The Queen of Spades

Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, as produced by the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona this summer, stars Misha Didyk. According to The San Juan Star, Misha’s voice is a “gigantic, powerful, and very well controlled lyric voice which has inside a dark, burnished tone reminiscent of a big Russian Orthodox cathedral bell.” Misha plays Hermann, the obsessive lover and gambler. The incomparable Ewa Podleś sings the role of the Countess.

Synopsis (contains spoilers): Hermann, a soldier, falls in love with the wealthy Lisa, who is already engaged to Prince Yeletsky. Lisa confesses to Hermann that she is actually in love with him and not her betrothed. Hermann’s friends tell him that Lisa’s grandmother knows a card trick that makes her win every time, thus her nickname, “The Queen of Spades.” Hermann becomes obsessed with learning the secret, convinced that once he discovered it, it would solve all his problems. When Hermann tries to intimidate the old woman into revealing her secret, she dies of fright. Lisa sends Gherman away, distraught.

Alone in a wintery cabin, the ghost of Lisa’s grandmother appears to Hermann and reveals the card trick. Hermann rushes to meet Lisa by the banks of a frozen river, but it soon becomes apparent that he has gone mad. After he abandons her, Lisa realizes that all hope is lost, and throws herself into the icy river. Hermann goes to the army barracks and joins a game of cards, using the secret that the apparition of the Queen of Spades taught him. It was a trick, however, and Hermann ends up losing everything—all his money, and the love of his life. He kills himself, asking for forgiveness.