The Mariinsky Theatre presents the first opera with artificial intelligence

St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre has premiered the opera "Mandrágora," the first opera created with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) , Sberbank, Russia's largest bank and one of the sponsors of the musical project, announced on Friday.

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“The premiere of the mystical opera 'Mandrágora', the world's first musical created using artificial intelligence technologies, took place on the Mariinsky Theatre's New Stage,” the bank said in a statement, highlighting that the work “marks a new stage in the synthesis of art and technology.”

According to Sberbank, the opera's world premiere, which took place the day before, "was the most important cultural event of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the Stars of the White Nights Festival." "The opera, based on ideas by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Sergei Rachinsky, was recreated and fine-tuned with the participation of composer Pyotr Dranga and Sberbank's artificial neural networks," the bank explains.

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The Mariinsky Theatre, created during the reign of Peter I, was known before the revolution as the Imperial Russian Opera Orchestra. It has also hosted the premieres of numerous operas and ballets considered masterpieces of the 19th and 20th centuries. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was very close to the Mariinsky Theatre, not only as a conductor but also premiering his Symphony No. 6 there.

He added that the GigaChat program helped write the libretto; SymFormer perfected the arrangements; and the Kandinsky system “created visual and scenographic solutions.”

"All the creative results of AI were under the control of artists who proceeded from a deep respect for the style of the era," represented in the opera, whose premiere was dedicated to the 185th anniversary of Tchaikovsky's birth. Sberbank director Herman Gref said the use of AI "saves a huge amount of time," particularly in orchestral arrangements for a symphony orchestra.

“It's a job that composers don't really like, because it takes years off their lives. But thanks to AI, humans can focus on the creative process, on what's inside their souls. And AI can be a powerful helper and inspiration,” he said.

Nearly 170 artists participate in this production, including musicians from the symphony orchestra, choirs, and soloists.

EFE