サルタン皇帝の物語

ニコライ・リムスキー=コルサコフによるオペラ
ロシア語で上演されます
(演劇はロシア語と英語の同時字幕付き)

Credits

ニコライ・リムスキー=コルサコフによる作曲

ウラジミール・ベルスキーによるリブレット

アレクサンダー・プーシキンによる同名物語に基づいて

Stage Director: Daria Panteleeva
Artistic Director: Pyotr Okunev
Choreographer: Olga Kitaeva
Lighting Designer: Vladimir Sterlin
Chorus Master: Larisa Shveikovskaya, Anna Pipia
Musical Preparation: Yevgenia Akishina

SYNOPSIS

The action takes place partly in the town of Tmutarkan and partly on the island of Buyan.

Prologue
In a log cabin three sisters are sitting spinning yarn and dreaming about what they would do if the Tsar married them. The Tsar, unobserved by the sisters, is listening to them. He likes Militrisa’s dream to bear him a heroic son. Saltan enters the room and announces his decision: all three will live at the palace, the eldest as a cook, the second as a weaver and the youngest as his wife. Jealous of Militrisa’s good fortune the two remaining sister’s plot her downfall aided by Babarikha.

Act I
The Tsar has left for the wars, and in the meantime Tsaritsa Militrisa has given birth to a son. The older sisters send the Tsar a telegram: “she has borne neither a daughter nor a son, neither a mouse nor a frog, but an untamed beast”. A courier brings an answering telegram: "The Tsar commands his boyars, without further delay, the Tsaritsa and her progeny must be placed in a barrel and cast away”. Militrisa and the Tsarevich are cast into the sea to the sounds of the protest and tears of the people.

Act II
A wave has washed the barrel onto an empty beach on the island of Buyan, Militrisa and the Tsreevich, already a young man, climb out of it. Crafting a bow Guidon goes back to the seashore to hunt some game, but suddenly sees a huge kite chasing a swan; taking aim, he shoots an arrow at the kite and kills it. The Swan promises to repay kindness with kindness and then disappears. Next morning they see that a city has magically appeared out of the mist. The residents of the magical city of Ledenets rapturously welcome Guidon and ask him to become their ruler. Guidon longs for his father. He looks sadly at a boat bound for the kingdom of Saltan. The Swan appears from the water and offers to help. She turns the Prince into a bumble-bee so he can catch up with the ship. In the palace at Timutkaran the sad Tsar sits on his thrown. Beside him sit Povarikha, Tkachikha and Babarikha. The Tsar invites sailors to the palace, lays on a feast and asks about the miraculous things they have seen on their journeys around the world. The shipmen tell of the city of Ledenets on a desert island, of a squirrel that nibbles golden nuts, of the thirty-three knights of the sea and of the brave and mighty Prince Guidon who rules the city. The Tsar is surprised and wants to visit the kingdom. Tkachikha and Povarikha anxiously try to dissuade him. Babarikha tells of one miracle not to be found in the city of Ledenets – a Tsarevna of indescribable beauty. Angered by schemes of the conspirators, the bumble-bee stings each of them on the eyebrow. Chaos ensues.

Act III
Guidon cannot forget Babarikha’s story, he dreams of a beautiful Tsaritsa. He calls the Swan for help. The Swan tells him that she herself is that very Tsaritsa he dreamed of. Militrisa gives her blessing to the young couple. The Tsar Saltan’s ship draws up to the island of Buyan and the Tsar and his retinue disembark. The miracles of Ledenets are displayed. The Tsar and the guests are astonished when they see the magical squirrel in its crystal house, the thirty-three knights of the sea and the beautiful Swan-Princess. The Tsar, full of emotion, asks to see the Tsaritsa. Militrisa enters. The Tsar realizes that the Tsareevich Guidon is his son. Tkachikha and Povarikha beg forgiveness from him. Babrikha runs away in fright. Full of joy the Tsar forgives the two envious sisters.

About the production

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov is called the greatest storyteller in the history of Russian music and The Tale of Tsar Saltan – his most joyful opera. Based on Pushkin’s theme, it was composed to coincide with the centenary of the genius of Russian poetry, so the composer tried to follow the original Pushkin’s text as closely as possible. And, indeed, the poetic lines of the immortal fairy tale literally tickle one’s imagination, prompting the musical solution: the magical squirrel sings: “In the grove or in the garden…” and the Swan Princess “speaks the Russian language.”

Rimsky-Korsakov wanted to compose music which would match Pushkin’s fairy tale – something Russian, lubok- and fair-like. The composer was so successful in incarnating this vision that after the opera premiere he became known as “the musical Pushkin”. Rimsky-Korsakov preserved both long, bylina-like name of the poem and Saltan’s peculiar features, such as naivety, good-natured humour, fast “dancing” rhythm, folklore storytelling techniques and national ethnic flavour.

The compositional method itself, which the author perceived as “grid drawing,” is a detailed artistic illustration akin to the art of ethnic embroidery or craftsmen’s palekh miniatures. Here, indeed, Rimsky-Korsakov could give rein to his love for filigree precision and careful drawing of “tasty bits,” his talent for colourful and inventive instrumentation. Apt description of the characters creates folklore-like rich and vivid images. The symphonic fragments, which brought Rimsky-Korsakov a resounding success before the opera had even premiered, are magnificent: the orchestra intermezzo Three Wonders, depicting wonders found in the City of Ledenets (a squirrel cracking golden nuts, thirty-three sea-knights (bogatyrs) headed by Chernomor and the beautiful Swan Princess), as well as the famous Bumblebee Flight which has become one of the main “hits” of music classics.

The producers who staged “The Tale About Tsar Saltan” on the Primorsky Stage – director Daria Panteleeva and designer Piotr Okunev – have created the performance with a thorough knowledge and respect for Russian fairy-tale traditions. On the stage, we can see accurately reconstructed signs of Russian life: delicate lace of wooden architecture and bright national class- and character-specific costumes seem to have stepped out of classical illustrations of folk tales.

Nadezhda Koulygina

World premiere: 3 November 1900, Moscow Private Russian Opera
Premiere in Vladivostok: 11 October 2014

Running time: 3 hours
The performance has two intervals

Age category: 6+
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