The Queen of Spades

There’s passion and drama galore in Tchaikovsky’s rich setting of Pushkin’s chilling novel of obsession. Dashing Dmitri Hvorostovsky is Prince Yeletsky, engaged to Lisa (Galina Gorchakova) who is also loved by Gherman (Plácido Domingo at his most romantically impassioned). Lisa’s grandmother, the old Countess (Elisabeth Söderström) had been given the secret of winning at cards, and when Gherman tries to force it out of her at gun point, she dies of fright. After Lisa commits suicide, the old Countess’s ghost gets even with Gherman. Valery Gergiev leads a mega-watt performance.