Coming up in Philly music: Prince Igor vs. the Polovetsians

Ghenady Meirson’s Russian Opera Workshop is a classic Philadelphia combo, blending big-time art with Center City’s small-scale neighborhood ambience. The public performances are free, relatively informal events, but the performers are all rising young vocalists who come from all over the world to study the Russian opera repertoire with an internally renowned expert.

The participants workshop two operas and perform them concert-style, with Mierson accompanying them on the piano. They may be working on a bare stage (score in hand) when they present the operas, but they’re working very hard, and the performances include little touches that let you know the event has been organized by experienced pros.

The first opera this year, Prince Igor, would make a good Hollywood historical epic. The heroic Russian prince takes on the invading Polovetsians in a plot that includes imprisonment, escape, chivalrous warriors, young love, and marital fidelity.

Before these performances run for three nights starting on June 27, things kick off on June 26 with a program devoted to Russian “romances” (the term Russians use for their contributions to the art-song repertoire). Russian songs tend to be about things most modern Americans can relate to, and the Russian language is just as melodious as Italian but darker and more sensuous.

The Russian Opera Workshop will present An Evening of Russian Romances on Tuesday, June 26, at 7:30pm and Prince Igor on June 27, 28, and 29, at 7:30pm. All performances are at the Helen Corning Warden Theater (the Academy of Vocal Arts, 1920 Spruce Street). Admission is free, but the theater is small and intimate, so it’s recommended you come early.