Gianni Schicchi

A long road to the stage

We worked on this production for more than a year, and it was postponed for a number of reasons before it finally took place. One group of students began it and another finished it: some performers graduated along the way, and their roles had to be recast. Despite all the difficulties on the way, we believe the production was a success.

An orchestra, bar by bar

The entire performance was accompanied by a symphonic soundtrack created by Andrey Morozov. It was not a ready-made recording: almost an hour of orchestral music was realised bar by bar from Puccini’s full score, and it took a great deal of time. How it was made is told in the Journal: Bringing Puccini’s Orchestra into Our Rehearsal Room.

“A single convincing minute can take many hours to produce.”

The people behind it

The production was directed by Andrey Morozov, who also sang the title role. The vocal preparation was led by Natalla Marozava, and our accompanist, Anastasiya Yafimava, worked with the singers at the piano throughout the rehearsals.

Students of the Department of Music were joined by students of theatre, whose contribution was considerable. Oishorjo Mahalanobis and Sudhansh Shrish Lal have been with us for four years: they started out in opera with us, and today they are in their fourth year.

With thanks

Our warm thanks go to the theatre department for the sets, the sewing workshops and the props we used.

“In every sense it became a people’s production, assembled piece by piece.”

Partners

Sergei Kozlovtsev, an independent marketing consultant, planned and ran the Instagram and Facebook campaign for the opera. Timofei Morozov (Tima Belorusskih) is a musician; his support made the advertising campaign possible.

A video of the performance is being edited now. It will be added to this page, so that everyone who could not come to the performances can see the production. Were you in the audience? We would be glad to read your review below.

For the story behind the opera — from a few lines in Dante’s Inferno to the last panel of Puccini’s Il Trittico — read Gianni Schicchi: Puccini’s One-Act Opera, Sung in English.