Jolanthe

“In Vosges, France, a garden with rose bushes in bloom, trees full of ripe fruit and a pavilion; middle of the 15th century.” Those are the stage directions for Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta. A little Garden of Eden, in other words, and in the midst of it the young heroine, who cannot see any of it but is nevertheless happy because she does not know she is blind. Or perhaps because she is surrounded with such delicate, lyrical music? “What I particularly admire about Tchaikovsky,” says Dmitri Kitaenko, “is that he immediately captures every heart, every soul.”
Kitaenko, who has just completed his critically acclaimed complete recording of all the Russian composer’s symphonic works, appears as an opera conductor for a change during this concert performance by the Gürzenich Orchestra. The ensemble of soloists is headed by Olesya Golovneva (Iolanta) and Andrei Bondarenko (Robert), who thrilled Cologne audiences most recently as Tatiana and Eugene Onegin. Alexander Vinogradov, who began his career in the ensemble of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre 17 years ago, sings the role of Iolanta’s father, and the equally sought-after Dmytro Popov is heard as her “Prince Charming”, Vaudémont. Vladislav Sulimsky finally restores Iolanta’s sight in the role of Ebn-Hakia.