Pique Dame full / Galouzine (pt 1/3 ) 

Time: The close of the 18th century Place: St. Petersburg, Russia Act 1 Scene 1 During the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-96), children are at play in St. Petersburg's Summer Garden pretending to be soldiers. Two officers-Tsurin and Chekalinsky-enter, the former complaining about his bad luck at gambling. They remark that another officer, Herman, seems obsessed with the gaming table but never bets, being frugal and methodical. Herman appears with Tomsky, who remarks that his friend hardly seems like his old self: is anything bothering him? Herman admits he is in love with a girl above his station whose name he does not even know. When Prince Yeletsky, an officer, strolls into the park, Chekalinsky congratulates him on his recent engagement. Yeletsky declares his happiness while Herman, aside, curses him enviously. Yeletsky points out his fiancée, Liza, who has just appeared with her grandmother, the old Countess. Catching sight of Herman, the two women note they have seen him before, staring at them with frightening intensity. Herman realizes that Liza is his unknown beloved. When Yeletsky and the women leave, Herman is lost in thought as the other officers discuss the Countess: known as the Queen of Spades and formerly as the Muscovite Venus, due to her beauty, she succeeded at gambling in her youth by trading amorous favors for the winning formula of Count St. Germain in Paris. Tomsky says only two men, her husband and, later on, her young lover, ever learned the secret of playing three special cards, because she was warned by an apparition to beware a "third suitor" who would kill her trying to force it from her. Musing on the winning sequence of three cards, the others lightly suggest that this might be the way for Herman to win without risking any money. Threatened by approaching thunder, all leave except Herman, who vows to learn the Countess's secret. Scene 2 At home, Liza plays the spinet as she and her friend Pauline sing a duet about evening in the countryside. Their girlfriends ask to hear more, so Pauline launches into a sad ballad, followed by a dancelike song. As the merriment increases, Liza remains pensively apart. A Governess chides the girls for indulging in unbecoming folk dancing and asks the visitors to leave. Pauline, the last to go, urges Liza to cheer up; Liza replies that after a storm there is a beautiful night and asks the maid, Masha, not to close the French windows to the balcony. Alone, Liza voices her unhappiness with her engagement; she has been stirred by the romantic look of the young man in the park. To her shock, Herman appears on the balcony. Claiming he is about to shoot himself over her betrothal to another, he begs her to take pity on him. When the Countess is heard knocking, Liza hides Herman and opens the door to the old woman, who tells her to shut the windows and go to bed. After the Countess retires, Liza asks Herman to leave but is betrayed by her feelings and falls into his embrace. Act 2 Scene 1 Not long afterward, at a masked ball, Herman's comrades comment on his obsession with the secret of the winning cards. Yeletsky passes with Liza, noting her sadness and reassuring her of his love ("Ya vas lyublyu" "I love you"). Herman receives a note from Liza, asking him to meet her later. Tsurin and Chekalinsky sneak up behind him with the intent of playing a joke on him, muttering he is the "third suitor" who will learn the Countess's secret, then melt into the crowd as Herman wonders whether he is hearing things. The master of ceremonies announces a tableau of shepherdesses. Liza slips Herman the key to her grandmother's room, saying the old woman will not be there the next day, but Herman insists on coming that very night. Thinking fate is handing him the Countess's secret, he leaves. The guests' attention turns to the imminent arrival of Catherine the Great, for which a polonaise by Osip Kozlovsky is played and sung in greeting. Scene 2 Herman slips into the Countess's room and looks in fascination at her portrait as the "Muscovite Venus"; musing how their fates, he feels, are linked: one of them will die because of the other. He lingers too long before he can go to Liza's room and hears the Countess's retinue coming, so he conceals himself as the old lady approaches. The Countess deplores the manners of the day and reminisces about the better times of her youth, when she sang in Versailles "Je crains de lui parler la nuit" ("I fear to talk with him at night", in French; Laurette's Aria from André Grétry's opera Richard Cœur-de-Lion) before the Pompadour herself. As she dozes off, Herman stands before her. She awakens in horror as he pleads with her to tell him her secret. When she remains speechless, he grows desperate and threatens her with a pistol-at which she dies of fright. Liza rushes in, only to learn that the lover to whom she gave her heart was more interested in the Countess's secret. She orders him out and falls sobbing. Act 3 Scene 1 In his room at the barracks, as the winter wind howls, Herman reads a letter from Liza, who wants him to meet her at midnight by the river bank. He imagines he hears the chorus chanting at the old Countess's funeral, then is startled by a knock at the window. The old woman's ghost appears, announcing that against her will she must tell him the secret so that he can marry and save Liza. Dazed, Herman repeats the three cards she tells him-three, seven, ace. Scene 2 By the Winter Canal, Liza waits for Herman: it is already near midnight, and though she clings to a forlorn hope that he still loves her, she sees her youth and happiness swallowed in darkness. At last he appears, but after uttering words of reassurance, he starts to babble wildly about the Countess and her secret. No longer even recognizing Liza, he rushes away. Realizing that all is lost, she commits suicide. Scene 3 At a gambling house, Herman's fellow officers are finishing supper and getting ready to play faro. Yeletsky, who has not gambled before, joins the group because his engagement has been broken: "unlucky in love, lucky at cards". Tomsky entertains the others with a song. Then Chekalinsky leads a traditional gamblers' song. Settling down to play, they are surprised when Herman arrives, wild and distracted. Yeletsky senses a confrontation and asks Tomsky to be his second if a duel should result. Herman, intent only on betting, starts with a huge bet of 40,000 rubles. He bets the three and wins, upsetting the others with his maniacal expression. Next he bets the seven and wins again. At this he takes a wine glass and declares that life is but a game. Yeletsky accepts his challenge to bet on the next round. Herman bets everything he has on the ace but when he shows his card he is told he is holding the queen of spades. Seeing the Countess's ghost laughing at her vengeance, Herman takes his own life and asks Yeletsky's and Liza's forgiveness. The others pray for his tormented soul.

bravo Galouzine et tout le monde ! Tchaikovsky est un génie mais il faut l'incarné. Merci !

This is among the best-sung and played Pique Dames I've seen (and I think I've seen them all). The scenery, costumes and staging are sadly disappointing and bland, but the sound is fantastic. I still haven't found a production where everything comes together to my liking (this is my favorite opera), but each one has its merits. This one is the winner for the conducting/orchestra and some very powerful singing. Galouzine is just wonderful as Hermann, and the quartet at 23:40 is particularly delicious and dramatic. I am familiar with everything Tchaikovsky wrote, and this opera is among his greatest masterpieces.

Fantastic performance by Vladimir Galouzine :)

Chaikovcskiy is genious for ever

Good to see that Kevin Whately branched out into opera. He makes a fine Herman.

Former production was better

M Valéry Gergiev fantastique!!!!!!

I was privileged to be at a Mariinsky performance in 1996 with the same cast. And Galouzine sang as finely then. We can but be thankful that we are present at those rare occasions in human history where truly amazing things happen. The cast there used to say that as soon as Gergiev entered the building, there was already a perceptible buzz in the air. They were extraordinary times of instability in the political and economic situation,Gergiev constantly flying back and forth to Moscow to make sure the cash didn't stop flowing. But maybe all that tension came out precisely in those Mariinsky performances... 😊

Exquisite music, good acting, great singing, thrilling plot, why look for a 5th. leg to the cat?

Wow, the singing in this is really good.

Would like to watch this but 16:9 squeezed into 4:3 format. Why?

00:07:02 00:13:17 00:18:22 00:31:02

I would love to get the russian libretto but in latin letters. I can't find it just by googleing it. Anyone knows where I could get it from?

6:50 Marge Simpson?

as I can get this original dvd? or not is for sale? greetings and thanks carlos

34:43

Gergiev is in his element in this opera (just as he is awful in Verdi, Berlioz etc). Pity he's such a ****!

3:05

The music is divine, as would be expected of Tchaikovsky, and the singing and acting is very impressive! But why do we have to suffer these ridiculous productions?? It makes no sense to dress the singers in costumes from the first half of the 19th century, when this is obviously taking place in the 18th century with references to Catherine the Great, Madame Pompadour and Mozart. Besides, some of the costumes look decidedly amateurish.

Сцена грозы не понравилась.Хотя спел Герман прекрасно

Для Тамбова или Воронежа это был бы класс, но не для Мариинского. С постановкой 1999 года с Хворостовским и Пласидо Доминго и рядом не стоит.