On April 3rd and 4th the Opera Centre’s soloists performed at Galina Vishnevskaya’s homeland in the framework of the VII Mstislav Rostropovich International Festival: April 3 – a concert at the Palace of Youth in Kronstadt, April 4 – Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta at the Hermitage Theater.
St. Petersburg’s audience is familiar with the work of the Opera Centre: Galina Vishnevskaya has brought her students to Kronstadt and St. Petersburg many times for concerts and opera performances. Kronstadt particularly remembers the performances dedicated to the celebration of the Great Victory: the projects The Music of Frontline Brigades in 2005 and The people’s war begins… presented in 2010. This time the Centre’s soloists have prepared a special program, which included the most popular operatic pieces. The audience filled the Kronstadt Palace of Youth long before the start of the concert and warmly welcomed soloists of the Centre as the participants of the Rostropovich Festival.
The next day the Festival moved to the Palace Embankment, to the Hermitage Theatre. At this historic stage, in the unique interiors of the ceremonial hall, the performances of the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre are perceived in a special way; as the great singer has confessed, she had fell in love with the Hermitage Theatre at first sight not by chance.
The resumed production of Iolanta was presented by the Opera Centre on October 25, 2015 and was dedicated to Galina Vishnevskaya’s birthday. In addition to its own stage, the opera was successfully presented at the State Tchaikovsky’s Memorial Museum-Preserve in Klin, as well as in Irkutsk in celebration of the 90th birthday anniversary of Galina Vishnevskaya. The audience enthusiastically welcomed the young artists, for many of whom this performance had become a debut in St. Petersburg. The Opera Centre Orchestra was conducted by Alexander Solovyov.
In an interview with the program ‘Vesti – St. Petersburg’, the Artistic Director of the Opera Centre and of the Festival – Olga Rostropovich – stressed that Tchaikovsky’s wonderful music gives each singer a chance to fully demonstrate their talent and technical capabilities. «A year devoted to the Galina Vishnevskaya’s anniversary continues, and we hope to perform in St. Petersburg again».