Pjotr Iljitsch Tschaikowsky (1840-1893)
Jolanthe
Lyric Opera in One Act
Olesya Golovneva · Alexander Vinogradov
Andrei Bondarenko · Dmytro Popov · Vladislav Sulimsky
John Heuzenroeder · Marc-Olivier Oetterli
Dalia Schaechter · Justyna Samborska · Marta Wryk
Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne
Dmitrij Kitajenko, conductor
The world premieres of Iolanta and The Nutcracker
took place on 18 December 1892 at St. Petersburg’s
Mariinsky Theatre. “The execution of both, ” wrote
the composer to his brother Anatoly the next day,
“was magnificent, and that of the ballet perhaps too
magnificent – its brilliance made one’s eyes tired.”
Gustav Mahler conducted the first performance of
the one-act opera outside Russia on 3 January 1893 in
Hamburg and also directed the Viennese premiere of
Iolanta
on 22 March 1900..