{"product_id":"tchaikovsky-cherevichki-1","title":"Tchaikovsky: Cherevichki","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=523249\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e One of the most vibrant, colourful and eye-catching productions staged at London’s Royal Opera House who offered it as the 2009 Christmas presentation. Starting out life as Vakula the Smith, whatever its title, Tchaikovsky’s opera was based on Gogol’s story, Christmas Eve, its lighthearted fairytale aimed at creating an evening of delightful fantasy. The plot is complicated and requires a large cast, but taken down to its bare bones, it tells the story of Vakula, whose mother is courted by many men including the Devil, she too being something of a witch. He falls for the young village wench, Oxana, a rather highly-strung filly who says he will have to get the Empresses shoes before she will marry him. With the help of the Devil, who carries him on his back to St. Petersburg, he does successfully obtain a pair of the Empresses shoes. Victorious he returns only to find a contrite Oxana who has missed him greatly, and wants him as her husband with or without the Empresses shoes. Though it was heavily revised by Tchaikovsky to create Cherevichki (The Tsarina’s Slippers), he thought very highly of the finished product, but it has never found a place in the international opera repertoire. With a largely Russian cast, the Royal Opera House turned it into a visual spectacular, presenting one big scene after another, with big ballet scenes and a massive extravaganza at the Empresses palace. The cast is superb throughout, with Vsevolod Grivnov a heroic heldontenor as Vakula; Olga Guryakova a charming and typical Russian soprano as Oxana; Larissa Diadkova is a fulsome Solokha in voice and stature, but it is the big voice of Vladimir Matorin as Chub that almost steals the show. Maybe the chorus is just a little tentative at times, particularly at the return of Vakula, but with the range of magnificent costumes they still make a visual delight. A joint BBC\/Royal Opera House product, the whole presentation is superb, the costume’s colours so thrillingly brought to your screen.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Solokha – Larissa Diadkova\u003cbr\u003e  The Devil – Maxim Mikhailov\u003cbr\u003e  Chub – Vladimir Matorin\u003cbr\u003e  Panas – John Upperton\u003cbr\u003e  Oxana – Olga Guryakova\u003cbr\u003e  Vakula – Vsevolod Grivnov\u003cbr\u003e  Pan Golova – Alexander Vassiliev\u003cbr\u003e  The Schoolmaster – Viacheslav Voynarovskiy\u003cbr\u003e  Odark – Olga Sabadoch\u003cbr\u003e  Wood Goblin – Changhan Lim\u003cbr\u003e  Echo – Andrew Macnair\u003cbr\u003e  His Highness – Sergey Leiferkus\u003cbr\u003e  Master of Ceremonies – Jeremy White\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e  Alexander Polianichko, conductor\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Francesca Zambello, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  Alastair Marriott, choreography\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, November 2009.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Bonus: - Introducing Cherevichki by Francesca Zambello\u003cbr\u003e  - Cast and Characters\u003cbr\u003e  - Staging Gogol's world\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: LPCM Stereo \/ DTS 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Menu language: English\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 154 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Opus Arte","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49608081080600,"sku":"809478010371","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1769918.jpg?v=1777685075","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/products\/tchaikovsky-cherevichki-1","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}