Herman from Odessa Opera House

Odessa became one of the first cities in the world, where The Queen of Spades was performed. 125 years ago Tchaikovsky himself came here-at the rehearsals and the premiere of the opera. Odessans literary adore Pyotr in far 1893. On the stage of the Odessa Theatre people pelted the composer with bouquets and floral wreaths with the inscriptions: "To the immortal – from mortals". And the music society presented him the ebony conductor's baton with a gold handle, decorated with a diamond lyre... We have no doubt that Eduard Martyniuk will be able to bring from the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre that special mood, that atmosphere, that air filled with the memory of the brilliant composer to Minsk. 

Eduard Martyniuk performed several productions of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades: Minsk, Odessa, Budapest, Zurich, Brno and Moscow. ‘I started my career with Tchaikovsky's music, all my best works are connected with him. This is the composer who treats my voice, although many singers are afraid of his works...’ admits Eduard Martyniuk (guest soloist of the Belarusian Bolshoi, soloist of the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, recipient of the Francysk Skaryna medal and winner of international competitions).

People say that Tchaikovsky wrote his own The Queen of Spades, and it is much more convincing than Pushkin’s original. Whether this is true or not you can decide on 2 April.

This evening Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece will feature winners on international competitions Ekaterina Golovleva as Liza, Natalia Akinina as Countess, Ilya Silchukov as Yeletsky; Honoured Artists of the Republic of Belarus Stanislav Trifonov as Count Tomsky, Aksana Yakushevich as Polina. The recipient of the Fransysk Skaryna Medal Andrei Galanov will conduct.