The Tsar’s Bride By Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimski-Korsakov’s ninth opera, The Tsar’s Bride occupies a singular place in his oeuvre. Constructed like a tragedy, the work is based on a dramatic historical event: the death of Ivan the Terrible’s third wife just a few days after their wedding. The frenzy of powerful emotions (love, jealousy, desire for revenge) is incarnated in the beauty of the many arias and the sheer power of the orchestration, which is lush with brass and percussions. Leading the Orchestra of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre, Tugan Sokhiev skilfully conducts this operatic masterpiece, well-served here by a cast of exceptional Russian singers.