On 25 and 26 July the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre will host the premiere of a new production of Sorochintsy Fair, the final opera by Modest Musorgsky. This staging will mark the closing premiere of the Mariinsky Theatre’s 242nd season. The production is directed and choreographed by Ilya Ustyantsev, with set design by Yekaterina Malinina, costume technology by Maria Sedykh, and lighting by Vadim Brodsky. Its musical director is Valery Gergiev.
Sorochintsy Fair was Musorgsky’s last opera, begun in 1874 and based on the short story of the same name from Nikolai Gogol’s Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. The composer masterfully captured the poetry and humor of Gogol’s tale, bringing to life the customs and folk spirit of its vivid characters. A vibrant village fair unfolds before the audience – lively, colourful, filled with merriment and dance. Street cries, quarrels and banter mingle with authentic folk melodies, romantic arias, and duets celebrating nature’s beauty and the joy of true love.
As with Salammbô and Khovanshchina, Musorgsky left Sorochintsy Fair unfinished. While many composers attempted to complete it, the version by Vissarion Shebalin – composed and orchestrated in 1931–1932 – has proved the most enduring. This is the version presented at the Mariinsky Theatre today.
The opera was first performed in concert on 16 March 1911 in St Petersburg, with its stage premiere following two years later in Moscow at the Free Theatre. In this new Mariinsky production, director and choreographer Ilya Ustyantsev seeks to move beyond mere illustration of the original tale. As he notes, the creative team aims to explore the deeper dilemmas faced by the characters: the tension between personal gain and the preservation of one’s soul and friendships.
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