Lyric Opera 2019-2020 Issue 9 The Queen of Spades

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 31 The first Tchaikovsky opera I conducted was Eugene Onegin , which is one of my favorite pieces, and it’s interesting because he didn’t actually call it an opera – he called it “Lyric Scenes.” The Queen of Spades , which had its premiere eleven years after Onegin , is definitely an opera! It’s full of melodrama and is very red-blooded. I definitely think this opera deserves to be as well known internationally as Onegin , although I recognize that it’s more expensive to produce and requires much bigger forces. Also, you have to have the right tenor or there’s no point – the piece is difficult to cast in a way that Onegin certainly isn’t. This is an opera about the obsession of gambling and its consequences. It’s very powerful, and there are a lot of outbursts from the orchestra that seem to pulse with supercharged emotion. For me, the only other Tchaikovsky piece that has that kind of impact is the “Pathétique” Symphony; it exudes the same sort of heightened emotion, and the feeling that the music is getting very close to one’s nerves. We know Tchaikovsky wrote it a time of great anguish and torment, and this is very much what we get from Gherman, the protagonist of The Queen of Spades . He is a character who’s on the edge all the time. The Queen of Spades definitely demands more stamina from the conductor, principals, and orchestra than Onegin , and it offers more drama. With Onegin the word that springs to mind is “wistfulness.” That opera is so much about what might have been, which isn’t part of The Queen of Spades at all. Actually, these two pieces feel emotionally and dramatically miles apart from each other. There’s also more musical variety in The Queen of Spades , which makes life more interesting. You’ve got pastiche with the intermezzo in Act Two, which is delightful and is a foil that is helpful in the overall structure of the opera. It comes at a perfect time, and gives us a moment of relief from all the terrifying events that surround it. Also in Act Two, you have the unexpected interpolation of a delicate, atmospheric aria sung by the Countess that Tchaikovsky took from the opera Richard, Coeur de Lion ( Richard the Lion-Heart ) by the 18 th - century French composer André Grétry – the only music by Grétry that I know! Lisa’s aria in Act Three really gets to me, simply because it’s so beautiful. The opera’s high points are the arias for her, for Gherman (Acts One and Three), and for Prince Yeletsky (Act Two). I also love the storm scene in Act One, which relates directly to the torment in Gherman’s mind. This opera memorably demonstrates that Tchaikovsky is without question a great musical dramatist, and I think it’s a great pity we don’t know more of his operas. He composed eleven, and Onegin and The Queen of Spades are the only ones that I’ve had the chance to conduct. A lot of Tchaikovsky’s ballet music is great preparation for his operas. The ballets are so powerful because they each tell the story so well. They’re not accompaniment to pretty dancing − they’re actually a significant part of Tchaikovsky’s development as a dramatic composer. They were revolutionary not just because of their vivid storytelling, but also because of their emotional punch. So in a way, it’s no surprise that The Queen of Spades is so riveting. If you don’t feel emotionally engaged by this opera, you have no business going anywhere near it! At the heart of it, of course, is Gherman, a superhuman challenge for a singer. This character is so obsessed and torn. So many operas look at that particular emotional state, but Gherman is an exceptionally extreme example of it – he’s a man possessed. Sir Andrew Davis’s biography appears on page 23. Conductor’s note By Sir Andrew Davis Sir Andrew Davis in the pit at Lyric. Todd Rosenberg