Rimsky-Korsakov: The Snow Maiden (2-DVD)

Composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Artists: Aida Garifullina, Yuriy Mynenko, Martina Serafin, Maxim Paster, Thomas Johannes Mayer, Orchestre et Chœurs de l’Opéra National de Paris
Conductor: Mikhail Tatarnikov
Director: Dmitri Tcherniakov
Video Format: NTSC
Audio Format: 2.0 PCM & 5.1 Dolby Digital
Language: Russian
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese
Number of Discs: 2
Studio: Bel Air Classiques
DVD Release Date: May 28, 2021
Run Time: 194 minutes

Snegurochka (Snowmaiden), the daughter of Spring and Winter, dreams of a life amongst the humans; but the bitter Sun, looking for revenge, plans to use the fire of love to make her melt away...

The Snow Maiden, Rimsky-Korsakov’s third opera, draws its focus from playwright Alexander Ostrovsky’s eponymous play, itself inspired from Russian folk tales. This literary work was quite unexpected, given that Ostrovsky was better known for his political satires than for his interest in fairy tales. But the composer found a clever way to spin this paradox and applied himself to reconcile traditional singing with a creative orchestration, bringing together heritage and modernity.

Stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, a highly regarded specialist in Russian opera, humanizes this marvelous and cruel coming-of-age tale, under the surface of which innocent eroticism and bitter jealousy boil furiously. He also uses this production to draw a parallel between this paradoxical work and the contradictions of modern Russia.

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