Lonely souls gamble for a better life in Tchaikovsky’s operatic interpretation of Pushkin’s melancholic 1833 novella The Queen of Spades. Set in late 18th century St. Petersburg, the work explores the downward spiral of a young army officer as he becomes obsessed with learning the secret of an elderly countess, famed in her youth as the ‘muscovite Venus’ and as an unbeatable adversary at the gaming table. Stage director Hans Neuenfels joined forces with maestro Mariss Jansons at the head of the Wiener Philharmoniker for the 2018 Salzburg Festival’s production of this late Romantic masterpiece of Russian opera.

Photo : © Ruth Walz