AI-Powered Opera 'Mandragora' Premieres in St. Petersburg

On June 19, 2025, the Mariinsky Theatre premiered Mandragora, an opera based on an unfinished work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, completed with the help of artificial intelligence. Tchaikovsky began composing Mandragora in 1869–1870 using a libretto by Sergei Rachinsky, but the work remained incomplete. The only surviving musical fragment was the “Chorus of Flowers and Insects,” orchestrated in December 1869. The project to reconstruct and complete the opera was initiated by composer and accordionist Pyotr Dranga in collaboration with Sber. Several AI tools were employed: GigaChat was used for analyzing and generating libretto texts, SymFormer assisted in composing new music in Tchaikovsky’s style, and Kandinsky provided visual designs and stage imagery. Mandragora blends classical heritage with modern technology, offering a creative interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s unfinished work. It will be part of the Mariinsky Theatre’s 2025–2026 repertoire.