Little Red Riding Hood 

George Aperghis

Instrumental theatre builds a particular kind of stage behavior and a special mode of communication to the audience. The musicians not only play their instruments they also act as drama artists: they move along the stage, recite text, sing, read etc. The genre of music theatre is thus a truly interdisciplinary form of art and the music here is both to listen and to see.

Georges Aperghis, Greek-French composer, awarded Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Biennale di Venezia composed Little Red Riding Hood (Le petit chaperon rouge) in 2001. Based on Charles Perrault’s tale the work builds a score for six performers who present the story full of scenic and music effects, unexpected storyline turns. The work has been designed for children as well as for adults – the flow of the peerless but ambiguous narrative invites everyone to take an active part in the performance and allows for new impressions on contemporary music language.
The Studio for New Music ensemble was the first group in Russia to explore the genre of music theatre with its production of Der Stand der Dinge by Faradzh Karaev in 2016 followed by staged works of Kagel and Aperghis.
The premiere performances of Little Red Riding Hood were held at the New European Theatre festival at the Meyerhold Centre Moscow in 2017.

Alexei Smirnov – stage director
Graduated from Russian Academy of Theatre, awarded prizes at the Mariinsky Theatre Competition, Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre “Nano-Opera” Prize.

Elena Bodrova – stage designer

Studio for New Music:
Nikita Agafonov, Evgeniy Barkhatov – clarinets
Vladimir Ustyantsev – saxophone
Ekateriva Fomitskaya – violin
Mona Khaba, Natalia Cherkasova – piano
Vladimir Tarnopolski – artistic director

The production has been supported by the Moscow Government, Department of Culture, Statoil Company as part of “Open Stage Program”