Butler Opera Center: The Queen of Spades
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky after Alexander Pushkin
Garnett Bruce, director | Douglas Kinney Frost, conductor
Sung in Russian.
What do you call a person consumed with gambling, but who never places a bet? Tchaikovsky called him Hermann, a Russian soldier obsessed with the three cards that won a countess her fortune. Her mystery cards, however, are a secret that will ultimately drive Hermann to the brink of madness. With the lives of friends and lovers strewn along the way, Hermann finally takes a seat at the card table, and declares: “Life is but a game.” In games, there are winners and there are losers; when that third card is revealed, which will Hermann be?