Musicology Annotation << Back «The Oprichnik» at the crossroads Ivan S. Fedoseev The article gives a detailed description of the staging of the third opera by P. I. Chaikovsky, produced by the Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg in the 2015/16 season for the 175th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The items being critically analyzed are: the staging itself with an inherent specificity of the musical, dramatic, theatrical and scenic solutions (artistic director V. Gergiev, conductor and assistant P. Smelkov, director V. Vysotsky, artist Y. Goltsova and choreographer K. Chuvashev); the interpretation of images and scenes in «The Oprichnik» by the soloists, ballet dancers, chorus and orchestra; and the content of publications accompanying the premiere presentation of the opera, including press reviews. Much attention is paid to the recreation of the musical and artistic atmosphere of the early 70’s of the century before last - the time of occurrence and the fi rst performances of three prominent Russian operas: «The Maid of Pskov» by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, «Boris Godunov» by M. Mussorgsky and «The Oprichnik». In this regard, the close, sometimes intuitive interaction between Tchaikovsky’s early masterpieces and the aesthetics of «The Mighty Handful» is noted, leading sometimes to a striking and dramatic intonation proximity in the treatment of a number of key stage situations. This paper restates the problem of re-evaluating the status and value «The Oprichnik» in the creative heritage of the composer, which was firmly on the path of symphonization of the opera genre and originally broke with the many achievements of the luminaries of Western music, including Wagner. Special attention is paid to the relationship of «The Oprichnik» to the symphonic works of Tchaikovsky that both immediately precede and follow it («The Storm», «Fatum», «Romeo and Juliet» and, accordingly, «Francesca da Rimini», «Manfred» and his Fourth, Fifth and Sixth symphonies). Keywords: Tchaikovsky, «The Oprichnik», Maryinsky Theater, premiere, opera, Russian music of the XIX century. Contacts: E-mail: ifedoseev@inbox.ru Pp. 24-35.