Siberia

It is a dreadful act of love when Stephana gives up her life as a mistress at an elegant townhouse in St. Petersburg to follow her true love Vassili to a Siberian prison camp. There, in this exile, Stephana turns into a fearless hero.

In his Italian opera Siberia, Umberto Giordano portrays the sensational and dense plot, the lively emotions of the characters and the impressive choir in the style of Verismo. Passionate outbursts end in lustful moments between the lovers and convince with real emotions intensified even more by what seems like cinematic flashbacks. Fascinating Russian sounds ranging from the former national anthem of Russia, “God Save the Tsar!” to the traditional “Song of the Volga Boatmen” are embedded within the dramatic music.

For Giordano, who also composed Andrea Chénier and Fedora, Siberia is a universally applicable human drama despite its local color: »Love and pain do not have a nationality«.
As a member of the »Giovane Scuola«, the »Young School«, Giordano opposes Giuseppe Verdi’s omnipresence in the playbills, fuels realism in the opera and orientates himself towards Richard Wagner and Jules Massenet. Siberia premiered in 1903 in La Scala in Milan replacing Giacomo Puccini’s postponed Madama Butterfly.

Two young artists from Moscow bring the stirring opus to the Festspielhaus: the internationally aspiring director Vasily Barkhatov and Valentin Uryupin, who already conducted Eugen Onegin in Bregenz.

The 2022 Bregenz Festival runs from 20 July to 21 August 2022. For tickets and details visit www.bregenzerfestspiele.com or call 0043 5574 4076.+43 (0)5574 407-6.

Musical director Valentin Uryupin
Stage director Vasily Barkhatov
Stage designer Christian Schmidt
Costume designer Nicole von Graevenitz
Lighting designer Alexander Sivaev

Prague Philharmonic Choir

Wiener Symphoniker