Teodor Currentzis conducts Tchaikovsky's Iolanta in concert version with the Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real at the Palau de les Arts

Valencia (29-1-12).- Teodor Currentzis will conduct the Choir and Orchestra of the Teatro Real (Intermezzo Choir and Madrid Symphony Orchestra) in the concert opera Iolanta by Pyotr Tchaikovsky next Tuesday, January 31.

The Auditori at the Valencian arts center is hosting the debut of the resident orchestra of the Madrid opera house, the result of an agreement between the two theaters. Last December, the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana made its Madrid debut under the baton of Valeri Gergiev with Hector Berlioz's Roméo et Juliette .

Currentzis and the permanent ensembles of the Teatro Real will be accompanied on stage by the same roster of soloists who make up the cast of Peter Sellars' acclaimed production currently being programmed by the Madrid opera house: Ekaterina Scherbachenko (Iolanta), Dmitri Ulianov (King René), Maxim Aniskin (Robert), Pavel ?ernoch (Vaudemont), Willard White (Ibn-Haqia), Vasili Efimov (Almeric), Pavel Kudinov (Bertrand), Ekaterina Semenchuk (Marta), Irina Churilova (Briguitta) and Letitia Singleton (Laura).

Teodor Currentzis (Athens, 1972) is a leading expert on Russian music. In the early 1990s, he traveled to St. Petersburg where he studied under Ilya Musin, the teacher of such distinguished conductors as Yuri Temirkanov. Currentzis has conducted most of Russia's major orchestras, including the Russian National Orchestra, the New Russian Symphony Orchestra, and the Russian Philharmonic, where he shares the position of permanent conductor with Vladimir Spivakov. He is currently the artistic director of the Perm State Opera Theatre. He is also the founder and artistic director of the period instrument ensemble Musica Aeterna and the New Siberian Singers chamber choir, both established in 2004 during his tenure as music director of the Novosibirsk State Opera and Orchestra (2004–2010). His accolades include winning the Golden Mask Award twice.

Pyotr Tchaikovsky premiered Iolanta in 1892. His brother Modest wrote the libretto, based on Henrik Hertz's fairy tale, The Daughter of King René, a work rich in symbolism. The opera tells the story of Princess Iolanta, daughter of King René of Provence. Blind from birth, the young woman is unaware of her condition at the behest of her father, who keeps her safe in a palace that no outsider is allowed to trespass on, under penalty of death. In his search for a cure for Iolanta's blindness, King René enlists the services of an Arab physician, who explains that the young princess will only be healed when she understands her disability, since only the strength of her spirit will allow her to overcome the weakness of her body.

Iolanta enjoyed relative success until the end of World War II, after which it fell into obscurity. The work, one of Tchaikovsky's lesser-known scores, has regained public interest in recent years thanks to the efforts of leading Slavic conductors to revitalize the vast Russian repertoire.