Wolrd Premiere in Mariinsky Theatre - Rodion Shchedrin - A Christmas Tale

On 26 December 2015, Rodion Shchedrin's new opera A Christmas Tale will be premiered at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, conducted by Valery Gergiev. With its routes in the 19th century, the story is based on Czech author Božena Nemcova's fairy tale The Twelve Months.

For more than two decades Shchedrin was interested in this subject matter. The new two-act opera is in Russian, using a translation by Nikolai Leskow. A Christmas Tale tells the story of a mother who, with the help of her daughter, is trying to get rid of her beautiful and kind-hearted stepdaughter. In deepest winter, they send the obedient child out into the forest to search for violets, knowing there won’t be any. However, on her desperate and futile hunt, the young girl meets the Twelve Months, which come to her aid.

Five more performances of A Christmas Tale in St. Petersburg follow the premiere until 13 February 2016.