Imperial Grandeur

Catherine the Great is perhaps most famous in the West for the rumor that she was crushed to death by a horse during an act of bestiality. Not only is this false, but it also detracts from the true story of her fascinating life: A minor German princess who usurped the Russian throne from her husband, she corresponded with the French philosopher Denis Diderot, built a huge, wealthy Russian Empire and had a string of love affairs.

The tale of the development of a naive, 15-year-old princess into a powerful, enlightened despot forms the basis of a new musical by the composer Sergei Dreznin. The show, which premiered in Yekaterinburg on May 15, features a full orchestra, as well as Orthodox chants, rock, blues and rap numbers.

In a telephone interview from Paris this week, Dreznin said the show was an attempt to create a new genre -- the Russian musical epic. "It's a new page in Russian theater. It's a combination of the Russian world of beauty and the achievements of the West in musical theater."

"It's a kind of Boris Godunov in musical," he said, referring to Modest Mussorgsky's opera based on Alexander Pushkin's drama. "There are mass crowd scenes, and the story takes place against a backdrop of people who change their opinions about Catherine."

The libretto, written by the eminent playwright Mikhail Roshchin and the lyricist Alexander Anno, covers Catherine's whole life until her death at the age of 67. The central tension of the story revolves around the battle between her private and public selves, the conflict between her love for her country and her passion for men like Count Grigory Orlov and Prince Grigory Potemkin.

"It captures the unbelievable emotional depth of Russia," Dreznin said. "The showstopper is not all about fun, fun, fun, like in Western musicals. It's tragic."

"The ideas are as current as they were 200 years ago. One song goes, 'In this rich country there's everything but fair power.'" Tragedy, he said, is something that still defines modern Russia. "Look at Chechnya -- every mother is trembling when her son reaches 16."

But the musical is not intended as criticism. "We love Russia the way it is. It makes people shiver with pride and shame," he said. "I'm just asking the questions: Who are we? Why do we live the way we do? It's up to the audience to decide."

Dreznin is one of the few Russian composers with an established reputation in the West, having worked in Vienna, New York, Berlin and Paris. The musical is staged by the young Moscow director Nina Chusova and choreographed by internationally renowned, Yekaterinburg-born Tatyana Baganova.

It was originally intended for the Moscow stage, but when the sponsor pulled out, the show was moved to Yekaterinburg, the city named after Russia's only female ruler. "It was hard to convince people that there might be something worthy in Russian entertainment," Dreznin said.

The composer said there are plans to take the show to Germany, and that he hopes to be nominated for a Golden Mask award so that the show can be performed in Moscow.

Response from Russian critics has been overwhelmingly positive, Itar-Tass wrote that "[Dreznin] has managed the impossible: a synthesis of history and modernity;" Rossiskaya Gazeta commented, "Everything is superlative: brilliant costumes, a stylish libretto, a virtuoso stage design and impressive video effects."

With a budget of 17 million rubles ($725,000), the production is epic in its staging and preparations -- 700 costumes are used in the musical, which was first conceived of eight years ago and took three years to write.

But there are no horses. At the end, Catherine doesn't die but leaves the stage singing, "I know you'll remember me."

For more information and samples from the show, see www.sergeidreznin.net