Mavra

Igor Stravinsky/Boris Kochno

Mavra is a comedy based on a poem by Pushkin. The typically Russian elaborations, addressing with devotion the most trivial of subjects is raised to the level of "art". In this 23 minute comedy Igor Stravinsky sketches a brilliant musical tale.

The work is a joy, lovely melodic curves alternating with stirring wind fragments typical of Stravinsky.

Stravinsky said: "Justice is done to this little work in a small theater with a devoted audience."

Cast

Crew

Mavra, Huzaar Wil van der Meer
Parasja Jasmin Besig
Mother Bavat Marom
Neighbor Klara Uleman
musical director David Levi
director Corina van Eijk, Elsina Jansen
art direction Jolanda Lanslots
costume design Pieter van Rooij
make-up artist Saskia Ellemeet
gaffer Henk Post
producers Judith Glasbeek, Seb Sueur, Saskia van Roekel
sound design and engineer Patricia Boogaard
orchestra Spanga Festival Orkest
concertmaster Marcel Dohmen

Press

´Van Eijk directed Strawinsky in a striking way, sharp and surprising, this time not in the usual tent in Spanga but with sound enhancement on Van Nahijs Square. Two actual houses formed the decor with their interiors and all the surroundings, including the softly murmuring fountain in the background.´

Leeuwarder Courant, 24 June 2002

´Director Corina van Eijk has opened up her creative bag of tricks and put together an action line that changes at lightning speed and demands the ultimate from eye and laughing muscles. (...) The performance proceeds like clockwork and abounds in humor.´

Zwolsche Courant, 22 June 2002

´Van Eijk has avoided the Dutch theater scene for years. Every second year she produces an opera in a field near the Frisian village of Spanga, and since she has been subsidized, a smaller traveling production in the off years. She often shifts the setting to another time or place. Others do this as well, but in the case of van Eijk it is never illogical or ugly.´

Algemeen Dagblad, 25 June 2002

´As with previous productions of Opera Spanga, van Eijk's directing is characterized by a sparkling perfectionism in her work with the actors. This leads to a great number of comic moments.´

NRC Handelsblad, June 2002

< Opera Spanga chronology