Bela

About

Klinichev’s Bela (2014) is an original operatic treatment of Lermontov’s novella. The composer-librettist follows the novella closely, preserving fragments of the original text while adapting characters for operatic stage action. The score draws on classical Russian operatic forms—arias, ariosos, choruses—and sets Russians and Highlanders in distinct musical worlds. Folk scenes, dances, and orchestral themes evoke the Caucasus and mountain cultures. The work resists a single tidy label but aligns with the Russian romantic tradition, aiming to make Lermontov’s figures fully operatic (for example, turning Bela into a more overt operatic heroine). This Mariinsky performance on 18 April 2015 was presented in concert format.