The Israeli Opera in a New Production: "Iolanta" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The Israeli Opera is proud to present a new production of "Iolanta," the final and most personal work of Tchaikovsky, premiering for the first time on the Israeli Opera stage. This is an exceptional lyrical opera, combining delicate music with emotional depth, offering the audience a moving musical and dramatic experience, centered around the story of a blind princess, love, and self-discovery.

The blind princess Iolanta grows up in an isolated garden in the palace of her protective father, King René, who hides her blindness, the existence of light and color, and even the fact that she is a princess. When the doctor Ibn-Hakia arrives at the castle promising a cure, he sets a special condition: Iolanta can only be healed if she desires it of her own free will, after discovering her condition. At the same time, the knight Vaudémont arrives at the garden, and love ignites between the two. The love awakening in Iolanta's heart gives her the strength to choose—to choose to see, to choose love, to choose life. When she gains the sense of sight and love, she discovers new insights into the beauty and complexity of the world revealed to her for the first time.

The story reveals Tchaikovsky’s emotional world and offers a poetic interpretation of the power of art, love, and free will as healers of the soul.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893): He was one of the greatest Russian composers, whose works, including "Swan Lake," "The Nutcracker," and "Eugene Onegin," became cornerstones of classical music. "Iolanta" is the last opera he wrote in 1891, just two years before his death. The libretto was written by his brother, Modest Tchaikovsky, based on the Danish play "King René's Daughter" by Henrik Hertz. The world premiere took place in December 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, on the same evening as the ballet "The Nutcracker." Although it did not achieve immediate popularity, in recent years "Iolanta" has gained renewed interest and returned to major world stages in the 21st century, including productions in Vienna, Berlin, and New York.

"Iolanta" is considered an exceptional lyrical opera, combining delicate and intimate music with emotional depth. It seems that Tchaikovsky, who was forced to hide his sexual identity throughout his life and often felt social alienation, identified with Iolanta’s enclosed world. The opera, written during a particularly sensitive period in his life, is sometimes described as a personal expression of loneliness, longing for love, and self-acceptance. Without explicitly revealing his feelings, Tchaikovsky composed a poetic and moving work—a story of light breaking through the darkness.

The Director, Shirit Lee Weiss: "My Iolanta is trapped in an emotional space beyond which there is only darkness, a kind of circular state of floating, constant searching and despair. Iolanta lives within herself. She is wild, childish, and full of unfulfilled passion. The stage, as an emotional space, is pale, full of pits, ups and downs, with black wounds beneath the surface representing memories, traumas, and fears that the women surrounding Iolanta try to conceal in an endless Sisyphean effort. Only with the inevitable discovery of the wound come recognition and light.

"Knowledge, freedom of decision, and liberty are taken from Iolanta. Her father and the male world outside her emotional space break through and wound her soul, watching her, hiding things from her, and thereby controlling her. The source of light is internal, not dependent on sight. Iolanta's decision about her fate, stemming from finding the internal truth and confronting it despite the pain, brings about the essential change in soul and body. The woman's passion is liberating. The opera Iolanta is essentially a psychological process, leading toward femininity and sexuality, toward confrontation and liberation. And on our stage, as in our soul, white and black are volatile and complex, and the source of light is deceptive."

The Conductor, Dan Ettinger: "Creating and staging Tchaikovsky's final opera for the first time at the Israeli Opera is a unique experience. 'Iolanta' is a journey of about an hour and a half without intermission into the soul of the main heroine, the blind Iolanta, the society and life she confronts in an operatic love story that reveals the light to her—all wrapped in Tchaikovsky’s infinite symphonic richness, sensitivity, and dramatic power."

Creative Team:

Conductor: Dan Ettinger

Director: Shirit Lee Weiss

Set Designer: Adam Keller

Costume Designer: Ola Shevtsov

Lighting Designer: Nadav Barnea

Chorus Master: Itai Berkovitch

Featuring the Israel Symphony Orchestra Rishon LeZion and the Israeli Opera Chorus.

Sung in: Russian

Subtitles: Hebrew and English - Translation: Yisrael Uval.

Performance Duration: Approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes

The production features the soloists:

Iolanta (Soprano): Annie Yurina / Angelina Akhmedova

Vaudémont (Tenor): Alexey Dolgov / Pavel Voluzhin

King René (Bass): Alexander Tsymbalyuk / Sava Vemić

Robert (Baritone): Oded Reich / Semyon Antakov

Ibn-Hakia, the Doctor (Bass/Baritone): Bálint Szabó / Ionuț Pascu

Alméric (Tenor): Adi Ezra / Pavel Voluzhin

Bertrand (Bass): Yuri Kissin

Martha (Mezzo-Soprano): Shay Bloch / Edna Prochnik

Brigitta (Soprano): Shlomit Leah Kovalski / Veronika Udintsev

Laura (Mezzo-Sopran/Sopran): Anat Czarny / Tamara Nachshiri

Dates and Ticket Purchase:

Sunday | 18.1.26 | 20:00

Monday | 19.1.26 | 19:30 * Festive Premiere

Tuesday | 20.1.26 | 20:00

Thursday | 22.1.26 | 20:00

Friday | 23.1.26 | 13:00

Saturday | 24.1.26 | 20:00

Monday | 26.1.26 | 18:00

Wednesday | 28.1.26 | 18:00

Ticket Prices: 210–490 NIS

Link for more details and ticket purchase:

https://www.israel-opera.co.il/show/%d7%99%d7%95%d7%9c%d7%a0%d7%98%d7%94/

Shlomo Lahat (Tchitch) Opera House Address: 19 Shaul Hamelech St, Tel Aviv Phone: 03-6927700 Instagram Tag: israeliopera@

(Photography: Yossi Tsviker)