Name: The Miserly Knight
Start: 2022-05-26T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-05-28T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre

Organization

Conductor

Arif Dadashev

Stage director

Yuliana Bulanenkova

Singer

Baritone

Vladislav Biryukov

Old Baron

Tenor

Soslan Kusov

Albert

Ilya Tkach

The Duke

Bass

Ivan Shcherbatykh

Servant

Sergey Perminov

Alexey Doronin

The Moneylender

Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater

Orchestra

Orchestra of the Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre

The Miserly Knight

Nizhniy Novgorod

Russia

Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre

Concert Hall

The Miserly Knight Rachmaninoff

Public

Shylock, Op.57

Approved

Accordionist

Instrumentalist

Archlutenist

Baroque Flutist

Baroque Oboist

Baroque Trumpetist

Bassist

Bassoonist

Cellist

Clarinetist

Contrabassist

Cornettist

Flutist

Guitarist

Harper

Harpsichordist

Hornist

Lutenist

Mandoline Player

Musette de cour Player

Oboist

Organist

Percussionist

Pianist

Recorder Player

Saxophonist

Tenor Violinist

Timpani

Trombonist

Trumpeter

Tuba Player

Vibraphonist

Viola Pomposa Player

Viola da gamba

Viola d’amore Player

Violinist

Violino Piccolo Player

Violist

Actor

Broadcasting

Choir

Choreographer

Chorus Director

Chorus master

Composer

Costume designer

Dancer

Dramaturge

Executive producer

Extra

Hairstylist

Illustrator

Librettist

Lighting designer

Makeup artist

Orchestra Operations

Other

Photographer

Poet

Repetiteur

Set designer

Sound designer

Stage Manager

Teacher

Translator

Video designer

Vocal coach

Wig & Makeup Designer

Writer

Writing and performance

Soprano

Mezzo-soprano

Countertenor

Bass-baritone

Contralto

Alto

Child vocalist

Continuo

Silent

Spoken

The Miserly Knight
In 1830, during the Boldin autumn, Alexander Pushkin wrote four short plays, combining them into a single cycle. The poet suggested several titles for it, but the publishers chose "Small Tragedies". In each of the plays — the fate of a person, compressed to a momentary flash of tormenting passion. "Perhaps in none of the works of world poetry are the terrible questions of morality posed so sharply and complexly as in Pushkin's" Small Tragedies". This complexity is sometimes so great that due to the dizzying laconism, it even seems to obscure the meaning and lead to different interpretations...", wrote Anna Akhmatova. It is not surprising that Russian composers became interested in" Tragedies " in search of new operatic forms. The result was four one-act operas: The Stone Guest by A. S. Dargomyzhsky (1868), Mozart and Salieri by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1897), A Feast during the Plague by C. A. Cui (1900), and The Miserly Knight by S. V. Rachmaninoff (1904).

The opera "The Miserly Knight" became the second work of this genre out of three in the work of Sergei Rachmaninoff. He has already written "Aleko" based on Pushkin's poem "Gypsies", which, despite the fact that it was a graduate thesis of the conservatory, was successfully performed on stage. Simultaneously with the" Miserly Knight "Rachmaninoff created" Francesca da Rimini " based on an episode from Dante's Divine Comedy. These operas, like Pushkin's plays, like a large mirror, make a person look at his real reflection with mistakes and passions, truth and lies.

Like his predecessors, Rachmaninoff preserved almost the entire text of Pushkin in The Miserly Knight, allowing only small abbreviations and correcting the names of the characters.

Having started the opera in the summer of 1903, in February 1904 the composer completed the clavier of the composition. On January 4, 1906, " The Miserly Knight "was performed in the program of the musical" Wednesday " in the house of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The first performers were Rachmaninoff's friend, singer Fyodor Chaliapin, and pianist Felix Blumenfeld. The audience's opinion was not clear. Rimsky-Korsakov noted that " the opera's music is very talented. There are very strong, vivid dramatic moments. The scene of the Baron admiring the accumulated gold is remarkable. But in general, the almost continuously flowing dense fabric of the orchestra suppresses the voice. The main focus of the composer is in the orchestra, and the vocal part seems to be adapted to him."

The premiere of "The Miserly Knight" still took place at the Bolshoi Theater on January 11, 1906 under the direction of the author and was a great success. A year later, in 1907, Chaliapin performed the Baron's monologue at his concert. And in 1912, The Miserly Knight returned to the Bolshoi Theater.

In 1943, at the Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) Opera and Ballet Theater, Rachmaninoff's opera was staged by an outstanding opera director, then artistic director of the theater Boris Pokrovsky.

"The Miserly Knight" is not a frequent guest of opera scenes around the world. The complexity of the vocal parts and the orchestra's rich, dramatic symphony canvas are a combination that presupposes the highest professional level of performers.

Pushkin concludes his "Little Tragedy" with the famous phrase " Terrible century, terrible hearts!". Rachmaninoff did not include these words in the opera, but the symphonic drama of The Miserly Knight never lets us forget their meaning.

Shylock Suite
French composer Gabriel Faure was called "the French Schumann" and "the mellifluous Orpheus"by his contemporaries. Debussy said that Faure was a "Master of charms", and the French composer and critic P. Duca claimed that " ... his art reflected himself... Faure easily and with inimitable grace subordinates every external impression to her inner harmony." It is not surprising that Faure's theatrical music attracted the attention of fans and colleagues.

In 1889, the composer wrote music for the drama by E. Arocourt "Shylock", created based on the play by W. Shakespeare"The Merchant of Venice". It premiered at the Odeon Theatre in Paris in December 1889. "Shylock" passed 56 performances, which was very significant for that time. A year later, Faure combined six numbers of theater music into a suite, significantly expanding the orchestra's composition and introducing the tenor part. The" highlight " of the suite is considered to be No. 5 Nocturne, which accompanied the scene of a love rendezvous in the performance. It was written after Faure's brief stay at the country house of his patroness, the Viscountess Greffule.: "I was looking for the most interesting musical phrase "Venetian Moonlight" for Shylock, and I found it! It was inspired by the air of your park." The suite was first performed on May 17, 1890, at a concert of the National Musical Society in Paris with the participation of tenor Julien Leprestra and the orchestra of the society conducted by Jean Gabriel-Marie.

Faure had a habit of going back to his works and editing them. So it was with the Shylock . In 1894, the melody from "Nocturne "formed the basis of a Romance for cello and piano, and in 1897 the composer arranged the numbers with the vocal part" Chanson "and" Madrigal " for voice and piano.

In 1967, instrumental music from the Shylock Suite was included in the score of J. Balanchine's ballet Jewels.

English

Скупой рыцарь
В 1830 году в период Болдинской осени Александр Сергеевич Пушкин написал четыре короткие пьесы, объединив их в единый цикл. Поэт предложил для него несколько названий, но издатели выбрали «Маленькие трагедии». В каждой из пьес — судьба человека, сжатая до мгновенной вспышки терзающей его страсти. «Быть может, ни в одном из созданий мировой поэзии грозные вопросы морали не поставлены так резко и сложно, как в «Маленьких трагедиях» Пушкина. Сложность эта бывает иногда столь велика, что в связи с головокружительным лаконизмом даже как будто затемняет смысл и ведет к различным толкованиям…», — писала Анна Ахматова. Не удивительно, что «Трагедиями» заинтересовались русские композиторы в поисках новых оперных форм. Результатом стали четыре одноактные оперы: «Каменный гость» А. С. Даргомыжского (1868), «Моцарт и Сальери» Н. А. Римского-Корсакова (1897), «Пир во время чумы» Ц. А. Кюи (1900), «Скупой рыцарь» С. В. Рахманинова (1904).

Опера «Скупой рыцарь» стала вторым произведением этого жанра из трех в творчестве Сергея Рахманинова. Он уже написал «Алеко» по пушкинской поэме «Цыганы», которая, несмотря на то, что была дипломной работой выпускника консерватории, с успехом шла на сцене. Одновременно со «Скупым рыцарем» Рахманинов создал «Франческа да Римини» по эпизоду из Божественной комедии Данте. Эти оперы, подобно пьесам Пушкина, словно большое зеркало, заставляют человека рассмотреть свое реальное отражение с ошибками и страстями, истиной и ложью.

Как и его предшественники, Рахманинов сохранил в «Скупом рыцаре» практически весь текст Пушкина, допустив лишь небольшие сокращения и скорректировав имена героев. 

Начав оперу летом 1903 года, в феврале 1904 года композитор завершил клавир сочинения.  4 января 1906 года «Скупой рыцарь» прозвучал в программе музыкальной «среды» в доме Н. А. Римского-Корсакова. Первыми исполнителями стали друг Рахманинова певец Федор Шаляпин и пианист Феликс Блуменфельд. Мнение слушателей было не однозначным. Римский-Корсаков отметил, что «музыка оперы очень талантлива. Есть весьма сильные, яркие драматические моменты. Сцена Барона, любующегося накопленным золотом, замечательна. Но в целом почти непрерывно текущая плотная ткань оркестра подавляет голос. Главное внимание композитора — в оркестре, а вокальная партия как бы приспособлена к нему». 

Премьера «Скупого рыцаря» все же состоялась в Большом театре 11 января 1906 года под управлением автора и прошла с большим успехом. Уже через год, в 1907 году Шаляпин исполнил монолог Барона на своем концерте. А в 1912 году «Скупой рыцарь» вернулся на сцену Большого театра. 

В 1943 году в Нижегородском (Горьковском) театре оперы и балета оперу Рахманинова поставил выдающийся оперный режиссер, в то время художественный руководитель театра Борис Покровский. 

«Скупой рыцарь» — не частый гость оперных сцен мира. Сложность вокальных партий и насыщенное, ведущее свою драматическую линию  симфоническое полотно оркестра являют собой сочетание, предполагающее высочайший профессиональный уровень исполнителей.

Пушкин завершает свою «Маленькую трагедию» знаменитой фразой «Ужасный век, ужасные сердца!». Рахманинов не включил эти слова в оперу, но симфоническая  драматургия «Скупого рыцаря» ни на миг не дает забыть их смысл. 

Шейлок
Французского композитора Габриэля Форе современники называли «французским Шуманом» и «сладкозвучным Орфеем». Дебюсси говорил, что Форе — «Мастер очарований», а французский композитор и критик П. Дюка утверждал, что «…его искусство отражало его самого... Форе с легкостью и неподражаемым изяществом подчиняет всякое внешнее впечатление своей внутренней гармонии». Не удивительно, что театральная музыка Форе привлекала внимание поклонников и коллег. 

In 1889, the composer wrote music for the drama by E. Arocourt "Shylock", created based on the play by W. Shakespeare"The Merchant of Venice". It premiered at the Odeon Theatre in Paris in December 1889. "Shylock" passed 56 performances, which was very significant for that time. A year later, Faure combined six numbers of theater music into a suite, significantly expanding the orchestra's composition and introducing the tenor part. The" highlight " of the suite is considered to be No. 5 Nocturne, which accompanied the scene of a love rendezvous in the performance. It was written after Faure's brief stay at the country house of his patroness, the Viscountess Greffule.: "I was looking for the most interesting musical phrase "Venetian Moonlight" for Shylock, and I found it! It was inspired by the air of your park." The suite was first performed on May 17, 1890, at a concert of the National Musical Society in Paris with the participation of tenor Julien Leprestra and the orchestra of the society conducted by Jean Gabriel-Marie.

Форе имел привычку возвращаться к своим произведениям и редактировать их. Так случилось и с «Шейлоком». В 1894 году мелодия из «Ноктюрна» легла в основу Романса для виолончели с фортепиано, а в 1897 году номера с вокальной партией «Шансон» и «Мадригал» композитор переложил для голоса и фортепиано. 

В 1967 году инструментальная музыка из сюиты «Шейлок» вошла в партитуру балета Дж. Баланчина «Драгоценности».

русский

The Miserly Knight by Rachmaninoff, Shylock, Op.57 by Fauré, From (2022/2022), Directed by Yuliana Bulanenkova,, Conductor Arif Dadashev, Nizhny Novgorod State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Ensemble

Programme, About & Synopsis

Photos

Further reading

Performance Dates & Venues

Venues