On May 15, the Concert Hall of the Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design hosted a truly magical Gala Concert of the second season of the international intercollegiate youth cultural and humanitarian project “Opera & Podium.”Celebration and enchantment—this was the atmosphere that immersed the audience for two hours as the hall filled to capacity.
The orchestra of the Saint Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory opened the evening with Glinka’s overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, conducted by Miras Nurzhanov. Following the overture, opera excerpts unfolded on stage one after another.
First, in the city of Tmutarakan, the cunning characters Tkachikha, Povarikha, and the matchmaker Babarikha plot to disrupt the happiness of the fortunate sister. The bright and colorful costumes captivated the audience, drawing them into a fairy-tale world. Next, the blossoming castle of King René appeared, where he hides his daughter Iolanta. This scene from Russian opera was performed by students from the People’s Republic of China, who executed it brilliantly.
The next scene, based on Pushkin’s tale about King Dodon and the Queen of Shemakha, enchanted viewers with the charms of the exotic beauty. Magical transformations continued—an evil and icy Snow Queen enveloped the young heroes of the fairy tale in frost, so intensely that even the eyelashes of the young director—a student of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory—turned white. In the finale, the audience witnessed the unusual story of the Prince and Truffaldino on their quest for magical oranges.
The audience applauded enthusiastically; the concert was a resounding success. Meanwhile, the respected expert panel evaluated the teams of young students. This season, the expert panel included:
- Yuri Laptev, Artistic Director of “Opera & Podium”, People’s Artist of Russia
- Yulia Strizhak, Director of the F.I. Shalyapin Musical Theater
- Irina Dolgova, Chief Artist of the Saint Petersburg State Theater of Musical Comedy
- Tatyana Pavlovskaya, Honored Artist of Russia, soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre
- Zhang Zehua, Deputy President of the Hanshi Group Holding
- Avinir Makarov, Vice-Rector for Research, Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design
- Sergey Nikulshin, Professor, Department of Solo Singing, Saint Petersburg State Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
After a short intermission, diplomas for laureates in five categories were awarded to young performers, directors, designers, and makeup artists, along with special prizes from partner organizations, as well as the award for the best production of the second season of “Opera & Podium.”
Stage Makeup: The team of makeup artists from the University’s Engineering School of Clothing—Victoria Gandilyan, Olga Kuzminova, Varvara Mormysheva, Darya Nikolskikh, and Ekaterina Faskhutdinova—received laureate diplomas and special gifts from ESTEL for creating the enchanting looks of characters in Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges.
Multimedia Stage Design: Galina Petrova, Engineering School of Clothing, received the laureate diploma and a special prize from the Hanshi Group for her video content for S. Banevich’s The Story of Kai and Gerda.
Costume Design: Alisa Assadulina, Engineering School of Clothing, was awarded for her design of the Snow Queen costume from Banevich’s opera, along with a prize from the Hanshi Group.
Solo Singing: Kirill Lozakovich, Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, received the laureate diploma and a prize from the Hanshi Group for performing Truffaldino in Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges.
The absolute highlight of the 2024 season was the staging of a scene from Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges. Participants received laureate diplomas not only for best makeup and best performance, but also for best directing. The director, Arina Pushnaya from the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, was awarded the laureate diploma for Best Director, and the production received the laureate diploma for Best Performance of the Second Season.
Additionally, project partners established several special awards:
The publishing house Planeta Musiki presented 17 exceptional albums, Masters of Watercolor: Everything About Plein Air by Konstantin Sterkhov, to all designers who contributed to the graphics and multimedia of the Gala Concert.
The Saint Petersburg State Theater of Musical Comedy awarded certificates for master classes in Theatrical Makeup and Artistic Production Technologies. The awards were presented by Chief Artist Irina Dolgova to students Darya Kashina and Elena Andrianova (Engineering School of Clothing) and Ekaterina Pomazkova and Ksenia Kirpichnikova (Institute of Textile and Fashion).
The Hanshi Group Holding and the China-Russia Research Association of Experts in Cultural and Artistic Development established a special award for fostering partnerships and strengthening Chinese-Russian friendship, presented to Shuai Menyu, director of the team staging a scene from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, by Zhang Zehua, Deputy President of Hanshi Group.
The student team that staged a scene from Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan was awarded a special prize from the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg, presented to director Alexander Shevtsov by Deputy Vyacheslav Borodenchik.
In short, the participants, mentors, and organizers of the second season of “Opera & Podium” delivered on their promises: the concert was bright, colorful, mysterious, and, above all, magical!