Iolanta (Russian: Иоланта) is a one-act opera by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the last opera of his, written and first performed in 1892.
It is based on Henrik Hertz's drama King Rene's Daughter, which is, in turn, a highly romanticized story of Duchess Yolande of Lorraine, who lived in France in the mid-15th century. The main heroine is depicted as a girl born blind whose father King René insisted on hiding her illness from her. Therefore, the servants are strictly instructed not to mention anything connected with light and vision before Iolanta. The princess lives in an idyllic garden in the midst of deserts and mountains, perfectly happy for a long while. However, her father is torn between his unwillingness to bring her pain and his fierce wish to cure her when a physician tells him that to undergo an operation, Iolanta must learn of her plight. Meanwhile, a young Burgundian knight accidentally finds his way to the garden and falls in love with Iolanta at first sight, unaware that she's the daughter of René and his own best friend's betrothed.
Not to be confused with Iolanthe, a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.
The opera contains examples of:
- Age Lift: In the Soviet opera film, Bertram and Martha are played by actors barely into middle age at most, and all the references to their old age were cut.
- Adaptational Mundanity: Ebn-Hakia’s magic powers from Hertz’s play are absent in the opera.
- Arranged Marriage: Iolanta was betrothed to Duke Robert of Burgundy when both were children, prior to the start of the plot they have never even met (moreover, she is in fact unaware of his existence).
- Because I Said So: Subverted. King René announces his intention to execute Vaudemont, despite Iolanta's pleas for mercy, but later it turns out to be a trick.
- Compete for the Maiden's Hand: In the Soviet film adaptation, Robert is shown fighting off several of Matilda's suitors at once.
- Don't Celebrate Just Yet: Iolanta's operation is successful, but the characters find out she still has to adjust to having sight. She faints after the operation because light is too bright for her. Then she becomes frightened of her own garden and doesn’t recognize her own father until she touches his face.
- Engagement Challenge: Played with and subverted. René says Vaudemont will be executed if Iolanta's treatment isn't successful. Then it turns out he wasn't planning to kill him at all – it was a trick to get Iolanta to agree to an operation.
- Ethnic Magician: Ebn-Hakia, Iolanta's doctor – he is a sorcerer in Hertz's play, but in the opera he is more like a philosopher and physician.
- Everybody Lives: Except for the king's previous squire Raoul, but he dies the day before the plot starts. Quite an achievement for a non-comic opera.
- First-Name Basis: Vaudemont is Robert's close friend, despite their difference in status (Robert is the Duke of Burgundy while Vaudemont is a minor Burgundian count), and calls him by his given name. Stressed when Vaudemont begs Robert to finally call off his engagement to Iolanta: "Robert, my Duke, my friend".
- Garden of Love: Vaudemont and Iolanta fall in love in Iolanta's lovely garden, and Iolanta picking roses to give to him leads to a crucial plot point as Vaudemont realizes she is blind.
- The Ghost: Robert's beloved Matilda of Lorraine is referred to but never seen.
- Help Mistaken for Attack: Almeric, the king's squire, rushes onstage in panic to tell that a group of armed men is getting near. Actually, it's Robert coming to aid Vaudemont.
- Historical Domain Character: Iolanta, Vaudemont (although renamed Gottfried instead of Frederick), and King René.
- I Gave My Word: Despite being madly in love with Matilda, Robert is ready to marry Iolanta for honor's sake.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Iolanta. No wonder everyone calls her "angel" or "dove".
- Innocent Soprano: The soprano Iolanta is kind-hearted and innocent to the point that the young man who loves her compares her to an angel on Earth, as do several other characters (while the young man who is not attracted to her dismisses her as too childish for his liking).
- Fantastically Indifferent: The gates to Iolanta's garden are literally labeled as This Way to Certain Death, but Robert is so tired of roaming in the wilderness he doesn't care.Vaudemont: Suppose someone comes here and discovers us?
Robert: Well, he'll calm down in a while. Or we'll calm him down with swords. - Love at First Sight: Vaudemont for Iolanta.
- Missing Mom: Iolanta's mother is never even mentioned. Presumably she died in childbirth, as Iolanta's wet nurse has been raising the girl almost from the day she was born.
- No Antagonist: There are no bad guys in the opera. Not a single one. There are only Iolanta who feels something is being kept from her, René who can't decide what's the best solution for his daughter, Vaudemont who wants Iolanta to want to see (and just plainly wants Iolanta), and Robert torn between duty and love.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The more passionate Robert and the more philosophical Vaudemont. Also their respective brides.
- Releasing from the Promise: Robert's chief worry is that King René will not break his betrothal to Iolanta.
- Parental Substitute: Martha, Iolanta's nurse.
- Song of Prayer:
- King Rene's aria "My God, if I am a sinner" is him desperately praying for his blind daughter, as he says he is ready to give up everything he has and endure any misfortune if only Iolanta is cured.
- The opera finishes with all the characters praising God's grace in a chorus after Iolanta's operation is successful.
- Suddenly Suitable Suitor: Vaudemont explains that although, yes, he sneaked to meet Iolanta secretly and he spoke to her of forbidden topics (no, it's not what you think – he told her about vision and light), he is wealthy, highborn and well-connected and a dream choice for any potential father-in-law.
- Take Our Word for It: We never get to see Robert's adored Matilda (except in the Soviet opera film, where she appears as a silent role), so we have to believe his famous aria that no woman can equal her.
- Tenor Boy: Vaudemont is a classic one.
