will not recognize her affliction. For Tchaikovsky, a fairytale was not an escape from reality but an opportunity to speak of forbidden reality. His imaginary kingdom is a place of secret remorse and private hurt, redeemed by an African Sufi healer and torrential, relentless, unlikely love. This intimate final opera is spiritually charged Mozartian journey through darkness into light.

"Interpreten"
Iolanta - Ekaterina Scherbachenko
Vaudemont - Pavel Cernoch
King René - Dmitry Ulianov
Ibn-Hakia - Willard White
Robert - Alexej Markov
Bertrand - Pavel Kudinov
Almeric - Vasily Efimov
Marta - Ekaterina Semenchuk
Brigitta - Irina Churilova
Laura - Letitia Singleton

02 "Persephone"
Persephone is a three act melodrama by Stravinsky, sung in French. In Andre Gide's Homeric poem, Persephone goes into the underworld of her own free will, moved by compassion for those who must live there, poignantly evoking Christian sacrifice, and poetically suggesting a dawning awareness of the Stalin Terror of mass collectivization. A ritual drawn from the earliest agricultural myths of Western civilization, for Stravinsky it became a second Rite of Spring, a dance of renewal to music of unexpected tenderness and grace. This regeneration is felt in the delicate choreography of Cambodian dancers from Amrita Performing Arts.

"Interpreten"
Eumolpe - Paul Groves
Persephone - Dominique Blanc


"Musik"
Young Singers of the Jorcam
Chorus and Orchestra of Teatro Real
(Coro Intermezzo and Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid)
Chorus Master: Andres MasperoIn search of the light: insights on Iolanta and Persephone;