Abstract: The object of the research is the problem of director's interpretation of classical opera works as an important topic for the modern music theatre. The subject of the research is the performances staged at Yekaterinburg Theatre of Opera and Ballet in 2013 - 2015 that demonstrated different approaches of modern directors to conveying a composer's message. The author of the article also analyzes creative success and mistakes of directors in their interpretations of opera masterpieces such as Wagner's 'The Flying Dutchman', Chaikovsky's 'Eugene Onegin' and Verdi's 'Rigoletto'. The author notes an interesting solution of the director who staged Wagner's opera, according to the author, it conveyed the composer's message quite well. The author also notes a rather debatable and unsuccessful interpretation of the opera 'Eugene Onegin' and quite credible interpretation of Verdi's message in the opera 'Rigolleto'. The methodological  basis of the research mostly includes the cultural approach, historical comparative analysis, cultural and art historical interpretation of musical and theatrical scripts. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author raises the aforesaid problems in terms of modern Russian culture and analyzes the most recent performances staged at one of the most famous Russian theatre groups. The main conclusion made by the author is that directors should be very sensitive and attentive to composers' messages and take into account both peculiarities of their style and general cultural traditions of the time and place of action as well as correspondence of conceptual meanings of classical works to the realities of our days. 

Abstract: The research subject is the new Sergey Slonimsky’s opera “King Lear” (2001) based on Shakespeare’s tragedy. It is the first opera in modern Russian musical theatre, which is based on the old genre dramma per musica. The author of the paper studies the score and premiere plays in Moscow and St. Petersburg to analyze the cultural senses of the creative concept. The author reveals the peculiarities of performing the concept of Shakespeare’s tragedy in drama and the music style of the opera, analyzes the characters’ features and their interpretation by the performer in premiere plays. The author uses the methodology of culturological study, complex and interdisciplinary approaches, methods of historical-comparative analysis, culturological and musicological interpretation. The scientific novelty of the study consists in the fact that it is the first study, which gives profound and comprehensive theoretical and culturological analysis of the new opera “King Lear” by the patriarch of Russian music culture Sergey Slonimsky. It contains the characteristics of premiere plays of 2016 and their artistic evaluation. On the basis of Slonimsky’s work the author concludes about impressive innovation of Russian opera of the 21st century, composer’s reliance on the traditions of the Shakespearean drama theatre and music theatre of the 16th – the 17th centuries, rich in innovations of the 21st century, which smoothly synthesize the features of elite and mass culture.