06/22/19 – The Queen of Spades (Royal Opera) – 1pm
The Royal Opera House’s Queen of Spades
Title: Queen of Spades
Eva-Maria Westbroek as Liza in The Queen of Spades, The Royal Opera © 2019 ROH. Photograph by Catherine Ashmore
The penniless soldier Gherman has fallen in love with Liza, even though she is engaged to his friend Yeletsky. Gherman learns that Liza’s grandmother the Countess knows a winning three-card formula. Gherman determines to wrest the secret from the Countess, gain a fortune through gambling and marry Liza.
Gherman and Liza admit they love each other, and Gherman persuades Liza to let him into the Countess’s room. But when he tries to wrest the Countess’s secret from her, she dies of fright. The following evening, the Countess’s ghost appears to Gherman. She commands him to marry Liza and tells him the ‘secret of the three cards’. But will this help Gherman satisfy his desires or drive him further towards madness?
Tchaikovsky’s most ambitious opera receives star treatment in Stefan Herheim’s staging, with a cast including Eva-Maria Westbroek, Felicity Palmer and Aleksandrs Antonenko.
Hosts: Sean Rafferty, Lisa Flynn
Broadcast Producer: BBC
WFMT Series Producer: Daniel Goldberg
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Cast (in order of vocal appearance):
Gherman – Aleksandrs Antonenko
Chekalinsky – Alexander Kravets
Surin –Tigran Martirossian
Count Tomsky/Zlatogor – John Lundgren
Tchaikovsky/Prince Yeletsky – Vladimir Stoyanov
Countess – Felicity Palmer
Liza – Eva-Maria Westbroek
Paulina/Milovzor– Anna Goryachova
Masha – Renata Skarelyte
Governess – Louise Winter
Major-Domo– Harry Nicoll
Prilepa – Jacquelyn Stucker
Chaplitsky – Konu Kim
Narumov– Michael Mofidan
