Tihkvin, four hours Northeast of St. Petersburg

Driving four hours away from St. Petersburg is a
glorious experience. The Mariinsky transport is not
so glorious, (a pieced together former Soviet personal
bus with absolutely no suspension), but the vast green
wilderness is a marvel. It is no wonder all of St.
Petersburg escapes to the country every weekend. The
Russian forest is wild and largely untouched. It
seems that the Russians do not need conservation
groups or national park services to maintain the
health of the environment, simply because seventy
percent of the country is still original wilderness.
Tihkvin is the birthplace of Rimsky-Korskov.
Rimsky-Korskov wrote the operas The Invisible City of
Kitezh, Mlada, The Golden Cockerl, The Snow Maiden,
Cadko, among many others. Kitezh is a fantasy place
where people can escape from life?s problems. Mlada
will sing the principal role of the virgin Fevronia,
in the Invisible City of Kitezh. She received rave
reviews for Fevronia last summer at the Metropolitan
Opera. This time it is not the gilded stage of the
Metropolitan, but an outdoor stadium in front of a
very old church. This opera is especially important
for Mlada, because it was the last opera her father
saw her sing before his unfortunate and early death.
The Tihkin Festival is the Russian equivalent of
American Festivals in Tangle wood or Aspen. We are
surrounded by thousands of visitors from all over
Russia who have come on a pilgrimage to visit the icon
of Mary and baby Jesus. They are many versions of
this icon in orthodoxy, but this particular icon
located in Tikvin was brought from Constantinople in
1383. (Actually, the legend is that the icon appeared
in a church in Tihkvin one evening. This same icon
has also been seen as an image in the sky around
Tihkvin, usually after horrific battles. Many claim
to have seen the icon suspended in the sky when the
Germans occupied Tihkvin and were bombarding St.
Petersburg during World War II.)
Tomorrow I will be surrounded by thousands of
Russians, militsia, and video cameras. The performance
is being telecast live all over Russia and perhaps
will be made into a DVD for Philips Classics. Mlada?s
Italian agent arrives in the morning with Gergiev and
the rest of the cast. I will likely stand by him the
entire time. Two inastraniks, foreigners, standing
together are better than one. One American and one
Italian standing in the middle of a Russian forest
watching an opera conducted by Valery Gergiev with the
Mariinsky Theatre and my wife singing the principal
role. For this pastoral romance I brought my mosquito
spray, camera, umbrella, and American panache.
Mlada?s stage is a level patch of earth. We pray
that it will stay sunny. Even the smallest amount of
rain will turn the stage into a slippery mudslide.

Ci vediamo doppo. Ciao tutti!!!
Mlada and Peter