He hides as the old lady returns from the ball and, reminiscing about her youth, falls asleep in an armchair. In the countess’s bedroom, Hermann looks fascinated at a portrait of her as a young woman. She says the old lady will not be there the next day, but Hermann insists on coming that very night, thinking that fate is handing him the chance to learn the countess’s secret. Sourin and Tchekalinsky tease him with remarks about the “three cards.” Liza slips Hermann the key to a garden door that will lead him to her room and through the countess’s bedroom. Hermann, who is also among the guests, has received a note from Liza, asking him to meet her. During a ball, he assures her of his love. Yeletsky has noticed a change in Liza’s behavior. Liza gives in to her feelings and confesses that she loves him too. He declares his love and begs her to have pity on him. To her shock, he suddenly appears on the balcony. Liza thinks about her ambivalent feelings for her fiancé and the impression Hermann has made on her. The men laugh at the story except for Hermann, who is deeply affected by it and decides to learn the countess’s secret. She only ever shared this secret with two other people, and there is a prophecy that she will die at the hands of a third person who will force the secret from her. Decades ago in Paris, she won a fortune at the gambling table with the help of “the three cards,” a mysterious winning combination. After Yeletsky and the women have left, Tomsky tells the others the story of the countess. When Prince Yeletsky enters, followed by his fiancée, Liza, and her grandmother, the old countess, Hermann is shocked to realize that Liza is his unknown girl. Hermann appears with Count Tomsky and admits to him that he is in love with a girl whose name he doesn’t know. He seems obsessed with gambling, watching his friends play all night, though he never plays himself. In a park, Sourin and Tchekalinsky discuss the strange behavior of their fellow officer Hermann. Orchestra - Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Paul Daniel conducts and our new production will be created by Paul Curran ( A Midsummer Night’s DreamĢ021) and acclaimed designer Gary McCann. We are privileged to announce Dame Josephine Barstow as the Countess, with the star Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan as Lisa and Arlene Belli as Polina, both making their Grange Festival debuts. The central role of Herman will be sung at The Grange by Ukrainian tenor Eduard Martynyuk, currently fighting for his country’s survival we welcome also fellow Ukrainian Andrei Kymach as Count Tomsky and Ilya Kytyukin as Prince Yeletsky. Tchaikovsky had a huge and immediate success with his 1890 operatic version, first performed in St Petersburg and then a week later in Kyiv. It is clearly ‘an eternal tale of gambling and avarice’ but also a fantastical excursion into the supernatural and an exploration of how over-weaning obsession erodes rational behaviour. Pushkin’s moody story, set in the St Petersburg imperial court, is capable of multiple interpretations.
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