Britten's The Turn of the Screw - by The Mariinsky Opera   

Time: 26 March 2010, 7:30pm  27 March 2010, 2:30pm
Venue: Grand Theatre, HK Cultural Centre
Price: Adult - $880, $680, $540, $400, $300, $200  Student - $340, $270, $200, $150, $100

About This Programme
The Turn of the Screw is the Mariinsky Theatre's most lauded new production in recent years. Premiered in 2006, the production was awarded the Golden Mask National Theatre Award in Moscow, and restaged by London's English National Opera in 2007 to critical and popular acclaim, winning the 2008 South Bank Show Award.

Reflecting the eerie, escalating tension encoded in Benjamin Britten's beautiful and imaginative music, David McVicar's staging plunges us deep into the claustrophobic darkness of this ambiguous tale of corrupted innocence and psychological manipulation.

The Mariinsky Theatre
Renamed the Kirov during the Soviet era, St Petersburg's 226-year-old Mariinsky Theatre is one of the world's foremost opera and ballet companies. A beacon of Russian culture since its beginnings at the Imperial Court, the Mariinsky has performed under the batons of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Mahler, Wagner, Berlioz, Sibelius, Bruno Walter and Otto Klemperer, and premiered such masterpieces as The Queen of Spades, Boris Godunov, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

David McVicar
David McVicar, named "the hottest property in opera direction" by The Independent, is well known for the musical sensitivity and theatrical flair of his productions, which have been staged at Royal Opera House, English National Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, La Monnaie, and by leading festivals such as Glyndebourne, Salzburg and Aldeburgh.

Special Remarks
Performed in English with English and Chinese surtitles

Cast And Director
Music     Benjamin Britten
Libretto     Myfanwy Piper
after the novella by    Henry James
Director  David McVicar
Conductor  Valery Gergiev with the Mariinsky Orchestra     

The Governess     Tatiana Pavlovskaya
                            Yekaterina Solovieva
Mrs Grose      Larisa Shevchenko
                     Elena Vitman
Miss Jessel     Yekaterina Shimanovich
                     Lyubov Sokolova
Quint     Andrei Ilyushnikov
             Alexander Timchenko
Miles      to be announced
Flora      Larisa Yelina

Duration
Approx 2 hrs 20 mins incl one interval

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