The Turnip

About

This children’s opera, The Turnip, is the first opera by composer and Mariinsky Academy soloist Rustam Sagdiev. Conceived at the suggestion of Larisa Gergieva, it transforms a simple folk tale into a compact, fully shaped opera with recognizable forms and music drama. The score draws on stylized yet clear Russian folk songs from different regions and nods to Rimsky-Korsakov, Musorgsky, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and Sviridov. Folk colors are heightened by the use of triangle, woodblock, spoons, rattle, and balalaika. The libretto expands the tale with figures like the Little Birch-Tree, Little Lime-Tree, Little Aspen-Tree, Little Nightingale, and a Jester-narrator. The Primorsky Stage production features original scenery by Chief Designer Pyotr Okunev. Designed for audiences 6+, the opera invites children into the world of theatre through the humor, rhythm, and communal spirit of Russian folklore.