Teatro alla Scala presents a new production of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece drawn from Pushkin’s novel in verse. Its debut in 1879 marked a turning point in Russian opera, abandoning historical tableaux and spectacular effects to paint an intimate portrait of a small group of characters. The composer wrote: «Those for whom the first prerequisite of an opera is stage action will not be satisfied by it. Those, on the other hand, who in an opera are capable of looking for the musical illustration of everyday, simple, universally human emotions, far removed from anything tragic or theatrical, may (I hope) actually turn out to be satisfied with my opera.» The music is entrusted to the youthful Timur Zangiev, who stepped into the spotlight when he replaced Valery Gergiev in the Pique Dame and was consecrated at the Salzburg Festival. Stage direction is in the hands of Mario Martone, now in his tenth La Scala production, returning to the Russian repertoire after the triumphant Khovanshchina of Mussorgsky in 2019: as then, set design is by Margherita Palli.