Thursday 18 September 2025 | 19:00 |
Friday 19 September 2025 | 19:00 |
Saturday 06 December 2025 | 19:00 |
Sunday 07 December 2025 | 15:00 |
Sunday 21 December 2025 | 15:00 |
Estonian National Opera | ||
Arvo Volmer | Conductor | |
Kaspar Mänd | Conductor | |
Guillaume Gallienne | Director | |
Sylvie Olivé | Set Designer | |
Olivier Bériot | Costume Designer | |
John Torres | Lighting Designer | |
Estonian National Opera Orchestra | ||
Marie Lambert-Le Bihan | Dramaturgy | |
Juuli Lill | Mezzo-soprano | Pulcinella |
Aule Urb | Mezzo-soprano | Pulcinella |
Rafael Dicenta | Tenor | Pulcinella |
Yixuan Wang | Tenor | Pulcinella |
Raiko Raalik | Bass | Pulcinella |
Priit Volmer | Bass | Pulcinella |
L'Heure espagnole | ||
Helen Lokuta | Mezzo-soprano | Concepción |
Karis Trass | Mezzo-soprano | Concepción |
Mart Madiste | Tenor | Torquemada |
Reigo Tamm | Tenor | Torquemada |
Tamar Nugis | Baritone | Ramiro |
René Soom | Baritone | Ramiro |
Mart Laur | Bass | Don Iñigo Gomez |
Priit Volmer | Bass | Don Iñigo Gomez |
Brayan Avila Martinez | Tenor | Gonzalve |
Heldur Harry Põlda | Tenor | Gonzalve |
Pulcinella | ||
Leonide Massine | Choreography | Pulcinella |
“Pulcinella” tells a story about a vivid commedia dell’arte character, rogue Pulcinella whose cheeky charm helps him to woo other men’s lovers and saves him from intricate plans of revenge …
When the director of Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev proposed that Igor Stravinsky write a ballet with songs based on Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s (1710–1736) music and a commedia dell’arte libretto, Stravinsky thought that Diaghilev must be out of his mind. After having acquainted himself with the musical material that included also music of some less know Italian composers, he was hooked, “I took a look at the music and fell in love!”. The commission resulted in an artistic pearl that combines song and dance, Stravinsky’s musical humour and Pablo Picasso’s designs.
“L’Heure espagnole”
A story about a woman yearning for a love affair, an unsuspecting husband, three concealed lovers and a room full of clocks ...
The opera is based on Franc-Nohain’s eponymous play that premiered in 1904 that in its clear and realistic expression opposed Symbolism that had emerged in the 19th century France and was popularised by Mallarmé, Verlaine and Maeterlinck. The colourful characters and events of the play offered Ravel a chance to experiment with musical means and sonorities. We can hear clocks chiming in various rhythms and characteristic Spanish dances, such as habanera and jota. The critique of Ravel’s first opera can be summed up with an opinion published after the premiere: “This is a musical comedy that is full of brilliant clockwork and seductive joie de vivre – Ravel’s first opera is a masterpiece, bristling with dazzling music!”