Rachmaninov Troika at La Monnaie

People often say to me : to let go of that melancholy – at your age and with your talent it’s a shame ! But everyone forgets that in addition to (perhaps) being a talented musician I am also a man who expects the same things from life as everyone else.’ Rachmaninov represents the waning of Romanticism in Russia yet, even by Russian standards, he was extremely fatalistic. His three one-act operas with libretti based on writings by Pushkin and Dante are linked by their theme : fate follows in the footsteps of sin, whether it be a matter of jealous murder, greed or illicit passion. This triptych, conducted by Mikhail Tatarnikov and directed by Kirsten Dehlholm, is the first project outside our theatre while it is being renovated. The venue will be the former art deco Marivaux cinema, an intriguing location.