Prokofiev: The Gambler - VALERY GERGIEV / MARIINSKY ORCHESTRA (DVD)

Sergei Aleksashkin (The General), Tatiana Pavlovskaya (Pauline), Vladimir Galuzin (Alexei), Larissa Dyadkova (Babulenka), Nikolai Gassiev (Marquis), Alexander Gergalov (Mr Astley), Mlle Blanche (Nadezhda Serdyuk), Andrei Popov (Prince Nilsky), Oleg Sychev (Baron Wurmerhelm) & Andrei Spekhov (Potapych)
Mariinsky (Kirov) Orchestra
Valery Gergiev (conductor) & Laurent Gentot (director)

A world renowned specialist in the music of Sergei Prokofiev, Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra and opera company have performed all of the composer's symphonies, concerti and operas on numerous occasions, both in St. Petersburg and on tour. This new video of Prokofiev's opera the Gambler, recorded and filmed in high-resolution at the historic Mariinsky Theatre in 2010, stars celebrated Russian tenor Vladimir Galuzin and bass Sergei Aleksashkin. Premiered in 1929 at the Theatre Royal de la Monnaie, Brussels, the opera was originally conceived for first performance at the Mariinsky Theatre, but it was postponed due to the Revolution in 1917. On this filmed version, Georgian director Temur Chkheidze (who directed the opera with critical success at the Metropolitan Opera in 2001) gives a fresh look to Prokofiev's first opera. The Gambler is a four-act opera that displays the dramatic highs and lows involved in the game of chance. All of the characters fall victim to the temptation of gambling, each one consumed by the obsession and greed that drives them.

Set in the fictional town of Roulettenburg in the mid-19th Century, 'The Gambler' is a four-act opera that displays the dramatic highs and lows involved in the game of chance. At the centre of the story is Alexei, who is in love with The General s step-daughter, Pauline. All of the characters fall victim to the temptation of gambling, each one consumed by the obsession and greed that drives them.