IOLANTA | PYOTR I. TCHAIKOVSKY
TUGAN SOKHIEV, CONDUCTOR | EVGENY TITOV, DIRECTOR | VIENNA STATE OPERA
📅 Streaming live on April 6, 2025, at 19:30 CET (GMT+1)
📍Watch free on the Vienna State Opera website
🔹 Free streaming
🔹 Available on demand until April 7, 2025
🔹 Live from the Vienna State Opera
Cast highlights:
– Iolanta: Sonya Yoncheva
– Vaudémont: Dmytro Popov
– King René: Ivo Stanchev
– Robert: Boris Pinkhasovich
– Ibn-Hakia: Attila Mokus
– Marta: Monika Bohinec
The Vienna State Opera presents Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta in a new production by Evgeny Titov, conducted by Tugan Sokhiev. Known as Tchaikovsky’s final operatic work, Iolanta is a one-act opera that balances lyrical warmth with psychological depth.
Titov’s staging places the story in a rose garden that feels both intimate and disquieting—a space shaped by memory and restriction. Set designer Rufus Didwiszus frames the garden as a “place within a place,” its walls hinting at a deeper unease, while Otto Pichler’s choreography blurs the roles of companions and caretakers. The production gradually questions the world that has been constructed around Iolanta, as well as what it means to truly “see.”
Tchaikovsky’s score reflects the central tension between light and darkness. From the restrained, wind-only orchestral introduction in B-flat minor to the radiant C major conclusion, the music traces Iolanta’s path toward awareness. The opera’s harmonic contrasts, intimate character scenes, and final duet between Iolanta and Vaudémont evoke themes of healing, love, and spiritual awakening.
This performance features Sonya Yoncheva as Iolanta, with Dmytro Popov as Vaudémont and Ivo Stanchev as King René. The performance is available to stream for free on the Vienna State Opera’s website for a limited time.
OVERVIEW
Tchaikovsky’s final opera, Iolanta, tells the story of a young princess who has been blind since birth and kept unaware of her condition. Hidden away in a garden by her father, King René, she lives in a world without knowledge of light or vision. When Count Vaudémont stumbles upon her and reveals the truth, Iolanta begins to long for sight for the first time. A cure is possible—but only if she truly desires it.
As emotional awakening, personal transformation, and the possibility of love converge, Iolanta unfolds as a poignant one-act opera exploring knowledge, freedom, and healing.
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