RUSSIAN CIRCUIT

An impressive number of artists from one of Russia's key troupes, The Mariinsky Theatre, has been nominated for Russia's most prestigious theater award, The Golden Mask.

All in all, 40 theaters will be taking part in the festival this year, presenting a record 55 productions, which is more than over the last five years.

“Last year’s playbill consisted mainly of Moscow productions, while this year, 21 have been selected from Moscow and 34 from the regions, including St Petersburg,” the festival’s director, Maria Revyakina, told the press conference in Moscow. 

One of the key categories, the Best Opera Production, is represented by Richard Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten, staged by Jonathan Kent; Béla Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle brought together by Daniel Kramer, and Hector Berlioz’s trailblazing Les Troyens staged by Carlus Padrissa.

British stage director Jonathan Kent and Spain's Carlus Padrissa have received Golden Mask nominations for Best Directing in Opera, to boot.

Nominated for the coveted Best Female Role in Opera are Elena Zhidkova for her trademark role of Judith in Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, Yekaterina Semenchuk for the part of Didon in Les Troyens, Olga Sergeyeva for Barak’s Wife and Mlada Khudoley for the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten opera.

Alexey Ratmansky’s ballet Anna Karenina has been nominated as the Best Ballet Production, while the Mariinsky soloist Yekaterina Kondaurova, who danced the title role in the ballet, is vying for the Best Female Role in Ballet.

Production Designers Roland Olbeter (Les Troyens) and Paul Brown (Die Frau ohne Schatten) are in the running for the Best Design Work in the Musical Theater award.

Last but not least – the Mariinsky's lighting designers, Tim Mitchell (Die Frau ohne Schatten) and Peter van Praet (Les Troyens), have also been nominated for Golden Masks.

The award ceremony will take place in Moscow next spring.