On 4 and 5 April, the Mariinsky Theatre will be staging Leos Janacek's opera Jenufa for the first time. Stage Director – Vasily Barkhatov; Set Designer – Zinovy Margolin; Costume Designer – Maria Danilova; Lighting Designer – Gleb Filshtinsky; Musical Director – Valery Gergiev.

One of the most popular works in contemporary opera, Jenufa has never before been staged at the Mariinsky Theatre. In the late 50s Jenufa, also known as Her Stepdaughter, was performed at the Novosibirsk Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre. It did not, however, become established in the repertoire of any major Russian theatre. The libretto was written by the composer after the drama by Gabriela Preissova which tells of the tragic history of Moravian peasant girl Jenufa whose newborn child is murdered by her stepmother.

The world premiere took place on 21 January 1904 in Brno. For twelve years the composer negotiated the possibility of staging Jenufa in Prague, but he was consistently turned down. In 1916 the theatre presented Janacek with an ultimatum: the opera would be staged but under the condition the score undergo major reworking by Principal Conductor of the Prague National Opera Karel Kovarovic (1862–1920). The 61 year-old Janacek agreed to the long-awaited chance to hear his work performed in the capital. Jenufa was first seen by Prague audiences on 26 May 1916 in a version widely differing from Janacek's original idea. By coarsely intruding on the harmony and intonation of the work and correcting Janacek's "mistakes" and "oddities" of orchestration, Kovarovic deprived the work of its true charm. Paradoxically, up until the end of the 20th century, it was Kovarovic's version of Janacek's opera that theatres staged and which enjoyed immense popularity.

The St Petersburg Jenufa is not just a mark of respect to this outstanding 20th century classic. Staging Leos Janacek's work at the Mariinsky Theatre is a logical step and once again confirms that the theatre is keeping abreast of developments in European opera. For its production of Jenufa, the Mariinsky Theatre will be using the authentic version of the work: over one hundred years after its premiere, Janacek's opera will be performed in Petersburg in all its primordial magnificence.

Stage Director Vasily Barkhatov first came to the public's attention at the Stars of the White Nights festival in summer 2006 with a production of Shostakovich's musical comedy Moscow, Cheryomushki. This ironic and highly vivid production proved a triumph during the Mariinsky Theatre's summer tour to London. Set Designer Zinovy Margolin is already familiar to Petersburg audiences – at the Mariinsky Theatre he has worked on Shostakovich's The Nose, Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride (both directed by Yuri Alexandrov) and Tristan und Isolde (together with Stage Director Dmitry Chernyakov).

Among those rehearsing are Tatiana Pavlovskaya, Irina Mataeva, Irina Vasilieva, Larisa Gogolevskaya, Larisa Shevchenko, Maxim Aksenov, Andrei Ilyushnikov, Sergei Semishkur, Elena Vitman, Svetlana Volkova, Grigory Karasev, Alexander Morozov, Timur Abdikeyev, Anna Kiknadze and Karina Chepurnova. Valery Gergiev will be conducting the performance on 4 April.