Lenore

On June 6 and 12, 2022, the long-awaited premiere of the mystical immersive opera Lenore by German composer Johann Zumsteg, reconstructed by Soviet and Russian composer Grayr Khanedanian, took place at two historic venues – the Hermitage Theatre and the Great Hall of the Catherine Palace.

The opera's manuscript piano score was lost in the 19th century, and it was never staged in Imperial Russia.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the antique original ballad was discovered, and its modern orchestration was created by the remarkable composer Grayr Khanedanian, rediscovering this unique work of Romanticism for a wider audience.

The premiere of the theatrical version of the reconstructed ballad within the magnificent Catherine Palace was timed to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the birth of Peter I Alexeevich (1672-1725), a great representative of the Romanov dynasty.

The ballad "Lenora," a celebration of true love, boundless devotion, and unshakable faith, possessing profound philosophical meaning captured in an ideal artistic form, was composed in 1773 by the German poet Gottfried August Bürger (1747-1794) and set to music in 1797 by the German composer Johann Rudolf Zumsteg (1760-1802). In 1831, the work was translated into Russian by Vasily Zhukovsky.

This is the story of a girl who remained faithful to her lover, who had gone off to war. When the war ended, she did not find him among those returning. Lenora rebels against fate, refusing to accept her grief as fate, and complains against God. Her deceased lover appears for her and carries her away into oblivion.

The opera will be performed by soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre and the Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Philipp Selivanov.

The Lenora project features the Youth Chamber Choir under the baton of choirmaster Rustam Sagdiev.

The director of the immersive opera-performance is Irina Fokina.

Choreographer is Anastasia Lomachenkova.

Set designer is Alexey Levdansky.

3D set designer is Maxim Lunev.

Costume designer is Tatyana Mashkova with the participation of Alexander Miller and Ekaterina Nilova.

CAST:

A. Simanskaya - Lenora;

Ya. Petryanik - the ghost groom;

E. Agabalaeva - Lenora's mother;

I. Barbakov - narrator.

The opera premieres took place on June 6 and 12 with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.

The project is the winner of a grant from the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.