Die ungleichen Schalen: Fünf einaktige Dramen

In a richly furnished drawing‑room of Count Rasumowsky’s St. Petersburg mansion, the heat of a crackling fire competes with the restless energy of young cavalry officer Fedor Chidrow and his equally impatient companion, Captain Michael Lassunsky. Their servant Rodion shuffles dutifully, while the echo of distant street noise hints at a city on the brink of trouble. The scene crackles with nervous chatter about a recent assault on the Grand Chancellor, a development that has already set the aristocracy’s nerves jangling.

The conversation quickly pivots to the imminent arrival of the notorious Count Orlow, whose rumored marriage to Empress Elisabeth threatens to upend loyalties and ambitions. As the men argue over honor, duty, and the potential fallout of Orlow’s boldness, a simmering sense of danger lurks beneath the polite veneer. Listeners are drawn into a tense, fast‑moving tableau of intrigue, pride, and the uneasy balance of power in 1763 Russia.