Sergei Alexashkin

Serge Prokofiev's enigmatic work, this is a tale of the supernatural, religious hysteria and demonic possession which is set in Germany at the time of The Inquisition.

The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov is interwoven with the Great Patriotic War of 1812 against Napoleon's invading army.

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's dazzling opera by-line in seven tableaux. The epic journey of Sadko a sea-faring minstrel from Novgorod, his wife Libava and their encounters with Volkhova, a sea Princess and the court of her parents the Tsar and Tsarina of the Sea. Sadko traveling on his ship "Falcon" also meets visiting foreign merchants from India (a Hindu), Scandinavia (a Varangian) and Italy (a Venetian) singing of the magic of their own lands to try and lure him. In the seventh tableaux Sadko is reunited with his wife, thinking his journey a dream, until he sees his fleet of ships coming up the newly created river Volkhova and realizes his sea Princess has transformed herself into the river in order to create the gateway to the ocean for Novgorod. In conclusion Sadko leads the hymn of praise and everyone rejoices their good fortune.

Valery Gergiev directs the Kirov Opera and Ballet in this dramatic staging of Tchaikovsky's rarely performed historical opera, based on Pushkin's verse tale of the legendary Cossack chieftain.