IV St. Petersburg International Festival «All Together Opera»

In July 12 – 22, 2015 St. Petersburg International Festival «All Together Opera» was held for the fourth time. This year St. Petersburg State Music Hall Theatre was the main organizer of the festival. Music Director of the festival – Fabio Mastrangelo, Art Director – Victor Vysotsky.

In the summer of 2015 «All Together Opera» Festival presented four opera performances to the audience and guests of St.Petersburg.

Peter Tchaikovsky’s opera «Mazeppa» was performed at the festival opening, in honour of the 175th anniversary of the great composer’s birth. The opera was presented within the framework of the project «Russia. History and music», which was a festival guest at the Cathedral Square of the Peter and Paul Fortress on July 12. Director – Victor Vysotsky. 

On July 15 the building of the Music Hall Theatre and the square in front of it turned into a natural set for the Puccini’s opera «Turandot». The stonework of the Music Hall Theatre, which resembles the Great Chinese Wall, resonated to the nature of the Italian play-fairy-tale by Carlo Gozzi «Turandot». This opera can be called the peak of Puccini’s work. It combines monumentality and intimacy, humor and lyrics, forming a complicated palette of feelings. On the path of compassion towards this magical and dramatic story the spectator is accompanied by beautiful Italian melodies and authentic Chinese tunes, artfully entwined by the composer into the musical fabric of the opera.
Director – Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Olga Mukhortova. 
Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, 
Conductor – People’s Artist of the Russian Federation Sergei Stadler. 
Performers: 
Turandot – Ekaterina Shimanovich (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), 
Calaf – Avgust Amonov (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), 
Liu – Zhanna Dombrovskaya (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), 
Timur – Nikolai Tsarevsky (Soloist of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire, Prize Winner at the international competition), 
Ping – Alexei Pashiev (Guest Soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia), 
Pang – Evgeny Nagovitsyn (Guest Soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia),  
Pong – Alexander Mikhailov (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), 
Altoum – Nikolai Shamov (Soloist of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire, Prize Winner at the international competition). 

On July 18 at the main parade ground of the Catherine Palace Mozart’s opera «Don Giovanni» was performed. «Don Giovanni» is one of the most famous operas by the great Viennese classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a kind of a symbol of the opera art in general. The widely known plot of an ancient Spanish legend, used by Moliere and Pushkin among other, makes this work one of the most popular with the audience, who expects new interpretations of it with every production. Mozart’s opera belongs to the Rococo epoch in Europe; therefore «Don Giovanni» within the framework of the Festival «All Together Opera» was presented in Tsarskoye Selo, at the main parade ground of the Catherine Palace – the masterpiece of the Russian baroque architecture.

Director – Vasili Zarzhetsky. 
«The Northern Sinfonietta» Orchestra of the Music Hall Theatre, 
Conductor and Music Director - Fabio Mastrangelo
Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral, 
Artistic Director – Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Begletsov
Performers: 
Don Giovanni – Vladimir Tselebrovsky (Honoured Artist of the Republic of Karelia, soloist of the «Petersburg Concert»), 
Donna Anna – Sofia Zaborovskaya (Soloist of the «Petersburg Concert»), 
Donna Elvira – Sofia Nekrasova (Soloist of the «St. Petersburg Opera» Theatre), 
Leporello – Yuri Vlasov (Soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre), 
Masetto – Alexander Podmeshalsky (Soloist of the «Zazerkalie» Music Theatre), 
Zerlina – Elena Zastavnaya (Soloist of the «Zazerkalie» Music Theatre), 
Don Ottavio – Constantine Shcherbenko (Soloist of the «Zazerkalie» Music Theatre), 
Il Commendatore – Evgeny Chernyadyev (Soloist of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire).

Closing of the Festival «All Together Opera» was traditionally held at the Kirov Central Culture and Leisure Park on the Yelagin Island. Here on July 22 Donizetti’s opera «L'elisir d'amore» was performed.
This opera has an eternal theme – the search of mutual understanding between young people; it is an opera about sincere spiritual impulses, the understanding of which sometimes requires a comical plot. «L'elisir d'amore» is one of the few operas of the classical repertoire, the agenda of which can be quite contemporarily perceived by young people living in the XXI century. The popularity of this work is also supported by many song hits that it has. «L'elisir d'amore» is an ideal musical work for an open air summer night.

Director – Elina Amromina. 
Orchestra of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire,
Conductor – Marco Pace (Italy)
Choir of the Mikhailosvky Theatre, Artistic director – Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Stolpovskykh
Performers: 
Nemorino – Roman Arndt (Soloist of the «Zazerkalie» Music Theatre, Prize Winner at the All-Russian competitions), 
Adina – Alexandra Zarubina (Prize Winner at the All-Russian competitions), 
Giannetta – Alexandra Popandopulo (Soloist of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire, Prize Winner at the international competitions), 
Belcore – Mikhail Nikanorov (Soloist of the Helikon Opera Theatre, Prize Winner at the international competitions), 
Dulcamara – Egor Prokopyev (Soloist of the «Zazerkalie» Music Theatre, Prize Winner at the international competitions), 
Assistant to Dulcamara – Alexander Mishchenko (ballet soloist of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire), 
Postman - Victor Krylov (artist of the extras of the Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St.Petersburg Conservatoire)
Original sets to the operas were created by the production designer Yulia Goltsova, choreographer of the productions – Constantine Chuvashev.
Traditionally, all operas were presented in the original language and attracted crowds of spectators. According to the calculations, 15 thousand people visited the festival performances, despite the summer in St. Petersburg being rainy and cold this year.

Tourists traditionally showed great interest to the program of the festival. Groups from Denmark, Italy and other European countries visited the opera performances. 
While summing the festival up, the Music Director of the «All Together Opera» Maestro Fabio Mastrangelo pointed out that he was absolutely happy about the fact that St.Petersburg residents and visitors had shown great interest to opera art for four years and accepted festival performances so warmly. The maestro specifically emphasized that in the conditions of uncharacteristically cold and rainy July people actively attended opera performances, which indicated a high cultural level of our audience.