Igor Stravinsky/Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Mavra/Iolanta

Mirjam Mesak (Iolanta), Long Long (Vaudémont), Boris Prýgl (Robert), Markus Suihkonen (King René), Oğulcan Yilmaz (Ibn-Hakia); Anna El-Khashem (Parasha), Freddie de Tommaso (Vassili), Noa Beinart (Mother/Marta)

Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Axel Ranisch,...

[Mesak] makes an entirely convincing Iolanta, poised between innocence and experience, and singing with blazing conviction opposite Long Long’s lyrically ardent Vaudémont. — Gramophone Magazine, January 2023 More…

Release Date: 2nd Dec 2022
Catalogue No: BSOREC1003
Label: BSO Recordings

Presto Recording of the Week

16th December 2022
Opus Klassik Awards

2023

Nominated - Young Talent (Mesak & Ioffe)

Stravinsky: Mavra - opera buffa in one act

Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

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Recording of the Week, Mavra/Iolanta from the Bayerische Staatsoper

16th December 2022

The young artists of the Munich opera-house's training studio (including Mirjam Mesak and Freddie De Tommaso) shine brightly in Axel Ranisch's ingenious fusion of two contrasting one-act operas by Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

Along with the young singers of the Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Director and Grimme Award winner Axel Ranisch presents an unusual approach to two rarely performed works: In Peter I. Tchaikovsky’s last opera Iolanta, a blind princess is in search of reasons for her sadness and finds love. In Igor Stravinsky’s neoclassical one-act opera buffa Mavra, an inventive young woman decides to act on a risky idea and smuggle her lover into her mother’s house disguised as a cook. Through his immense love of his characters and impressive affinity for the relationships between them, Ranisch weaves both works into a magical coming-of-age fairy tale of family, love, realisation and self-determination: Mavra and Iolanta becomeMavra / Iolanta. Alevtina Ioffe in the conductor’s stand for the Bayerisches Staatsorchester and a magnificent ensemble of the Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper create a breath-takingly electric atmosphere in which the intimate lyrical moments and the great romantic arcs of Tchaikovsky shine as much as the relational, musical comedy of the neoclassical Stravinsky sparkles.

Artists

Opernstudio der Bayerischen Staatsoper, Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Axel Ranisch, Alevtina Ioffe

Reviews

January 2023

[Mesak] makes an entirely convincing Iolanta, poised between innocence and experience, and singing with blazing conviction opposite Long Long’s lyrically ardent Vaudémont.

July 2023

the young singers deliver a set of performances so outstanding that one is grateful they have been cpatured on disc. Most extraordinary among them is Mirjam Mesak, an utterly captivating Iolanta…Long Long makes a big impression as Vaudemont, his finely focused artistry combining beautifully with Mesak's in their climatic duo.

16th December 2022

The breakout star of the Class of 2019 is British-Italian tenor Freddie De Tommaso, but he's by no means the only name to watch in this mouth-watering showcase of young talent – indeed, there isn’t a singer on stage whose career I won’t be following eagerly over the next few years. First among equals is the luminous Estonian soprano Mirjam Mesak as an enormously touching Iolanta..With a dark, Sophoclean twist in the tale, Ranisch’s ingenious fusion of these two under-recorded works only serves to enhance both.

Opera Now January 2023

[Mavra] is a complex production given much gusto from its cast. Mirjam Mesak is an ardent Iolanta, Long Long an elegantly-voiced Vaudemont, and Boris Prýgl’s baritone shines as Robert… Alevtina Ioffe’s conducting brings out Stravinsky’s spikiness and Tchaikovsky’s lush scoring.

Igor Stravinsky/Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Mavra/Iolanta

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Recording of the Week, Mavra/Iolanta from the Bayerische Staatsoper

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Igor Stravinsky/Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Mavra/Iolanta

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