Call Me Yaroslavna
January 27, 2010 6:35 PM   Subscribe

Calling All Opera Buffs: My darling husband absolutely adores Prince Igor (Alexander Borodin et al), but he's never experienced it on stage. He has a milestone birthday coming up and I would like to take him to a performance, regardless of where it might be: anywhere in the world is just fine. Metafilter opera buffs, do you know of any current or planned productions by a reputable opera company? Is there an information clearinghouse on opera productions I could consult if I need an alternative or can't pull this off soon? Thanks so much.
posted by carmicha to Society & Culture (7 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Mikhailovsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia, March 18, 2010. I don't think the Mikhailovsky is the top company in Russia, or even in St. Petersburg (that would probably be the Mariinsky), so the real opera buffs will have to address that. Still, there's something to be said for seeing it in Russia.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:19 PM on January 27, 2010


Best answer: Well I found Operabase.com and searched their performance listing: http://www.operabase.com/oplist.cgi?lang=en&ask=t and it looks like there will be one in Moscow on Feb 20! Basically I just googled "opera companies" figuring that you could (painstakingly) look at a bunch of opera companies' 2010 seasons listings.
posted by foxjacket at 7:19 PM on January 27, 2010


The Moscow performance foxjacket refers to is performed by Novaya Opera. It's a nice theater in Moscow where I saw my all-time favorite performance of La Traviata, but certainly a level below the Bolshoi with regard to both the theater and the company. It is still a great opera company, however, and in my opinion the best in Moscow after the Bolshoi.

Moreover, if you're in Moscow anyway and your husband is an opera buff, you could also go to a performance at the Bolshoi - a great experience. If you happen to go to a premiere (particularly of a new staging of a Russian opera), you may even run into Putin or Medvedev - which happened to me. Moscow is also a fantastic city to see, though perhaps not as easily experienced as St. Petersburg. In either February or March, though, either city will be quite cold, I should forewarn you.

I saw one performance at the Mikhailovsky theater when I was in St. Petersburg, but it was a ballet so I can't comment on the the opera company. The theater was beautiful.
posted by slide at 7:37 PM on January 27, 2010


Response by poster: Oooh!! His birthday is in mid-February, so these might work! I've been to both Moscow and St. Petersburg, but he hasn't, so that's an extra bonus. Anyone know of others?
posted by carmicha at 8:15 PM on January 27, 2010


If you're going to rush on your visa (gotorussia.com is great if you haven't used them before and if you're in the States), Marinsky is having a production on Feb. 9th. And as a bonus on the 14th, Ruslan and Lyudmila is being performed, which would make for an excellent Valentine's Day. :)
posted by zizzle at 6:15 AM on January 28, 2010


Actually, it looks like the Marinsky is doing Boris Godunov on February 9th, not Prince Igor
posted by Dolukhanova at 9:05 AM on January 28, 2010


Best answer: I asked a friend and longtime opera reviewer if he had any thoughts on your question; here's his reply:

Operabase.com is the only truly world-wide attempt to list all opera performances that I know of. And the only one I know that tries to do the same for the US is Opera America, where you can search for past and upcoming performances by composer. Checking it for Prince Igor, there have only been four different productions in the US in the last 16 years, and none since 2001.

Prince Igor is not done a lot because it is a really big production and does not have famous music (other than the ballet, the Polovetsian Dances). Only in Russia is it a repertory item. The Kirov Opera does tour to the US every so often and they have brought Prince Igor before, so it's possible they'd do so again sometime.

posted by mediareport at 6:17 PM on January 28, 2010


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