Nikolai Putilin

Mazeppa

Brian Large

Nikolai Putilin, Sergei Alexashkin

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.

Verdi: La Forza del Destino

Elijah Moshinsky

Galina Gorchakova, Nikolai Putilin

Taped live at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Valery Gergiev conducts this landmark production of Giuseppe Verdi's operatic masterpiece. This opera premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in 1862, and is performed here in its original St. Petersburg version using reconstructions of the magnificent painted scenery.

Parsifal: The Search for the Grail

Rob Ayling, Tony Palmer

Valery Gergiev, Plácido Domingo

Richard Wagner's operatic retelling of the story of the search for the Holy Grail receives a lavish production in this video, which records performances held in Bayreuth, St. Petersburg, and Ravello, Italy. Internationally renowned tenor Placido Domingo leads the distinguished cast; Tony Palmer directs.

The Queen of Spades

Galina Gorchakova, Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Elijah Moshinsky’s atmospheric production, designed by Mark Thompson, sets the stage for this gripping performance of Tchaikovsky’s passionate setting of Pushkin’s classic novel. Valery Gergiev’s idiomatic and authoritative conducting inspires a superb cast, headed by Plácido Domingo (Ghermann), breathtaking in his portrayal of a man unraveling toward suicide. Galina Gorchakova is Lisa, the woman he loves and destroys, Dmitri Hvorostovsky lends a superb voice and regal bearing to Prince Yeletsky; and Elisabeth Söderström is hair-raising as the old Countess. Olga Borodina is Paulina and Nikolai Putilin is Count Tomsky.

Khovanshchina

Vladimir Ognovenko, Vladimir Galouzine

A lyrical drama in a context of political, religious and cultural revolution, in the heart of the late 17th century in Russia. The story takes place during the 1682 revolt opposing the Old Believers and the New Orthodox. Ivan Khovanski (Vladimir Ognovenko), head of the streltsy's uprising, embodies the movement of religious indignation which ends up being bloodily crushed.