Operakino 26/27 - IOLANTA from Vienna 2025

Princess Iolanta is blind from birth, but her father, King René, has hidden the truth from her so that she does not know that she lacks sight. The Moorish doctor Ibn-Hakia believes that she can only be cured if she herself becomes conscious of her blindness and wants to see. When, by chance, the knight Vaudémont meets Iolanta, they fall in love with each other. He inadvertently reveals that she is blind, thus arousing her longing to be able to see. After the treatment, Iolanta regains her sight, and the opera ends happily with love and gratitude.
With Elena Stikhina (Iolanta), Ivo Stanchev (King René), Dmytro Popov (Vaudémont).
Tchaikovsky's opera returned to the repertoire at the Vienna Staatsoper in 2025 in a new production directed by Evgeny Titov and conducted by Tugan Sokhiev. In this setup, the emphasis is on the question: what does it really mean “to get your sight back”? At Titov, vision is not only physical but also existential — a transition from sheltered ignorance to a more complex reality.

Running time: 102 min.