Umberto Giordano: SiberiaConductor: Daniele Callegari

Director: Fabio Sparvoli

Designers: Giorgio Richelli (sets), Alessandra Torella (costumes)

First performance: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, December 19th 1903

Imagine La traviata on ice, and you're getting warm. Take Verdi's wilting hothouse flower, plant her amid the snowy wastes, add in a bit of hanky-panky with peasants in big fur coats and an Orthodox choir or two, and you have the plot of Siberia - described by the Viking Guide to Opera, succinctly if a mite unkindly, as "silly".

Stefana, a St Petersburg courtesan who lives in the lap of luxury in the palace of her protector, Prince Alexis, has been sneaking out at night to meet her secret lover, Vassili. They are caught, Vassili is sent to a Siberian prison camp (don't ask - it's a sub-plot involving his old nurse, OK?), Stefana follows him and is shot as they try to escape.

Silly or not, Siberia was Giordano's own favourite among his operas, and enjoyed considerable success in the years following its premiere, when, as a last-minute replacement for the postponed Madama Butterfly, it was greeted with great enthusiasm by the notoriously picky La Scala audience.

And if an Italian opera stuffed with Russian melodies doesn't strike you as a somewhat indigestible dish, there's plenty to savour in its sturdy ensembles, orthodox chanting, balalaika band and - in the guise of a prisoners' chorus - the Song of the Volga Boatmen.

Fabio Sparvoli began his career in his native Rome in 1980. He has directed many productions including Gounod's Faust at La Fenice in Venice, Donizetti's Don Pasquale in Parma, The Soldier's Tale for Teatro Comunale in Bologna with Roberto di Simone, and Verdi's Nabucco for Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa and Teatro San Carlo in Naples. In 1995 he directed Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore at the Opera Theatre in Lille and The Magic Flute at Teatro alla Scala, Milan.

`An Italian opera on a Russian subject? Yes, it's a Russian subject, because in Italy at that time there was a vogue for orientalism - not just in Italy but in all of Europe - and St Petersburg in particular was a location which was of great interest to painters, musicians and so on. But the Italian aspect is important too. In Siberia the character who is, for me, the principal character of the opera speaks about a woman who is called L'italiana. And like Rossini's L'italiana, - L'Italiana in Algeri - this women represents an idealised femininity.

"For me the most challenging aspect of the mise-enscene is the problem of representing the spirit of Siberia on a small stage like Wexford. The opera was written in a very cinematic way; in the second act two horses arrive on stage with a troika, while the third is set in a gulag in the Russian tundra, with lots of little houses scattered around. At that time in Italy - during the fascist period - there was a great interest in this type of cinema - a kind of large-scale, panoramic idealism. "Given the space restrictions on the Wexford stage my idea is to interiorise the action. The first act, for instance, will be in the house of Stefana, and the third act will not be set in a gulag as such, but in a circular interior which will be recognisable as a prison. And no horses! My God, it's not Aida! No troikas, either.

"As for the music, well, in the third act there is a balalaika interlude. Incredible, in an Italian opera, yes - but I think Giordano was creating his own version of Russian music. So we've kept the balalaika - but it will be an Italian balalaika , to show that this, really, is what Giordano thought Russian music should sound like.

"He himself was happy with Siberia - although he made cuts and revised the opera after the premiere - but it is rarely performed in Italy, where he is known for the big operas like Andrea Chenier. That's partly because of the staging problems I've already mentioned, and partly because of the baritone role, which is very high and presents terrible difficulties for the singer - it's a horribly difficult part. He almost has to sing as high as the tenor. Giordani originally wanted it to be for a tenor, in fact, but of course there is already a tenor role in the opera - that's the character of Vassili - so with regard to musical balance, when he revised the work he changed it to a baritone. And of course we have a very good baritone to sing it here at Wexford!"