The Tsarina's Slippers

The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden is the venue for this performance of Tchaikovsky's opera The Tsarina's Slippers (Cherevichki), staged by The Royal Opera for the first time. Based on a Christmas story by Gogol that mixes folktale with fairytale fantasy, the plot tells how, in order to win the hand of his beloved Oxana, Vakula the blacksmith flies on the Devil's back to St Petersburg to request a pair of leather slippers worn by the Tsarina herself. On stage is an almost entirely Russian cast of singers directed in this new production by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Alexander Polianichko. The opera is introduced from Covent Garden by Katie Derham.