Opera Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Golden Cockerel" (Director - Kirill Serebrennikov) - opera in 3 acts World famous Bolshoi Ballet and Opera theatre (established 1776) - Small Stage
Running time: 3 hours
The performance has 2 intermissions
Schedule for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Golden Cockerel" (Director - Kirill Serebrennikov) - opera in 3 acts 2022
Composer: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Choirmaster producer: Valery Borisov Light Designer: Damir Ismagilov Director: Kirill Serebrennikov Music Director: Vassily Sinaisky Chorus Master: Valery Borisov
Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Opera in 3 acts
Premiere of this production: 19 June 2011
Libretto by Vladimir Belsky based on Alexander Pushkin’s
fairy-tale
The 2010/11 opera season will wind up with the premiere of
a new production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s THE GOLDEN COCKEREL (first night 19 June)
by one of the pacesetters of the Moscow theatre scene Kirill Serebrennikov.
The Bolshoi Theatre is again to produce the most caustic and
paradoxical of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas, the most “unfairytale-like”
of all his tales, the tale about the golden cockerel.
The Golden
Cockerel was created after the infamous events of the 1905 revolution
(the first musical sketches for the opera — the Cockerel theme —
appeared at the end of 1906, and the whole score was finished
in the course of the following year). And, of course, the tense
political situation, which reigned at the time in the country, could
not but find reflection in the opera. Especially since the composer himself
was not a passive observer of the unrest: he supported the
demands of the striking students and was dismissed from the Petersburg
Conservatoire where he had been teaching since the 1870’s.
Lying
at the basis of the opera is Alexander Pushkin’s tale of the
same name, which, however, was significantly reworked. Librettist Vladimir
Belsky highlighted different points of emphasis, added new scenes,
a new character — housekeeper Amelfa, developed the characters
of the rest of the personages, gave the tale sharper political and
satirical edge — quite in keeping with the spirit of the times
which had given rise to a burgeoning of satirical
journalism.
On account of its political content, the opera was
banned by the censor who saw it as an outspoken attack
on the autocracy. Refusing to compromise, its author lost all hope
of ever seeing it on stage. And, indeed, The Golden
Cockerel was premiered a year after his death —
on 14 September 1909 at Zimin’s Private Opera Company,
in Moscow. The scenography was by Ivan Bilibin — and the
production was impressive but in fairytale like vein, absolutely
in the spirit of the World of Art movement to which
the artist belonged. On 16 November of the same year, the opera got
its first Bolshoi Theatre performance. Up to 1917 it was
presented with changes insisted on by the censor’s office —
namely, all its personages were ’demoted in rank’.
If one
follows the opera’s performance history at the Bolshoi (taking into account
the 1917 revival, there were a total of five productions), one
finds two basic tendencies in production style. They were either stylized
and ’aestheticized’ (as in Vladimir Lossky’s 1924 production —
aesthetically beautiful, spectacular, emphatically theatrical, smacking
of the marionette theatre, with complex plastic design), or sharply
political and satirical (as in Nikolai Smolich’s 1932 version
in which, for example, the Boyar Duma meets in the
bath-house).
Kirill Serebrennikov, director of the present
production, has opted for another solution.
Kirill
Serebrennikov: “It is one of the best Russian
operas — dynamic, subtly conceived, hard-hitting, paradoxical.
It is an excellent combination of marvelous music,
intelligent libretto, good text and very intriguing personages.
It is a very sincere opera — one realizes immediately that
it is a last work. For Rimsky-Korsakov
it is a very important personal statement. I think
it would be wrong to categorize it exclusively
as a pamphlet. Such a major artist and philosopher would have
been unable to limit himself to a topical response to the
contemporary situation in Russia. The philosophical basis is very
important in all his work. Rimsky-Korsakov is a conceptualist;
he needs a program, a theory. And I am therefore sure that
The Golden Cockerel is not simply a political and publicistic
declaration, it is a serious philosophical
statement.
Above all we have got rid of all the conventionally
grotesque ethnic-’bilibinesque’ matter. In our production popular woodcut
scenes are out. In this respect we will disappoint those people who
expect from The Golden Cockerel a folklore ’patchwork’
of skomorokhi (wandering minstrels cum clowns — tr.n.), long beards,
exaggerated Russian style... There won’t be any of this in our
production. We abandon a very conventional, stylized and very
theatrical world for quintessentially genuine — ’just like in the
movies’ - reality.
In this opera there is a pamphlet,
there is satire, but it is other things, which occupy
my attention. I am more interested in Dodon’s inner world, the
story of this Tsar’s last love. I think it is very
intriguing. It is all about power and people in power.
It is about how power impacts a man and what happens to him
when he comes face to face with a miracle. It is the
interrelationships between the two main personages, which form the core
of our production. It won’t be quite fairytale. It will
be a different story... and more human than
socio-political”.
Vassily Sinaysky, Bolshoi Theatre
music director and conductor in chief, conductor of the production:
"For me, above all else, this is a work, which provided
a very strong stimulus to other composers — Rimsky-Korsakov’s
young contemporaries. In imaging the reception it got from his
students, the very young Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Stravinsky and others,
studying at the time at the Petersburg Conservatoire, I try above
all to emphasize what they liked about it. Stravinsky, for instance,
took a lot of things of a technical nature from
Rimsky-Korsakov and, above all, from The Cockerel: use of harp,
strings, and also the intonational sphere. All this and a lot more unite
The Golden Cockerel and Petrushka.
On the other
hand, I believe The Golden Cockerel is quite different
to Rimsky-Korsakov’s usual style, to his more ‘usual’ works.
In view of my love for and knowledge
of Scheherazade, Sadko, The Tale of Tsar Saltan
and The Tsar’s Bride, all of which I love conducting,
I am astonished here at the degree he has departed into quite
other spheres. And first and foremost I consider it important
to highlight the innovations he introduced into this opera
in respect of musical language, usage and modification systems
of leitmotifs, harmony, and even steps towards atonality
(!).
Synopsis
Act
I
In the palace preparations are underway for a
’session’ of the boyars’ Duma. They are waiting for the Tsar. The
Astrologer appears and addresses those present:
I’m a wizard.
I’m endowed by occult knowledge with rare gifts — to call
up shades and fill anew a lifeless breast with magic being.
Here
before you, comic masks will bring to life an ancient
fable. Though a tale, the moral’s true — Good young people, mark
it well.
A hubbub breaks out. The Astrologer disappears.
Enter the Tsar. The Tsar appeals to his boyars for advice on how
to keep his kingdom safe from attack. His eldest son suggests bringing the
army back from the frontier and posting it round the capital. Many support
this idea. General Polkan, however, disapproves of the plan. The Tsar’s
youngest son suggests the army should be disbanded altogether and only
mobilized again at the appearance of the enemy. Dodon is delighted
at the idea! But Polkan turns this suggestion down too. The Duma
is at a loss to know what to do. They suggest that
beans or kvas grains should be consulted. Enter the Astrologer.
He presents Dodon with a magic Golden Cockerel who will always give
warning of danger. The Tsar promises the Astrologer any reward
he likes to name:
Your first wish I will
fulfill Like it were my very own.
Exit the Astrologer.
His fears allayed, Dodon goes to sleep. He has a sweet
dream. The Cockerel starts
to crow:
Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo! Be alert!
Be on your guard!
Noise and bustle. The Tsar mobilizes two
armies which march off to the scene of war led by his sons.
He then goes back to sleep. Dodon’s terrible dream. Again the Cockerel
warns of danger. Having gathered together a force, Dodon now goes off
to war himself accompanied by General Polkan.
Act II
Tsar Dodon, accompanied by his
army, sees the bodies of his two dead sons. A horrified Dodon mourns
his children. Suddenly a mysterious tent appears before him.
A beautiful woman steps out of the tent and sings a hymn
to the rising sun. It is the Tsaritsa of Shemakha. Dodon
is bewitched by her beauty and her singing. By guile and
artifice, the cunning Tsaritsa seduces Dodon who offers her his hand
in marriage. His offer is accepted. The Tsaritsa of Shemakha and
Dodon set off for the capital.
Act
III
The populace are awaiting the return of their
Tsar. Dodon and the Tsaritsa of Shemakha appear to the sound
of trumpets. The populace greet them. The Astrologer makes his way through
the crowd. He reminds the Tsar of his promise and asks for the Tsaritsa
of Shemakha. Dodon tries to make the old astrologer see sense,
offering him at least half his kingdom, but the latter is adamant.
Loosing his temper, Dodon rough-handles the old man and chases him off. The
Astrologer dies. The Golden Cockerel flies down off the tower and pecks Dodon
on the forehead. Dodon dies. The Tsaritsa of Shemakha and the Cockerel
vanish. The people are totally disorientated:
Oh what will the
new dawn bring? How’ll we live without our Tsar?
Epilogue
The Astrologer appears from
the crowd. He now concludes his tale:
That is how the story
ends. But the bloody denouement, though distressing
it may be, really should not worry you. Only I and the
Tsaritsa were the real live people here. The others were delirium —
a dream, a pale specter, a void...
Schedule for Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Golden Cockerel" (Director - Kirill Serebrennikov) - opera in 3 acts 2022
Bolshoi Theatre - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov "The Golden Cockerel" - Venera Gimadieva, soprano |
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About This Video 01:55 Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
"Sbroshu chopornie tkani" (arioso of the Queen of Shemakha from The Golden Cockerel)
Venera Gimadieva, soprano
Choir and Orchestra of The BOlshoi Theatre, Moscow
Vassily Sinaiskiy, conductor
19 June 2011 |
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