Snegurochka (Snowmaiden), the daughter of Spring and Winter, dreams of a life amongst the humans; but the bitter Sun, looking for revenge, plans to use the fire of love to make her melt away…

The Snow Maiden, Rimsky-Korsakov’s third opera, draws its focus from playwright Alexander Ostrovsky’s eponymous play, itself inspired from national folk tales. This literary work was quite unexpected, given that Ostrovsky was better known for his political satires rather than his interest in fairy tales. But the composer found a clever way to spin this paradox, and applied himself in turn to reconcile traditional singing with a creative orchestration, bringing together heritage and modernity.

Stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, a highly-regarded specialist in Russian opera, humanises this marvellous and cruel coming-of-age tale, under the surface of which innocent eroticism and bitter jealousy boil furiously. He also uses this production to draw a parallel between this paradoxical work and the contradictions of modern-time Russia, by transposing the action into an intriguing backward-looking community which, and quite unlike Snowmaiden, does not seem to be quite ready to face the unknown yet…

• The first-ever DVD edition of The Snow Maiden
• A little-known but rich, surprising and rapturous score
• Aida Garifullina in the title role
• A spectacular staging, received with popular and critical praise

‘This production proves Tcherniakov is today’s greatest champion of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas.’ – BachTrack

‘Aida Garifullina gave a remarkable performance’ – Opera News

‘The Paris Opera melts for the Snow Maiden’ – Le Figaro

‘Such music!’ – Télérama

Cast:
- Snowmaiden: Aida Garifullina
- Lel: Yuriy Mynenko
- Kupava: Martina Serafin
- Tsar Berendey: Maxim Paster
- Mizguir: Thomas Johannes Mayer

Stage direction and sets: Dmitri Tcherniakov
A film by Andy Sommer

Subtitles: FR / ENG / GER / SPA / JAP / KOR
Booklet: 20 pages
Running time: 194’
Sound: PCM 2.0 & Dolby Digital 5.1