Gambling we're going to hear act one now which unfolds into scenes with a brief pause in between Here's the synopsis for the 1st it takes place in a park in St Petersburg on a beautiful early spring day children are playing townspeople are strolling soldiers are loitering a couple of officers gossip about their friend Tara moan he's always riveted by their card games but never joins them herman confides in his friend Tomsky that he's fallen in love with a beautiful aristocratic girl when Prince lecky arrives at the park they learn that the girl is the prince's fiance her name is Lisa and she's there with her grandmother the old countess they notice her month staring at them as he's done in the past and they find him frightening. Later Tomsky regales his friends with the story of the old Countess he tells them she used to be nicknamed the Queen of Spades in her you she was a great beauty and she once spent the night with the man in exchange for his secret gambling Formula 3 cards that always when she shared the secret with 2 men her husband and later her young lover but then an aberration warned her that she will die at the hands of a 3rd man who will try to force the secret from her. Suddenly a violent storm erupts sending everyone rushing from the park except. He repeats the prophecy of the 3 cards to himself and he's filled with determination to win Lisa as the act and he declares she will be mine or I will die if you so let's talk about the music I wrote for a rather dark opera it begins pretty cheerfully with everyone enjoying the beautiful weather and there's even a playful little military number for the children and surely an homage to the children's chorus in busy days Carmen and opera Tchaikovsky love when Herrmann appears we can sense immediately that he's different from all the happy people around him will hear a theme on cello introducing him associated with his love for Liza Herrmann's manic intensity as expressed in music that's rapturously beautiful but also terrifying and we see how he unsettles everyone there's a striking quintet for him Liza the old countess Yeah let's Tomsky Yes in the quintet each character has the line I feel afraid and each has different reasons for the sense of foreboding it's very powerful in contrast Tomsky gossipy Aria about the old con Countess is light hearted almost like a folk song yeah it's 3 verse structure suggests the times he's relating an entertaining old tale but the Ari takes a sinister turn as Herrmann's friend suggest to him that he could be that 3rd man who will take the secret by force we'll hear the musical motif of the 3 cool cards and we get a crash course in Russian the words 3 cards 3 card of the 3 card the 3 card these kind of hard to miss we're going to hear those words a lot they launch Herremans obsession but in the arias of that ends this scene he also seems driven by his passion for lead. Well here in order of vocal appearance Paul Gross. Check Alinsky Ramadan Chatto as soon and Alexei Mark office count Tomsky use of favors office hair Mon and tango in his network broadcast of you is Prince alecky. Lisa Lisa Datsun makes her network broadcast of you as Liza and receive is the Countess the concert Aster this afternoon is Nancy who meister of us also making his network broadcast debut conducts the Metropolitan opera orchestra and chorus in the brief pro you'd introduce a few important cicle themes ones associated with the Countess and her secret Herrmann's obsession with learning that secret and also we hear a love theme and during the prelude we'll see him on stage dressed all in black with his long overcoat he's brooding and tormented. And coming on to the podium is our maestro of a city contract go down to the audience so let's hear Act one Scene one across the Korean this space. Pick. Gone. Quite. a lot. Day to Day with. Even a little leak in the. Leak gave Whole. Oh oh. Oh. Oh. Oh oh. Oh oh. Oh oh oh oh oh. Oh oh boy oh boy the. Old. Girl. They don't farm for the. Long. Haul. The a v. For those. Old. Loads . The the stuff. The. Old. Hold. You. See is the. End. Only. If you. Go we won't. You. Won't. You. Who. Who. Vote Oh. I am . Wrong though. Oh is that a look Mary did you really think it all became a bomb. On the of. The. The the the. The. The the. The. Wheat field week. The. The old. One the lump. On the Punjab mom. Mom. he told me oh. Ah. Ah ah the us is the old. Piano. Oh. All over. The. Home. Walpole. Old. Old old. Old old old. Home. Oh. I. Love the old. You. Eric Holder her. Old Married a RINGBACK. Change . The. Boss. Oh. No this was done. On. Monday. The bare minimum balance you don't have these are or. That was actually one scene monitor costumes the Queen of Spades live from the net seem to will begin in just a moment it takes place in Lisa's room she's surrounded by friends including Paulina. And the girls entertain themselves by singing and dancing but Liza is feeling melancholy after the others leave she admits to herself that in spite of her engagement to Prince your lecky she's powerfully drawn to that mysterious man she saw in the park just then Herrmann appears at her balcony door and he declares his love to her he has to hide when the old countess comes in but after she leaves he and Lisa embrace passionately and that's how the act ends. In order a vocal parents will hear Lisa Datsun as Liza and. As Paulina leaves as governess as sung by Jill Grove and her maid Marcia by Leah Hawkins making her network broadcast debut you survive his office here mon and the rest of the arc of it is the Countess the solo piano is played by Lydia Brown and Vasili Petrenko conducts over the scene begins with a few musical numbers yes and with a lovely duet in harmony and it's the 18th century setting of the story it sung by Liza and Felina to entertain their friends and then holiness sings a dark haunting song on her own 2 before she decides to lift the mood with a lively folk dance but all that levity just earns the girls a scolding from the governess she tells them proper Mademoiselle's should not behave like Russian peasant when sleazes alone though she expresses her her agitation in a powerful Aria builds to a frenzy as she recalls her moans blazing eyes when he appears he's terrified at 1st her month threatens to kill himself if she marries Prince she lets keep he expresses his passion in a formal R.E.O.'s always he calls her my beauty my Goddess my angel as a scene in she cries out I am your great winner and the act well the stage for this production is bordered by a giant picture frame that's tipped back and in this. We begin in a room full of young ladies knitting reading acting demure all wearing white or pastel colors Polina sits at a piano to the left Lisa is standing near her as they sing their duet for the others there's a giant lace curtain hanging across the stage towards the back and behind it will see those tall glass doors of the balcony where Harriman will later appear. Home. Late. Coming to. The Sun. The 1st. World READY. You. Think and it is. Very good if they say the face. Excise. Heart. To be in the name of the. Moon. There's nobody loves to talk. The soul. The living was out there the South was near to the home you. Did at the office in. These Navy blue the old was the same the sun unity among the softness. The purple the last of the species. In the one you know. The number of them has come. To a lift for the 1st on a limited. Then the the the the. The slowest. The some. Poor poor. Old. the 'd just. The or. Similar or hold. The the. World. Or are. To the old the old. 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