Don Quixote at the Mariinsky Theater by French director Yannis Kokkos

ST. PETERSBURG. Tonight, the Mariinsky Theater is waiting for spectators at the premiere of the opera Don Quixote, written many years ago by Jules Massenet specifically for the great performer who had a unique voice - Fedor Chaliapin. Today’s premiere was a gift for the audience of St. Petersburg from the French director Yannis Kokkos, known for his many opera performances staged on stage in Europe.

As is known from the history of the Mariinsky Theater, the last time this version of Don Quixote sounded on the famous stage in 1919, staged by Fedor Chaliapin himself. The main character of the opera, Don Quixote, sang his part with the voice of a unique Russian bass.

In today’s play, Don Quixote’s part is played by the famous bass from Italy, Ferruccio Furlanetto, a hero towering above the crowd. For this, no adaptations were needed, as for an actress playing the role of the beautiful Dulcinea in the scene where the inhabitants of the city glorify her.

Ferruccio Furlanetto looks like the perfect classic hero, a real aristocratic knight. It is difficult for a modern viewer to imagine what Don Quixote looked like on this scene a hundred years ago, but today’s applause will certainly apply to the first performer of this role.

The performance staged by Yannis Kokkos did not include any modern special effects, it is designed very simply, but it is this simplicity that captivates the audience. The huge book, which has become a symbol of the source of life from which the heroes of the performance emerges, does not leave the scene for three hours, turning in the final into a tombstone of the Knight of the Sad Image.

A huge moon, the appearance of which depends on the behavior of the heroine - the more lies Dulsinea lies, the more clouds cover her, and with the death of a knight he is forever immersed in darkness.

Ludmila Trautmane