HGO Unveils Tchaikovsky’s “Queen of Spades”
If you are looking for something a little different for entertainment when you head out in Houston, perhaps you should check out The Houston Grand Opera’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades this April. After performing Puccinni’s Tosca this past February, the Houston Grand Opera under the baton of Carlo Rizzi will be presenting one of 11 Tchaikovsky operas. According to the HGO website, the London Observer said the following of the production:
“Once every few seasons, a production gets pretty much everything right. This is one … Dramatically spine-chilling, visually spare and coherent, it was the kind of theatrical experience which changes the way you look at life – not a comment to be made lightly.” — The Observer (London)
The opera, which originally premiered in December of 1890, is based on the short story by Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. Much of Pushkin’s work has famously been set to music by a number of prolific composers. The Queen of Spades is a complex tale of secrecy, greed, manipulation and desire. And of course, what would opera be without a little avarice, a little death and passion!
