Pushkin’s moody story, set in the St Petersburg imperial court, is capable of multiple interpretations. It is clearly ‘an eternal tale of gambling and avarice’ but also a fantastical excursion into the supernatural and an exploration of how over-weaning obsession erodes rational behaviour. Tchaikovsky had a huge and immediate success with his 1890 operatic version, first performed in St Petersburg and then a week later in Kyiv.

The central role of Herman will be sung at The Grange by Ukrainian tenor Eduard Martynyuk, currently fighting for his country’s survival; we welcome also fellow Ukrainian Andrei Kymach as Count Tomsky and Ilya Kytyukin as Prince Yeletsky. We are privileged to announce Dame Josephine Barstow as the Countess, and the star Armenian soprano Anush Hovhannisyan as Lisa, together with winner of The Grange Festival 2019 singing competition Claire Barnett-Jones as Polina. Paul Daniel conducts and our new production will be created by Paul Curran (A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2021) and acclaimed designer Gary McCann.

Works and composers

Tchaikovsky The Queen of Spades