Noilly Prattle: Europe Summer 2017: Russia 8

September 20

We met Robin at the airport around 21:00 and took a taxi back to the apartment for a very reasonable 1500 Rubles. Had some hot chicken soup at the kitchen counter and chatted for a while. Robin was tired, of course, so we all called it a day.

September 21

PALACE SQUARE

Winter Palace and Neva River and . . .

This morning Robin surprised us by saying he, too, wanted to attend the opera, Cavaleria Rusticana, at the Saint Petersburg Opera this evening. Fortunately there were still tickets available and we walked to the theater to buy his ticket. Then, we all walked to the Palace Square for some more sightseeing of the Winter Palace and the Neva River area.

General Staff Building

Hermitage Museum

Winter Palace seen from the General Staff Building across Palace Square

KAZAN CATHEDRAL
CHURCH OF THE SAVIOR ON SPILLED BLOOD

Kazan Cathedral

people lined up before the icon
of the Madonna and Child

From Palace Square we walked along Nevsky Prospect to the Kazan Cathedral. Kazan is designed on the model of the Bellini Colonnade at the Vatican in Rome although not nearly as large and imposing. The cathedral in the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church in St. Petersburg. Inside, there was a long line of devout worshipers waiting the pray before and kiss a revered icon the the Madonna and Child.

Michailovsky Park

Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

pillar covered in mosaic designs

Later we walked through Michailovsky Park to the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood. This church was built to commemorate the site where Tsar Alexander II was fatally wounded by political nihilists in March 1881.The church was built between 1883 and 1907. The construction was funded by the Imperial Family. The interior of the church is covered, fantastically, by mosaic designs and images on the walls, ceilings, domes and pillars—truly a breathtaking site to see. I have never seen so many mosaics in one place before. They must be seen to be appreciated.

mosaic dome interior with typical Christ figure

detail of a figure mosaic

everything you see is made of mosaics

ST. PETERSBURG OPERA

Stopped at a cellar cafe for something to drink and have a bite to eat before going to the St. Petersburg Theater-- vodka cocktails and pelmeni (a kind of Russian dumpling).

St. Petersburg Opera Theater

the lobby of the St. Petersburg Theater

the small stage and auditorium

The lobby decor of the small St. Petersburg Theater was very unusual—like something out of a Dracula film or the stalactites of some cave. The short opera by Pietro Mascagni, Caveleria Rusticana, is an intense verisimo drama about a love triangle in a rural village. The opening scene was played out partly on the stage and partly in the audience with the entrance of Lola, the femme fatale. The funny thing was, as Lola walked down the aisle, she happened to sit on the armrest of Robin's seat, practically in his lap. During the intermission I joked that “she was close enough to smell her perfume.” The small orchestra was more than competent, tightly led and performed. The cast were superb in terms of voice and acting in capturing and projecting the intensity of the drama. Especially intense and riveting was the domestic quarrel between Santuzza, the wronged and pregnant unmarried woman, and Turiddu, the unfaithful lover having an affair with a married woman—Lola, the said femme fatale above.