Today, 7 May the musical world celebrates 180 years since the birth of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The great Russian composer’s pieces have comprised the core of the theatre’s repertoire since its very inauguration. The second performance that was shown at the young Novosibirsk theatre was Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin – it premiered on 23rd June 1945. Later in 1946 the repertoire was updated with The Queen of Spades, and then in 1947 Swan Lake ballet took its place in the theatre’s playbill. Today the audience watches the tenth rendition of Swan Lake, which has been performed about 1400 times in total. Besides that, this ageless masterpiece of Russian classical ballet was included in the majority of the company’s international tours. Another Tchaikovsky’s excellent ballet is The Sleeping Beauty, which is currently running in the eighth rendition. More than once the company staged Tchaikovsky’s opera masterpieces Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades.
In addition to that, the company staged other Tchaikovsky’s operas throughout the years: Mazeppa, Cherevichki, The Enchantress, The Maid of Orleans and Iolanta (a new staging is being prepared). Aside from the most popular ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker the company’s current repertoire includes George Balanchine’s one act ballets, parts of the world famous production Jewels - Theme and Variations and Diamonds set to Tchaikovsky’s music. Prior to that, the Novosibirsk company has already staged Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Serenade, both deriving their musical score from works of the great Russian composer. In 1988 A. Berdyshev and N. Sokovikova staged My Francesca ballet to the music from Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasy Francesca da Rimini.
NOVAT’s 75th anniversary season opened in September with a new staging of Swan Lake ballet and a concert version of Eugene Onegin involving young opera soloists at the Second stage. As of today, NOVAT’s playbill includes ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and two renditions of the audience’s favorite The Nutcracker; operas The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin. On top of that, the company is preparing a new rendition of Iolanta opera. Creative team consists of stage director Irkin Gabitov, conductor Dmitri Jurowski and designer Vyacheslav Okunev.
