Opera Rusalka (opera in 4 acts) by Dargomyzhsky World famous Mariinsky Ballet and Opera - Mariinsky II (New Theatre)
Running time: 3 hours 45 minutes
The performance has 2 intermissions
Schedule for Rusalka (opera in 4 acts) by Dargomyzhsky 2022
Composer: Alexander Dargomyzhsky Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko Musical Director: Maestro Valery Gergiev Musical Preparation: Marina Mishuk Set Designer: Zinovy Margolin Lighting Designer: Damir Ismagilov Production: Vasily Barkhatov Costume Designer: Maria Danilova Principal Chorus Master: Pavel Petrenko Stage Director: Vasily Barkhatov
Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra
Opera in 4 acts
Performed in Russian
Premiere of this production: 24 May 2013, Mariinsky II, St Petersburg
Rusalka is an opera by Russian composer Alexander Dargomyzhsky, composed during 1848-1855.
This production was premierred on 24 May 2013. Musical Director - Valery Gergiev.
Rusalki, the water-nymphs, have made many operatic appearances. The most
famous of them all sings the title role in Dvorzak’s Rusalka, but the
Russian composer Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813-69) got there first with his
version drawn from Pushkin’s dramatic poem.
Premiered at the Mariinsky
Theatre in 1856, it is a lyrical work with roots in bel canto transmitted via
Glinka, though there are places where Dargomyzhsky experiments with the radical
realist aesthetic he was later to develop in The Stone Guest, in
which his vocal writing attempts to mimic speech.
It also echoes German
Romantic music – there are French influences too – through the use of melodrama,
when Rusalochka (daughter of Rusalka and the Prince) speaks over the
music. Recorded in Cologne with a cast steeped in the Russian idiom, this
is a very welcome recording (even if the booklet includes a synopsis rather than
libretto).
Rusalka is an opera in four acts, six tableaux, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky,
composed during 1848-1855. The Russian libretto was adapted by the composer from
Pushkin's incomplete dramatic poem of the same name. The premiere took place on
4 May 1856 (Old Style) at the Mariinsky Theatre. Although much of
Dargomyzhsky's Rusalka is fairly conventional in musical form and style, its
singular innovation for the history of Russian music in particular is the
application of "melodic recitative" at certain points in the drama. This type of
recitative consists of lyrical utterances which change continuously according to
the dramatic situation, with likewise varied accompaniment in the orchestra.
Dargomyzhsky was to apply this technique of vocal composition on a small scale
in his songs and on a large scale in his final opera, The Stone
Guest.
Dargomyzhsky’s opera is closely linked with the Mariinsky Theatre. At
the Circus Theatre, located on the site now occupied by
the Mariinsky, the first production was premiered
on 4 (16, Old Style) May 1856, and it was not
a particular success due to the use of sets and costumes
from stock and the large number of cuts made to the score.
Following the opera’s revival in 1865 at the recently built
Mariinsky Theatre, however, under the baton of the outstanding
conductor Eduard Franceviи Nбpravnнk and with the magnificent Russian
singers Osip Petrov as the Miller, Yulia Platonova as Natasha,
Fyodor Komissarzhevsky as the Prince and Daria Leonova as
the Princess, true success came to Rusalka. “At last
the public has come to understand my music. Women and, without
exaggeration, even men wiped the tears from their eyes. The opera is,
at last, being performed my way...” the delighted composer reflected
in a letter.
Alexander Dargomyzhsky made an inestimable contribution
to the history of Russian music and Russian opera
in particular, creating a new genre following
in the footsteps of Glinka’s historically heroic A Life
for the Tsar and the fairytale epic Ruslan and
Lyudmila: it was the first Russian everyday psychological musical
drama. Modest Musorgsky called Alexander Dargomyzhsky “a great teacher
of musical truth” for the ability of his musical language
to convey nuances of the characters’ psychological state
of mind and the situation. The highly respected music critic
Alexander Serov also considered “the truth of the musical
expression” a highly important factor in the composer’s talent.
The libretto was written by the composer himself and he took great
care with Alexander Pushkin’s text, making minimal amendments. Dargomyzhsky’s
music conveys the artistic essence of the dramatic plot
of the tragedy: it is not no much about the vengeful retribution
of the mermaid, the Miller’s deceived daughter as it is about
the remorse and spiritual transformation of the Prince.
Starting with a production in 1897 at the Mamontov
Private Russian Opera in Moscow (conducted by Sergei Rachmaninoff with
Fyodor Chaliapin as the Miller), Rusalka came to be one
of the most popular Russian operas. The opera returned
to the Mariinsky Theatre in 1875 and again in 1904 (directed
by Osip Paleиek). It was this production that was revived
in the Soviet era in 1929 and which was staged until 1941.
The opera was then dropped from the repertoire of the Kirov
Theatre. Now, in the year marking two centuries since the birth
of Alexander Dargomyzhsky, the Mariinsky Theatre is restoring one
of the finest Russian operas to its repertoire.
Act I A mill on the banks of the River
Dnepr. Natasha, the Miller’s daughter, is waiting for the Prince
she loves so passionately. Somewhat rude and mercenary, the Miller
instructs his daughter how to behave with her beloved: he wants to see some
profit from the Prince’s favour. Soon the Prince himself appears,
having come to speak with Natasha. Natasha is delighted at the Prince’s
arrival. The Miller calls the peasants to comfort the Prince with
singing and dancing, though the latter remains unaffected. The Prince
tells Natasha that they are soon to be parted. Natasha guesses that
the Prince is planning to marry someone else. The Prince tries to buy
his way out with extravagant presents and gives Natasha a necklace.
The shattered Natasha informs the Prince that she is soon to become
a mother. Promising not to abandon her and the child, the Prince
departs. Natasha scolds her father bitterly for being driven by greed and
forcing her into this situation. In despair she plunges herself into
the Dnepr.
Act II A luxurious mansion. The Prince is
celebrating his marriage amid great pomp and merriment. An ancient wedding
ritual is underway. Suddenly a sad song can be heard about an abandoned girl who
drowned herself. The guilty party was never unmasked. When the Prince
attempts to kiss his young bride a woman’s scream can be heard.
The banquet guests are left in disarray.
Act III Scene 1 The Prince’s palace.
The Princess is sad in her loneliness. The days when
the Prince loved her have long since passed. Now she is increasingly left
alone. Olga, the Princess’ friend, tries to distract her with a merry
song. Having learned that the Prince plans to spend the night alone on
the banks of the Dnepr, Olga and the Princess set out to look for
him.
Scene 2 Night, the banks of
the Dnepr. Twelve years have passed since the Prince last visited
Natasha. The mill on the banks of the Dnepr have long been
in ruins, but the Prince is still drawn here by some unseen force.
The Prince’s appearance frightens the mermaids who have come to
the surface to play in the moonlight. The Prince sadly
recalls his former happiness. Suddenly a shabby old man in rags appears
before him. It is the Miller, now insane and imagining himself to be
a raven and the guardian of this place. He attacks the Prince.
Hunters rush in and save their master.
Act IV Scene 1 The underwater palace of
the mermaids on the bed of the Dnepr. Natasha has become
queen of the mermaids. She sends them to the surface to play
in the moonlight with her daughter Rusalochka with the order to
meet her father on the shore and tell him that Natasha still loves him and
is waiting for him. Left alone, she dreams of love and revenge on her rival
in love.
Scene 2 The shore of the Dnepr.
The Prince has come once more to the ruins of the mill.
Rusalochka approaches him from the waters and calls on him to follow her.
The Princess hastens in together with Olga and tries to stop her
husband, but the Miller pushes him into the water. The mermaids
take the body of the Prince to their queen.
© Mariinsky Theatre
Schedule for Rusalka (opera in 4 acts) by Dargomyzhsky 2022
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