The romance of Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onegin is an evergreen staple of the repertoire today, but rarely did his genius find better expression than in this psychological melodrama of breathtaking intensity and beauty. Many theories exist as to the motivations behind The Queen of Spades, of how it perhaps charts the composer’s own personal turmoil, but whatever lies behind the opera’s magnificent narrative, it provides the operatic stage with one if the greatest musical dramas of all time and a collection of deeply flawed and haunting characters. Hermann is seeking the secret of the winning cards and it is such an obsession that all before him – his love for Liza, (herself betrothed to another), comradeship, life itself, becomes secondary. The result of his slow descent into madness is death and suicide. Tchaikovsky’s beautiful music is febrile and inspired, his characters acutely drawn and the opera remains one of the great masterpieces of all Russian opera.

De Nederlandse Opera (Amsterdam), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and Opera
national de Paris Coproduction

Conductor – Mikhail Yurovsky
Director – Lev Dodin
Designer – David Borovsky
Costume Designer – Chloe Obolensky
Lighting Designer – Jean Kalman

ACT I.

St. Petersburg, during the late eighteenth century. Children are at play in a summer park. Two soldiers — Tsurin and Chekalinsky — enter, the former complaining about his bad luck at gambling. They remark that another soldier, Gherman, seems obsessed with the gaming table but never bets, since he is frugal and methodical. Gherman appears with Tomsky, who says his friend hardly seems like his old self and asks whether something is bothering him. Gherman 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 Gherman, aside, curses him enviously. Yeletsky points out his fiancйe, Lisa, who has just appeared with her grandmother, the old Countess, once known as "the Venus of Moscow." Catching sight of Gherman, the two women note they have seen him before, staring at them with frightening intensity. Gherman realizes that Lisa is his unknown beloved. When Yeletsky and the women leave, Gherman is lost in thought as the other officers discuss the Countess: now known as "the Queen of Spades," she succeeded at gambling in her youth by trading her favors for the winning formula of Count St. Germain in Paris. Tomsky says only two men, one of them her husband, ever learned her secret, because she was warned by an apparition to beware a "third suitor" who would try to force it from her. Musing on the magical three cards, the others lightly suggest that such a combination would solve Gherman’s problems. Threatened by approaching thunder, all leave except Gherman, who vows to learn the Countess’s secret.

At home, Lisa 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, Lisa remains pensive. A Governess chides the girls for indulging in unbecoming folk dancing and asks the visitors to leave. Pauline, the last to go, urges Lisa to cheer up; Lisa 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, Lisa voices her unhappiness with her engagement; she has been stirred by the romantic gaze of the young man in the park. To her shock, Gherman 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, Lisa hides Gherman and opens the door to the old woman, who tells her to shut the windows and go to bed. After the Countess retires, Lisa asks Gherman to leave but is betrayed by her feelings and falls into his embrace.

ACT II.

Not long afterward, at a masked ball, Gherman’s comrades comment on his obsession with the secret of the winning cards. Yeletsky passes with Lisa, noting her sadness and reassuring her of his love. Gherman receives a note from Lisa, asking him to meet her later. Tsurin and Chekalinsky sneak up behind him, muttering that he is the "third suitor" who will learn the Countess’s secret; they melt into the crowd, as Gherman wonders whether he is hearing things. The master of ceremonies announces a tableau of shepherdesses. Lisa slips Gherman the key to her grandmother’s room, saying the old woman will not be there the next day, but Gherman 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 O. Kozlovsky (1757–1831) is played and sung in greeting.

Gherman slips into the Countess’s room and looks in fascination at her portrait as a young woman. Their fates, he feels, are linked: one of them will die because of the other. He conceals himself as the old lady approaches. The Countess deplores modern manners and reminisces about her youth, singing an air from Grйtry’s Richard Coeur-de-Lion. As she dozes off, Gherman 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. Lisa rushes in, only to learn that the lover to whom she gave her heart was more interested in the Old Countess’s secret than in her. She orders him out and falls sobbing.

ACT III.

In his room at the barracks, as the winter wind howls, Gherman reads a letter from Lisa, who wants to meet him 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 Lisa. Dazed, Gherman repeats the three cards — three, seven, ace. By the Winter Canal, Lisa waits for Gherman. 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 Lisa, he rushes away. Believing that all is lost, she throws herself into the icy waters.

At a gambling house, Gherman’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 Gherman arrives, wild and distracted. Yeletsky senses a confrontation and asks Tomsky to be his second if a duel should result. Gherman, intent only on betting, starts with 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. Gherman bets the ace but is confronted by Yeletsky with the winning card — the queen of spades. Seeing the Countess’s ghost, Gherman takes his own life, asking Yeletsky’s forgiveness and Lisa’s as well. The others pray for his tormented soul.

Act I

Scene 1

Petersburg. Strolling in the Summer Garden, Surin tells Chekalinsky about the previous night’s gambling: as usual, Нerman had spent the whole night by the gaming table, gloomily following the game, but not taking part in it. 

Нerman and Count Tomsky come into the garden. Нerman admits he is in love with a girl whose name he does not know even. He is afraid she is above him in station and therefore will prove beyond his reach. 

Prince Yeletsky informs his friends that he is to get married. Нerman asks him about his betrothed. „There she is”, Yeletsky replies, pointing to Liza who is in the company of the old Countess, known as The Queen of Spades. Gherman is in despair: for Liza is the very girl with whom he is in love. 

„Happy day, I bless you!” Yeletsky says. „Unhappy day, I curse you!” Нerman exclaims. 

Tomsky tells his friends that in her youth the Countess was a great beauty. A passionate gamblег, in Paris she had once lost everything at the gaming table. Count Saint-German had told the ’Moscow Venus’ the secret of three cards which had helped her win her fortune back. The Countess had been warned she would die at the hands of a man who, „impelled by despair”, would come to her to demand the secret of the three cards. 

Tomsky’s story made a great impression on Нerman. The Summer Garden empties, a storm is about to break. All take shelter except Нerman who stands as if in a trance. He swears that if Liza does not become his, he will take his life. 

Scene 2 

Liza’s room at the Countess’ house. Some girls of her own age have come to see Liza. Their merrymaking is interrupted by a stern housekeeper: the Countess is annoyed — it is already late and she cannot sleep because of the noise the girls are making. Left alone, Liza confides her secret to the night: she is in love with Herman. 

Herman appears at the balcony doors. He declares his love to Liza. There is a loud knocking at the door. The old Countess has come to Liza’s room herself to find out what the noise is about. Hiding, Herman remembers the legend of the three cards. Overcome by a burning desire to find out the secret of the winning cards, he immediately forgets his love for Liza. The Countess leaves the room and Gherman comes to his senses. He again tells Liza he loves her. She begs him to leave but, won over by the strength of his passion, she admits to reciprocating his feelings. 

Act II

Scene 3

A ball given by a rich dignitary. Yeletsky notices that Liza is out of spirits and keeps questioning her as to the cause of her malaise. Liza avoids giving an explanation. The entreaties of her fiance to whom she is indifferent, leave her cold. 

Liza gives Herman the key to a secret door into the Countess’ house: they must see each other. The way to Liza’s room lies through the old woman’s bedroom. It seems to Gherman that fate itself is helping him discover the secret of the three winning cards. 

Scene 4

The Countess’ bedroom. Here everything is reminiscent of the distant youth of the ’Moscow Venus’ and Herman forgets why he has come. Possessed by the wish to find out the secret of the three cards, he decides to remain in the bedroom and make the Countess reveal it to him. 

On her return from the ball, the Countess, having dismissed her maids and hangers on, remembers her youth and the marvelous balls in Paris. Herman suddenly appears and asks the Countess to reveal her secret to him. The old woman remains silent. Herman, threatening her with a pistol, repeats his request. The Countess dies.... 

Hearing the noise, Liza runs into the bedroom. Catching sight of the dead Countess, she exclaims in despair: „So it was the cards, not me you were after!” 

Act III

Scene 5

Herman’s quarters in the barracks. Herman is reading a letter from Liza in which she asks him to meet her on the embankment and give an explanation of his conduct. Herman is tormented by thoughts of the dead Countess. Against a background of the wailing wind and raging snowstorm outside, the old woman’s ghost appears to Herman, who has gone out of his mind. She tells Herman he must marry Liza and that the secret of the three cards — Three, Seven and Ace — will be his. 

Scene 6 

The embankment of the Winter Canal. Dusk is falling fast. Liza is waiting for Herman hoping that he will dispel her suspicions that his murder of the Countess was premeditated. She waits a long time. Liza begins to lose hope and is ready to believe in Herman’s villainy. But then Herman appears and for a brief moment it seems to them both that happiness may be possible, that all their sufferings are over. But, possessed by the thought of the three cards, Herman, half out of his mind, pushes Liza aside and runs off. Liza throws herself in the canal. 

Scene 7 

At the gambling house, the game is in full swing. Herman puts all his money on the three, the card named to him by the ghost, and wins. He doubles his stake. The second card, the seven, also brings him luck. 

Herman, in very overwrought state, challenges anyone to stake once more. Yeletsky offers to play with him. But Gherman’s third card turns out to be the Queen of Spades, not the ace. His card is trumped. Herman sees the ghost of the Countess. Gibbering with fear and rage he shoots himself.