When rock-opera “Juno and Avos” premiered in 1981 in Moscow, a flurry of critical reviews followed describing it as anti-Soviet.
The new genre caused enough of an uproar that the play had to be presented as a “modern opera.”
But the show kept gaining popularity and eventually even Pierre Cardin facilitated a performance in Paris, then another one on Broadway and all over Europe. Records sold like hotcakes and composer Aleksiy Rybnikov and libretto poet Anrdiy Rybnikov became household names.
A tragic love story, Juno and Avos are surprisingly the names of two ships, not lovers. Based on real life events, the musical is set in the 18th century when the Russian explorer Nikolai Rezanov ventures to California to replenish supplies for the Russian colony in Alaska.
But there is no escape from love. He meets a beautiful 16 year-old Konchita Arguelyo, the daughter of a San Francisco commander and promises to return for her. But after 35 years of waiting in vain, Konchita ends up as a nun in a monastery.
Fri, Feb. 3, 7 p.m., Palats Ukraina, 103 Chervonoarmiyska St., tickets: Hr 160 – 1500.
