The Little Tragedies
By Alexander Pushkin
Two short plays in verse by the father of Russian poetry, in a new translation and accompanied by a string quartet.
The Stone Guest. The tragic story of Don Juan. The aged and famous lover returns to Madrid from exile to court a woman for one last time, which, as usual, is “one time too many”. His hearts’ desire is a widow named Dona Anna, whose husband had been killed by Don Juan. Dressed as a monk, he meets his victim’s widow under the statue of the deceased. Insolently, Don Juan invites the statue to the intimate rendezvous he has with Dona Anna…
Mozart and Salieri. Did the composer Antonio Salieri poison his friend, the young and brilliant Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart? Masterfully, Pushkin depicts an acute conflict between envy and admiration, between the two geniuses, and between man and his Maker. Mozart comes to his friend Salieri, whose mind is altered by the pursuit of glory, and plays for him his new piece, the Requiem. Salieri admires the work and invites Mozart to the Golden Aria restaurant, where he debates whether to drop the poison into Mozart’s glass, whether genius and evil can coexist in the same heart, and ponders the benefits of a genius like Mozart for the entire human culture.
Pushkin’s Little Tragedies (two out of four are mounted in this show) are based on legends that intrigue forever and speak of pathos and humor, of loathing and worship, of one moment and eternity.
