Grange Park Opera

Approximate running times
Curtain up 5:20pm, Interval 6:50pm - 8:30pm, End time 9:40pm

A tale of obsession and deceit, Tchaikovsky's penultimate opera is recognised as one of his greatest works. Hermann, a young officer, falls in love with Lisa, a girl he's never spoken to, and who is engaged to the Prince Yeletsky. Hermann uses Lisa to gain access to her grandmother, a Countess, who won a fortune in the casino with the secret of "the three cards".

Hermann is determined to discover that secret, but the Countess dies before revealing it. In his obsession to find the winning combination, Hermann loses Lisa, his mind and ultimately his own life.

Carl Tanner, who recently received a standing ovation at the Met in Fanciulla, plays the demented Hermann.

Text by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story by Alexander Pushkin
First performance St. Petersburg, 19 December 1890

Sung in Russian with surtitles

With The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Sponsored by Gazprom Marketing & Trading

A quick flick through the story

Director/Designer: Antony McDonald
Conductor: Stephen Barlow
Choreographer: Lucy Burge
Lighting Designer: Paul Keogan

Hermann: Carl Tanner
Lisa: Anne Sophie Duprels
Yeletsky: Quirijn de Lang
Tomsky: Roman Ialcic
The Countess: Anne-Marie Owens
Polina: Sara Fulgoni
Tchekalinsky: Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts
Surin: Timothy Dawkins
Narumov: Matthew Hargreaves
Tchaplitsky: Andrew Rees
Governess: Helen Sherman

Full synopsis

Study guide for the novel

The Overture

Dimitri Hvorostovsky sings Yeletsky's aria

Tchaikovsky resources

Wikipedia