Pietro il Grande, Kzar delle Russie o Il falegname di Livonia (‘Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia or The Livonian Carpenter’) was Donizetti's second opera, composed when he was 22 years old, and the first to receive more than one production. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the work’s première in 2019, the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo staged this rare melodramma burlesco in a new critical edition. The influence of Rossini and Mozart is clear, but the young Donizetti still managed to create a fresh and lively work that displayed early evidence of his mature style. This Donizetti Festival performance received widespread international acclaim, with a cast of excellent singers and a unique staging by Ondadurto Teatro (Marco Paciotti and Lorenzo Pasquali), influenced by Russian avant-garde art of the early 20th century.
World première video recording.
New production of Fondazione Teatro Donizetti di Bergamo's critical edition by Maria Chiara Bertieri © Fondazione Teatro Donizetti.
200th anniversary of the work's 1819 premiere.
Orchestra Gli Originali performs on 19th-century original instruments.
Subtitles in 6 languages – available in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.