In the frameworks of the All-Russian action "Night of the Arts - 2020" on November 03, 2020 at 19.00, for the first time Dargomyzhsky's opera "Esmeralda" will be streamed online. The recording of the performance can be viewed on the theatre's official social networks.
At the beginning of his path, the future author of the famous "Rusalka (The Mermaid)" dreamed of a great romantic opera. Dargomyzhsky was especially attracted by the subjects of the works of Victor Hugo. The colossal success of “Notre-Dame de Paris” has given rise to numerous dramatizations, paintings and illustrations. The images of the novel moved to the opera and ballet stage, while undergoing rethinking and alteration. However, not all productions were successful. Dargomyzhsky showed himself in "Esmeralda" as a gifted playwright. A strong musical and theatrical work is marked by vivid characteristics of the characters and tense stage positions. The talented young composer created amazing music that retains impressive strength to our time and managed to truthfully convey the atmosphere of action and the flavor of life in medieval Paris.
“In our performance we keep in full the historicism of Dargomyzhsky's work. We do not deprive the staging of the captivating harsh poetry of the medieval world, but the problems of the main characters will be familiar and understandable to a person of the twenty-first century, because they are eternal. This is a bright love that united two people from different strata of society (a young officer Phoebus and a gypsy girl Esmeralda), and a pernicious passion that burns from within, which turned Frollo into a demon ... Over the centuries, a lot has changed, but both then and now, extraordinary feelings and passions are born in a ruthless society that condemns any sincere manifestations, which leads to tragedy. The finale of the performance, I think you can guess what life itself prompted us. A beautiful cathedral perishes, and with it everything burns down in the fire: amazing people, their hopes, love, passion and pain, ” says Yuri Alexandrov.