Rita, ou Le mari battu

Comic opera in one act
Music : Gaetano Donizetti

Libretto : Yuri Dimitrin after Gustave Vaez

(3 characters & 22 musicians)
Staged by Yuri Alexandrov
Premiere: 22 June 1987

These are dynamic, comic and at times buffoon-like operas with lively subjects. There are elements of theatricality, direct addresses to the auditorium, and the audience is involved in the action.
An old bell is to sound all night in the house of the apothecary, who has just become engaged to the delightful Serafina. Poor Enrico, burning with rage and passion, beloved of Serafina! Mistress of Love, Madam Fortune demands all his cunning, intelligence and fire before ultimately presenting us all with the happy-ever-after ending!
And the kindly Beppe and Gasparo the pirate! With what despairing inventiveness they weave their intrigues around their wife - the wonderful Rita (who is, as it happens, wife to both of them)!
Even today, these productions, staged long before the Theatre's official opening, can be considered its calling cards. First produced in Leningrad, these operas are now performed in theatres all over Russia.