The Tsar's Bride (opera)

"The Tsar's Bride" ( _ru. Царская невеста, "Tsarskaya nevesta") is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the composer's tenth opera. The libretto, by Il’ya Tyumenev, is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mey. Mey's play was first suggested to the composer as an opera subject in 1868 by Mily Balakirev. (Alexander Borodin, too, once toyed with the idea.) However, the opera was not composed until thirty years later, in 1898. The first performance of the opera took place in 1899 at the Moscow theater of the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontov.

Rimsky-Korsakov himself said of the opera that he intended it as a reaction against the ideas of Richard Wagner, and to be in the style of "cantilena "par excellence".cite journal | url=http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/13/4/204 | last=Graeme | first=Roland | title="The Tsar's Bride". Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | journal=The Opera Quarterly | volume=13 | issue=4 | pages=204–208 | date=1997 | accessdate=2007-09-30]

"The Tsar's Bride" is a repertory opera in Russia, although it is not part of the standard operatic repertoire in the West.cite journal | url=http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/8/4/112 | last=Robinson | first=Harlow | title="The Tsar's Bride". Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | journal=The Opera Quarterly | volume=8 | issue=4 | pages=112–114 | date=1991 | accessdate=2007-09-30 | doi=10.1093/oq/8.4.112] One noted US production was in 1986 at Washington Opera. [Sadie, Stanley, "Reports: Washington" (January 1987). "The Musical Times", 128 (1727): pp. 40-41.]

Performance history

The Moscow Premiere was given at the Private Opera Society, the scenic designer being Mikhail Vrubel. St. Petersburg had its premiere two years later at the Mariinsky Theatre with scenic designs by Ivanov and Lambin. Another notable performance was at the Bolshoy Theatre in Moscow, conducted by Emil Cooper (Kuper) and with scenic design by Konstantin Korovin, Golova, and Dyachkov.

Roles

ynopsis

*"Time": Autumn, 1572
*"Place": Aleksandrovsky settlement, Moscow, Russia

Act 1: The Feast

The oprichnik (bodyguard) Gryaznoi loves Marfa, daughter of the merchant Sobakin, even though Gryaznoi already has a mistress, Lyubasha, whom he has neglected of late. Marfa is already beloved of the boyar Lykov. In a jealous rage against Lykov, Gryaznoi casts a spell on Marfa with a magic potion from Bomelius, the Tsar's physician. Lyubasha has overheard Gryaznoi's request.

Act 2: The Love Philtre

Lyubasha in turn obtains from Bomelius another magic potion with which to cancel any feelings of Gryaznoi for Marfa. Bomelius consents, but at the price of an assignation with Lyubasha for himself.

Act 3: The Best Man

In the meantime, the Tsar of the title, Ivan IV (known as "Ivan the Terrible"), is looking for a new bride from the best aristocratic maidens in Russia. The Tsar settles upon Marfa. At the celebration of the engagement of Marfa to Lykov, everyone is surprised when the news arrives of the Tsar's choice of Marfa as his bride. Gryaznoi had slipped what he thought was the love potion from Bomelius into Marfa's drink at the feast.

Act 4: The Bride

At the Tsar's palace, Marfa has become violently ill. Lykov has been executed, at the instigation of Gryaznoi, on charges of attempting to kill Marfa. When Marfa learns that Lykov is dead, she goes insane. Eventually, Gryaznoi admits that he had slipped a potion into her drink, and after learning that it was poisonous, asks that he himself be executed. Lyubasha then confesses that she had substituted her portion from Bomelius for Gryaznoi's. In a rage, Gryaznoi murders Lyubasha, and is then taken to prison eventually to be executed. In her madness, Marfa mistakes Gryzanoi for Lykov.

Important musical excerpts

*Overture
*Gryaznoy's Recitative and Aria (Act I)
*Lyubasha's Song (Act I)
*Marfa's Aria (Act II)

elected recordings

* Dante Productions LYS 055/56: Natalya Shpiller, Maxim Mikhailov, Piotr Medtviediev, Anatoly Lioubimov, Anatoly Orfionov, Maria Maksakova, Vassily Yakouchenko, Sofya Panova, Varvara Gagarina, Maria Levina, Bronislav Zielezinsky; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre; Live Steinberg, conductor (1943 recording)
* HMV SLS 885 (LP issue): Galina Vishnevskaya, Irina Arkhipova, Vladimir Valaitis, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Andrei Sokolov, Vladimir Atlantov; Chorus and Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre; Fuat Mansurov, conductor [Anderson, Robert, "Record Reviews: The Tsar's Bride" (January 1975). "The Musical Times", 116 (1583): pp. 50-51.]
* Harmonia mundi LDC 288 056/57: Ekatarina Kudriavchenko, Nina Terentieva, Arkady Mishenskin, Vladislav Verestnikov; Sveshnikov Academic Russian Choir; Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre; Andrey Chistiakov, conductor [Roseberry, Eric, Review of CD set of "The Tsar's Bride" (1993). "The Musical Times", 134 (1804): p. 348.]
* Philips 462 618-2: Marina Shaguch, Olga Borodina, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Evgeny Akimov, Sergei Alexashkin, Nikolai Gassiev, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Irina Loskutova, Olga Markova-Mikhailenko, Lyubov Sokolova, Yuri Shkliar, Lyudmila Kasjanenko, Viktor Vikbrov; Orchestra and Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre; Valery Gergiev, conductor [cite journal | url=http://oq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/17/1/154 | last=Pines | first=Roger | title="The Tsar's Bride". Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | journal=The Opera Quarterly | volume=17 | issue=1 | pages=154–157 | date=2001 | accessdate=2007-09-30 | doi=10.1093/oq/17.1.154]

References

Bibliography

*"100 опер: история создания, сюжет, музыка." ["100 Operas: History of Creation, Subject, Music."] Ленинград: Издательство "Музыка," 1968, pp. 356-361.
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