Victory over the Sun

"Victory over the Sun" (Russian: "Победа над солнцем") is a Russian Futurist opera premiered in 1913 at the Luna Park in St Petersburg.

The opera was intended to underline parallels between literary text, musical score, and the art of painting.

The libretto written in "zaum" language was contributed by Aleksei Kruchonykh, the music was written by Mikhail Matyushin, the prologue was added by Velimir Khlebnikov, and the stage designer was Kasimir Malevich. The performance was organized by the artistic group Soyuz Molodyozhi.

The opera featured a cast of such extravagant characters as "Nero and Caligula in the Same Person", "Traveller through All the Ages", "Telephone Talker", "The New Ones", etc.

The audience reacted negatively and violently to the performance, as have subsequent critics and historians. [http://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/99/3/ondisplay3_hunter.html]

According to the NY Times, there is a 1980 Film about the Opera [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/52398/Victory-Over-the-Sun-A-Futuristic-Opera/details]

References

External Links

* [http://max.mmlc.northwestern.edu/~mdenner/Drama/plays/victory/1victory.html Costume Design by Malevich]
* [http://www.ce-review.org/99/3/ondisplay3_hunter.html Zaum and Sun: The 'first Futurist opera' revisited] Article by Isobel Hunter
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0CE1DF123BF934A15752C0A967948260 'VICTORY OVER THE SUN'] New York Times article
* [http://www.sergeidreznin.net/musical_theater/plays/victoryoversun/victory.htm Vienna 1993 staging] including pictures of performance
* [http://www.jstor.org/pss/1145623 Rober Benedetti - Reconstructing 'Victory over the Sun'] at JSTOR (requires subscription)
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/1999/jun/22/artsfeatures2 Victory over the sun] - Guardian article on the 1999 London recreation