The Mariinsky Theater hosted the premiere of the opera “The Puritans” by Bellini, directed by Vladislav Furmanov

On the New Stage of the Mariinsky Theater for the first time in more than a century and a half since the last production, the premiere of Bellini’s opera “The Puritans” took place, directed by Vladislav Furmanov, who made his debut in the operatic genre. Albina Shagimuratova performed as Elvira. Tells Vladimir Dudin.

An amazing time has come at the Mariinsky Theater: one after another, the premieres of such rare masterpieces as Bellini’s “Puritans” and Meyerbeer’s “Huguenots” are announced – two pinnacles of mature bel canto, the world premieres of which took place a year apart in Paris (in 1835 and 1836, respectively, at the Italian and Paris Operas). It seemed that Valery Gergiev forgot to even think about Bellini after “Somnambula,” in which the young Anna Netrebko shone for several seasons, was removed from the repertoire (however, what about “Somnambula”: even the legendary “Norma” is not performed at the Mariinsky Theater) – about Stage versions of Meyerbeer were never discussed at all under Gergiev. The sudden heightened interest in these titles, which have lain in the local library dust, is not least connected with the appearance in the troupe of Albina Shagimuratova, a virtuoso lyric-coloratura soprano of European fame. However, at the Mariinsky there are hardly a couple more such singers, and in both operas the most skillful virtuoso singing is required, not only from the soprano, but no less from the tenor (as well as from the baritone, and even from the bass). However, taking into account the increased powers of Maestro Gergiev, he may be counting on profiting from the Moscow “park” of tenors in further research, in the absence of the opportunity to use a resource from foreign countries, where there are, of course, more artists with ideal belt canto training. And the opera “The Puritans” today, with the persistent historicity of the plot with the mention of historical figures, is an opera, first of all, about the miracle of the voice. It is not without reason that there is a motive for the madness of the main character Elvira, who suspected her lover of treason and only in the finale understood that her dear, pure-minded Arthur – Lord Arthur Talbot – was at that moment saving, under the cover of a wedding, a “political criminal”, Queen Henrietta, the widow of Charles executed by the Puritans I. From a state of madness, she, an involuntary victim of religious strife and civil wars, can be brought out, as the libretto says, by sudden joyful news – something that listeners, depressed by the insane news realities, expect from Bellini’s ecstatic graces.

In the case of Albina Shagimuratova, the extreme degree of concentration on music and image really made it possible to create miracles, on which Italian bel canto is based: the singer’s instrumentally tuned voice easily went into transparent pianissimo, but was also able to show a desperate crescendo what strength lies in her softness and defenselessness . Her Korean tenor colleague Seo Chi Hoon made a worthy match for her in the complex role of Arthur, although he still did not live up to the impeccable brilliance of his partner. The star men were also good – baritone Vladislav Sulimsky (Richard Fort) and bass Maharram Huseynov (George Walton), who showed a velvety voice of wondrous beauty, especially when he admonished the embittered Richard not to commit murder, so that at least two ghosts would not torment him for life. As many as eight first notes of the theme of this famous ensemble in the same metro-rhythmic form open the romance “At dawn, don’t wake her up” by Varlamov, and it is not for nothing that Glinka borrowed the beginning of the melody of Arthur, awaiting execution, for his “Lark” precisely on the words “between heaven and earth “: without Italian opera, Russian romance would be much poorer. But, be that as it may, it is impossible to say that for Valery Gergiev “The Puritans” is his favorite score: he too often disagreed with the singers in ensembles, and in general the music demanded greater grace and clarity of form of the parts and the whole. Most of all, the maestro was inspired by the solo scenes with the star soprano, where at a slow tempo he did not skimp on orchestral beauty, and was wound up by the fiery vital rhythms of the crowd scenes.

Director Vladislav Furmanov, together with a team of artists – Galina Filatova (for scenery and costumes), Anton Nikolaev (for lighting), Alexandra Agrinskaya (for video) – chose the path of schematism and simplification, citing the phenomenon of Puritanism, and refused any multicolor in favor of literally gray-brown-crimson tones. Judging by the color scheme, as well as the exciting work with different levels of the stage (thanks to the plungers), the new production team has mastered opera directing in an apprentice way, mainly based on the material of the conventional black-red-white “Il Trovatore” by Pier Luigi Pizzi, diluting these impressions with the aesthetics of the Mariinsky performance “Lucia di Lammermoor” directed by Andrea de Rosa. In the same spirit, there were discreet costumes, seemingly efficient, but dull and would have been suitable for almost any other opera. The only real glitch was Arthur’s outfit: the short Song Chi Hun in a white camisole, cuirass and an extremely unfortunate black wig looked not like a hero, but rather a sexless misunderstanding. The production of “The Puritans” tried its best not to interfere with the singing, making it clear that the direction was in the hard-working hands of artisans – albeit debutants in the opera. But they are generous with simple hints: the play opens with a mobilization scene of shaving the “roundheads” (as the Puritans were called for their bowl-shaped hairstyles) with the distribution of halberds, and as a wedding gift, Elvira is presented with a cannon with a bouquet of flowers.