Sorochintsy fair

Work data
Title:	Sorochintsy fair
Original title:	Сорочинская ярмарка (Sorochinskaya jarmarka)
Boris Kustodijew : Godfather Kum, 1919
Shape:	Opera in two or three acts
Original language:	Russian
Music:	Modest Mussorgsky
Libretto :	Modest Mussorgsky
Literary source:	Nikolai Gogol : The Sorochintsy Fair
Premiere:	December 17th jul. / December 30, 1911 greg. (with piano accompaniment)
Place of premiere:	Saint Petersburg Comedy Theater
Playing time:	about 2 hours
Place and time of the action:	Sorochintsy , village in Little Russia (Ukraine)
people
after Lamm / Schebalin: Tscherewik, a farmer ( bass ) Chiwrja (Chawronia Nikiforowna), Cherevik's wife ( mezzo-soprano ) Parasja, Tscherewik's daughter, Chiwrja's stepdaughter ( soprano ) [Kum], the godfather ( bass baritone ) Grizko, a young farmer ( tenor ) Afanassi Ivanovich, the son of the priest (tenor) A gypsy (bass) Chernobog , devil, the "black god" (bass) Fairground traders, gypsies, girls, boys, Jews, Cossacks, guests, devils, witches, dwarfs ( choir ) Devils, witches, dwarves, boys (ballet)

The Sorochinsky Fair is the title of a comic opera in two or three acts by Modest Mussorgsky based on the story The Sorochinsk Fair from the first part of Nikolai Gogol's collection Evenings in the hamlet near Dikanka . Mussorgsky composed the opera between 1874 and 1881, but did not complete it. The staged premiere with piano accompaniment took place on December 30, 1911 in the Comedy Theater in Saint Petersburg . After his death there were several attempts to complete the opera.

action

The opera is set on a hot day in the Ukrainian village of Sorochintsy in the middle of the 19th century .

first act

Sorochintsy fair

The lively fair is bustling with the sellers, gypsies, Jews and visitors. The farm boy Grizko appears with his friends. He meets the young Parasja, who came with her father Tscherewik. Tscherevik hopes to sell wheat and his mare. Parasja wants colorful ribbons for her hair. A gypsy warns the people of the devilish "red smock" and pig trunks that crawl out of a shed in the evening. Meanwhile Grizko falls in love with the beautiful Parasja. Tscherewik intervenes, but quickly gives up his objections when he discovers that Grizko is his friend's son and that he wants to marry Parasja. They go to the pub together to celebrate.

In the late evening Tscherewik leaves the inn with a drinking companion, his "godfather", drunk ("Dudu, rududu, rududu"). He meets his wife Chiwrja and tells her about their future son-in-law. But Chiwrja is anything but enthusiastic, because Grizko had only insulted her shortly before and pelted her with dirt. She insults her husband and does not want to take such a good-for-nothing into the family. Deeply disappointed, Grizko, who overheard the argument, sings a sad song (song and Dumka "My heart, my poor heart, what are you moaning and moaning?"). A gypsy promises to help if he can get Grizko's ox for twenty rubles. Grizko offers them to him for fifteen, in case the gypsy should really keep his word. After the gypsy has given him five rubles down payment, which Grizko does not have to repay if his plan should fail, Grizko steps in.

[Two-act version by Nikolai Tscherepnin :] In the dark, Parasja and Grizko dream of their future happiness and promise each other their loyalty.

Second act

Father's hut

After sleeping off his intoxication, Tscherewik wakes up in his godfather's house, where he lives with his family during the fair. Chiwrja prepares food - but not for her husband, but for her lover Afanassi, the priest's son, with whom she has arranged a rendezvous there. Khivrja and Cherevik argue for a while, until Khivrja throws him out to guard the car. While she waits impatiently for her lover, she continues to work in the kitchen, laments about her useless husband and sings a song to pass the time (“Until I found Brudeus”). Afanassi finally comes - he had fallen into the nettles in front of the house. Chiwrja showered him with her delicacies. But when they get closer, Cherevik returns with his godfather and many guests, and Chiwrja has to hide her lover.

For fear of the notorious red smock, the guests take refuge in a binge drinking (Cossack song: "You, you, rududu"). Her fear reaches a climax when an object falls from Afanassi's hiding place. To her horror, Tscherewik happily invites the smock into the house. Then the godfather tells the whole story: Once a devil was chased out of hell. Out of grief he drank all of his possessions in the tavern in this place and finally pledged his red smock to the landlord - on the condition that he should keep it for a year until he would redeem it. However, the landlord sold the smock to a traveler. When the devil later returned in the form of an old man and asked for the smock, the landlord denied any knowledge of it. The old man had gone away, but that evening pork trunks appeared in every window. At this moment, the guests are shocked again because of a noise from Afanassi's hiding place. The godfather goes on to say that the pigs broke into the room and beat up the landlord until he admitted his guilt. Since then, the devil has been looking for his smock every year in the Sorochintsy market.

After the godfather has finished his story, the window opens and a pig's trunk looks in - the gypsy's move. Panic arises among the guests. Tscherewik takes a clay pot in place of his cap and puts it over his head. Afanassi falls out of his hiding place wrapped in a petticoat and is mistaken for the devil. Everyone flees.

[Two-act version by Tscherepnin:] The gypsy enters with Grizko and some young people and pulls Afanassi down the cloak. Chivrya's infidelity is exposed. She has no choice but to agree to her stepdaughter's wedding to Grizko.

Third act (version by Lamm / Schebalin)

First picture. Street in Sorochintsy

In their panic, the godfather and Tscherewik, whose head is still in the pot, run around, collide and mistake each other for the devil. The gypsy enters with some young people and accuses them of stealing Tscherewik's mare. Grizko persuades the others to release them, provided that Tscherewik agrees to marry Parasja. That's how it happens. Tscherevik no longer accepts his wife's objections. As agreed, Grizko sells his oxen to the gypsy. Everyone is going home.

Grizko goes to sleep under a tree. In the “dream vision of the peasant boy” the choir represents a witch's sabbath over which Chernobog, the old Slavic “black god” or devil, watches over. Only the sound of the morning bells and church singing puts an end to the bustle. The witches and demons flee. Grizko wakes up in amazement.

Second picture. Street in front of the father's hut

Parasja comes out of the hut. She longs for her lover, but then drives away her melancholy thoughts, sings a happy song and dances a Hopak , which her father also joins (“Parasjas Dumka”). Grizko and the godfather appear with a group of young people. Tscherevik gives the couple his blessing, but Kivrja again vigorously contradicts them. The gypsy and some farm boys intervene and lead them away. The opera ends with a happy wedding dance (Hopak) by the young people.

layout

orchestra

The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:

Version by Anatoly Lyadov

• Woodwinds: flute piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons
• Brass: four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba
• Timpani, drums
• Strings

Version by Nikolai Tscherepnin

• Woodwinds: three flutes (3rd also piccolo), two oboes, English horn , two clarinets, two bassoons
• Brass: four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba
• Timpani, drums
• harp
• piano
• Strings

Version by Wissarion Schebalin and Pawel Lamm

• Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), two oboes , two clarinets , two bassoons
• Brass : four horns , two cornets , two trumpets , three trombones , tuba
• Timpani , drums : snare drum , bass drum , cymbal , triangle , tambourine , tam-tam
• harp
• piano
• Strings

scenario

In Mussorgsky's estate there was a scenario of the opera that he had composed on May 19, 1877 in the apartment of the married couple A. J. and O. A. Petrov in Petersburg:

“Orchestral Prelude: A Hot Day in Little Russia.
I. act.

1. Fair (choir)
2. The lad's appearance with his friends (alluding to Parasja and Chiwrja)
3. Tschumak with Parasja (individualities - wheat - glass beads)
4. Choir scene of the merchants with the red smock - from this the scene of the four develops: Gevatter and Tschumak, Parasja and the boy.
5. After waiting a little, Chevrin interferes in the affair between Parasia and the fellow. Recitative scene in which the boy and Chivrin recognize each other - (pub). NB. The gypsy, on the other hand, is witness to the scene.
6. Enter Khivrja - scene with Chivrik (the boy is a witness of the scene), Khivrja leads her husband away.
7. The fellow in grief. Appearance of the gypsy (subject to Parasjas free choice)
8. Hopachok

II. Act. NB Intermezzo Father's hut

1. Cherevik sleeps. Chiwrja wakes him up. (Talk about the economy, but more aimed at getting rid of the man)
2. Recitative Chiwrjas - Cooking - Afanassi Iwanowitsch appears. - Duettino.
3. Everyone returns from the fair. Story about the red coat. Grand scene comique.

III. Act.

1. Night. Tumult (with prelude, perhaps the gypsy) after the flight from the red coat. The godfather and Tscherewik faint - shouting about the theft of the horse and the ox. Arrest of the two. Funny conversation between the detainees. The guy saves her.
2. Guy's dumka.
3. It's getting a little light. Parasja comes into the front yard. Dumka. Thoughts on Khivrja - independence - solemn - prancing.
4. Tscherewik and Parasja - dance
5. The godfather and the boy come with laughter - celebrate engagement. (Talk about the greed of the Khivrja)
6. Final."

- Modest Mussorgsky : scenario from May 19, 1877, quoted from Sigrid Neef

How Mussorgsky imagined the dream scene was documented in a letter from 1880:

“The boy sleeps at the foot of a hill, far from the huts where he has ended up. In the dream appear to him:

1. Subterranean non-human voices, spoken non-human words
2. The subterranean realm of darkness steps into its rights - makes fun of the sleeping boy.
3. Signs of the apparition of Chernobog and Satan
4. The fellow is left alone by spirits of darkness. Apparition of Chernobog
5. Tribute to Chernobog and Black Mass
6. Sabbath
7. In the unleashed Sabbath the bell of the rural church rings. Chernobog disappears instantly.
8. Torment the devil
9. Voices of the clergy
10. Disappearance of the devil and the guy's awakening "

- Modest Mussorgsky : Letter to Dmitri Stassow , 1880, quoted from Sigrid Neef

music

The composer himself described his Sorotschinzy fair as a "comic opera". He explained this term as follows:

“The funny thing about Gogol lies in the fact that the interests of the carters and village grocers, which we feel are trivial, are portrayed in all frank truth. The Sorochintzij fair is not a buffet, but a real comic opera based on Russian music. "

- Modest Mussorgsky : Letter to Arseni Golenishchev-Kutuzov , November 10, 1877, translation based on the opera guide from Csampai / Holland

He didn't want to make the peasant figures look ridiculous, but rather portray them as realistically as possible. The only buffo character is the pop's son Afanassi, whose physical needs are countered musically by elements of church music.

Mussorgsky also shared his dramaturgical ideas with Golenishchev-Kutuzov:

“What you read in the way the characters speak at Gogol, my characters have to tell us from the stage in musical language, without changing anything from Gogol; [Gogol] has so delicately indicated the contours of the stage plot with creative power that only the colors have to be applied. "

- Modest Mussorgsky : Letter to Arseni Golenishchev-Kutuzov, August 15, 1877, translation based on the opera guide from Csampai / Holland

Formally it is a number opera, even if the individual scenes follow one another without a break.

The prelude atmospherically depicts a hot Russian day with calm melodies. This is followed by a joking section that leads directly to the first choral movement.

The vocal parts largely consist of a "recitative parlando" or "melodic recitative" in which the melody and the declamation are closely linked. The music is also characterized by recurring leitmotif-like motifs, which create a dramaturgical unity of the work. Since the work remained unfinished, it is not certain whether Mussorgsky actually wanted to use this procedure consistently. These motifs are assigned to individual people, characterize them and are also used as a comic element. An important motif is assigned to the red smock, which is noticeable by a falling small ninth and is harmonized with excessive triads of the whole-tone scale .

Another special feature of the opera are the many Ukrainian folk songs cited in it. They appear in their original form in the choir scenes of the people, but also in dialogues and the Ariosi. For example, there are three folk songs in the scene of Chiwrja in the second act, in which she waits for her lover. The first two fit seamlessly into the monologue, but the third takes on the function of an aria. Tscherewik's initial rejection of Grizko's plans to marry is presented by the latter with a quotation from a folk song. When Tscherewik and his godfather left the inn drunk, their songs contain motifs from three folk songs. The same applies to the dispute Chivryas with Tscherewik at the beginning of the second act.

The choir's exuberant all-round singing:

Love scene based on a lyrical Little Russian folk song:

Work history

Title page of the piano reduction of the version by César Cui, Petrograd 1916

Mussorgsky began composing his Gogol opera in 1874, as he announced to the singer Lyubov Karmalina on August 4th. He saw this comic opera as a counterpoint to his two “folk dramas”, Boris Godunow , completed in 1874, and Khovanshchina , begun in 1872 , because he feared that these two “gigantic weights [...] might overwhelm him”. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov reported that Musorgsky was very haphazard at work. He had already composed individual sections before the scenario or the libretto for the first and third act were even completed. In dealing with Ukrainian expressions, Mussorgsky was assisted by bassist Ossip Petrov, for whom he designed the role of Tscherewik. However, Petrov died on March 12, 1878. Due to doubts and crises, Mussorgsky interrupted the work several times. In 1879 he added some folk songs that he had collected on a concert tour through the Ukraine with the singer Darja Leonova. During this trip they also performed some fragments of the opera, which were so well received that Mussorgsky was confirmed in his work.

When he died in 1881 the work was unfinished. In addition to the songs, the estate included a scene plan (see above), the draft of the dream scene and the fully orchestrated prelude. The piano reduction included the fairground scene, the scene in which Tscherewik and the godfather left the tavern drunk, the first half of the second act, Grizko's dream, Parasja's song from the third act with some information on the instrumentation and the "Hopak lustiger boy" with exception of the choir voices.

Mussorgsky himself wrote the libretto. It is based on the story The Sorochinskaya Fair from the first part of Nikolai Gogol's collection Evenings in the hamlet near Dikanka .

For the fair scene , Mussorgsky used material from the ballet opera Mlada from 1872, planned but not completed together with César Cui , Rimski-Korsakow and Alexander Borodin. The dream interlude with the Chernobog scene is based on his orchestral fantasy Johannesnacht auf dem Kahlen Berg (1867), which had already flowed into a similar scene in Mlada and which later became better known in Rimsky-Korsakov's orchestral version, A Night on Bald Mountain . The text of this scene comes from a collection of Russian sagas from 1841.

After Mussorgsky's death, several composers tried to complete the opera. Initially, Rimsky-Korsakov commissioned the composer Anatoly Lyadow and the librettist Arseni Golenishchev-Kutuzov to be the administrator of the estate . Lyadow orchestrated only a few numbers.

At the same time, Vyacheslav Karatygin created an instrumentation of some musical numbers, which was released on March 16, ^July. / March 29, 1911 ^greg. , on the 30th anniversary of the composer's death, were performed in concert in Saint Petersburg .

On December 17th, ^Jul. / December 30, 1911 ^greg. there was a first scenic performance of the work with piano accompaniment in the St. Petersburg Comedy Theater.

On October 8th, ^July / October 21, 1913 ^greg. the already instrumented parts were summarized by Yuri Sachnowski and performed at the Free Theater Moscow. The unfinished scenes were replaced by spoken dialogues by Konstantin Marjanov.

The first completion was made by César Cui, who composed around a third of the music for it. She was born on October 13th ^. / October 26, 1917 ^greg. First performed in the Theater of Musical Drama in Saint Petersburg (now called Petrograd), but hardly noticed due to the October Revolution. The conductor was Grzegorz Fitelberg .

Newspaper report about the successful premiere in Monte-Carlo. Le Journal of March 18, 1923.

A French-language arrangement by Nikolai Tscherepnin under the title La foire de Sorotchintzi (translation: Louis Laloy) was first performed on March 17, 1923 under Tscherepnin's direction in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo . The leading roles were sung by Louis Arnal (Tscherewik), Germaine Bailac (Chiwrja), Emma Luart (Parasja) and John McCormack (Grizko). This version is divided into two acts. Tscherepnin built Dumka Parasjas, which was actually designed for the third act, into the finale of the first act. In this scene, Grizko and Parasja confidently confirm their love. Tscherepnin conceived the work as a pasticcio by integrating other compositions by Mussorgsky. He took the love duet, for example, from the opera fragment Salammbô . Hopak, originally intended as the end of the first act, can now be found at the end of the opera. There were further productions of this version in 1924 in Barcelona (Russian), 1925 in Moscow ( Bolshoi Theater ; adaptation by Sachnowski), Brussels (French or Russian), Zagreb (Croatian) and Breslau (German by Heinrich Möller), 1927 in Berlin ( Städtische Oper ; director: Issay Dobrowen , conductor: Fritz Zweig ), 1928 in Reichenberg (German), 1929 in Buenos Aires (Russian), 1930 at the MET in New York (Italian) and in the Wiener Konzerthaus (concert, conductor: Gottfried Kassowitz ), 1932 in Riga (Latvian), 1934 in London (Russian), 1936 in Sofia (Bulgarian), 1940 in Trieste (Italian) and 1948 in Berlin ( Komische Oper ). The arrangement by Lothar Wallerstein , combined with Ravel's L'heure espagnole at the Vienna State Opera in 1935, was also based on Tscherepnin's version, in a translation by Georg Maliniak .

The third arrangement, which is usually played today, comes from Wissarion Schebalin and Pawel Lamm . The arrangement of the scenes is based on Mussorgski's preserved scenario. Schebalin's original version was given for the first time on December 21, 1931 in the Maly Theater in Saint Petersburg (now called Leningrad) and revised by Lamm in 1932 for the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Music Theaters. The dream scene originally envisaged by Mussorgsky as an intermezzo between the first two acts can now be found in the third act. The authors use all of Mussorgsky's surviving material and only added 58 bars in the first, 158 in the second and 473 bars in the third act. There were performances of this version e.g. 1938 in Stockholm (Swedish by Eugénie Söderberg ), 1952 in Moscow, 1959 in Rome (director: Tatiana Pavlova , conductor: Peter Hermann Adler), 1977 in Passau and Lucerne (Karel Némec, Norbert Strolz ), 1981 at La Scala in Milan ( Conductor: Riccardo Chailly , resumed 1991) and 1983 in Coburg ( Michael Leinert , Paul Theissen ) and Munich ( Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz ; Hellmuth Matiasek , Peter Falk; translation by Manfred Schandert).

More recently there have been new productions at the Bonn Opera (premiere: April 29, 2007, director: Tony Palmer , conductor: Roman Kofman ) and at the Komische Oper Berlin (premiere: April 2, 2017, director: Barrie Kosky , conductor: Henrik Nánási ).

Recordings

• 1957 (?) - Samo Hubard (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Slovenian National Opera Ljubljana.
  Latko Koroshetz (Tscherewik), Bogdana Stritar (Chiwrja), Vilma Bukowetz (Parasja), Friderik Lupsha (godfather), Miro Branjnik (Grizko), Slavko Schtrukel (Afanassi Iwanowitsch), Andrej Andreev (gypsy), Chern Smerkolj) (.
  Studio recording;
  Version by Nikolai Tscherepnin .
  Philips (2 LPs).
• 1975 - Yuri Aronovich (conductor), USSR State Radio Symphony Orchestra, USSR State Radio Chorus.
  Gennady Troitzkij (Tscherewik), Antonina Kleshchova (Chiwrja), Ludmila Belobragina (Parasja), Boris Dobrin (godfather), Alexei Usmanov (Grizko), Jurij Jelnikow (Afanassi Ivanovich), Alexander Polyakov (Gypsy), Sergei Strukatschow (Gypsy).
  Studio recording;
  Version by Vissarion Schebalin .
  Eurodisc CD: GD 69126, eurodisc LP: 88 234 XHR (3 LPs).
• 1983 - V. Esipov (conductor), orchestra and choir of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Music Theater in Moscow.
  Vladimir Matorin (Tscherewik), L. Zhakharenko (Chiwrja), Lidiya Chernikh (Parasja), Oleg Klenov (godfather), A. Mishchevsky (Grizko), Viatcheslav Voinarovski (Afanassi Ivanovich), V. Temirschev (gypsy).
  Studio recording.
  Melodiya CD: MCD 114A + B.
• Nov. 12, 2002 - Valery Polyansky (conductor), USSR State Academic Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Chamber Chorus.
  Mikhail Guzhov (Tscherewik), Ludmila Kuznetsova (Chiwrja), Elvira Hohlova (Parasja), Sergej Drobishevsky (Grizko), Oleg Dolgov (Afanassi Ivanovich), Alexander Zilinko (Gypsy), Vladimir Kudriaschov (Chernobog).
  Live, concert performance from the Moscow Conservatory ;
  Version by Nikolai Version.
• 2017 - Henrik Nánási (conductor), Barrie Kosky (staging), Katrin Lea Tag (stage and costumes), Diego Leetz (lighting), David Cavelius (choir director), Ulrich Lenz (dramaturgy), orchestra and choir of the Komische Oper Berlin , Vocalconsort Berlin.
  Jens Larsen (Tscherewik), Agnes Zwierko (Chiwrja), Mirka Wagner (Parasja), Tom Erik Lie (godfather), Alexander Lewis (Grizko), Ivan Turšić (Afanassi Iwanowitsch), Hans Gröning (gypsy), Carsten Sabrowski (Tschernobog).
  Video, live from the Komische Oper Berlin;
  Version by Vissarion Schebalin.
  Video stream on The Opera Platform .

literature

• Gioacchino Lanza Tomasi: “The Soročincyj Fair” and his contribution to the search for the specifically Russian in music. In: Heinz-Klaus Metzger , Rainer Riehn (eds.): Modest Musorgskij. Aspects of the opera work (= music concepts . Issue 21). edition text + kritik, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-88377-093-0 , pp. 95–110.

Web links

Commons : The Fair at Sorochyntsi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Sorochinsky Fair : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
• Discography of Sorochintsy Fair at Operadis

Remarks

1. ^ The name of the godfather is not found in any other source except Grove Music Online .
2. ↑ In some opera guides there is an indication that the second act takes place in Tscherewik's house. However, this contradicts the information in Mussorgsky's surviving scenario. The farmer Tscherewik came to the fair from outside to sell wheat.
3. ↑ Tschumak, Tschewrin and Tschiwrik are only other names for Tscherewik.
4. ↑ Some sources such as B. Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater incorrectly names his son Alexander Tscherepnin as the author of this arrangement.
5. ↑ Neef, Csampai / Holland and Reclam expressly describe the Tscherepnin version as two-act, while Kloiber as three-act. The Monte Carlo review also mentions three acts. The opera guides by Czerny, Hausswald, Knaur, Krause, Wagner and Pahlen also contain a synopsis of a short third act with a scene that, according to Neef, was integrated into the first act: Tscherewik finally unites Parasja and Grizka. The two affirm their love for each other and they all celebrate with the final Hopak.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Richard Taruskin :  Fair at Sorochintsï, The. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Sigrid Neef : Handbook of Russian and Soviet opera. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Bärenreiter 1989. ISBN 3-7618-0925-5 , pp. 302–309.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r} Dorothea Redepenning : Sorotschinskaja jarmarka. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 4: Works. Massine - Piccinni. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-492-02414-9 , pp. 380-383.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d} Michael Stegemann: The Sorotschintzij fair. In: Attila Csampai , Dietmar Holland : Opera guide. E-book. Rombach, Freiburg im Breisgau 2015, ISBN 978-3-7930-6025-3 , pp. 818–822.
5. ↑ The Sorochintsy Fair. In: Harenberg opera guide. 4th edition. Meyers Lexikonverlag, 2003, ISBN 3-411-76107-5 , pp. 604-605.
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Rudolf Kloiber , Wulf Konold , Robert Maschka: Handbook of the Opera. 9th, expanded, revised edition 2002. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag / Bärenreiter, ISBN 3-423-32526-7 , pp. 479–482.
7. ↑ Günter Hauswald: The new opera book. 2nd Edition. Henschelverlag, Berlin 1953, pp. 606-609.
8. ^ Peter Czerny : Opera book. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1981, pp. 274–275.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Gerhart von Westerman , Karl Schumann: Knaurs Opernführer. Droemersche Verlagsanstalt Th. Knaur Nachf., Munich 1957, 1969, ISBN 3-426-07216-5 , pp. 342-344.
10. ^ ^{A b} Ernst Krause : Oper A – Z. An opera guide. 6th edition. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1981, ISBN 3-370-00148-9 , pp. 327-330.
11. ^ Review of the performance in the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. In: Le Journal of March 18, 1923. Digitized at Gallica .
12. ^ Horst Seeger : The great lexicon of the opera. VEB Deutscher Verlag für Musik, Leipzig 1978. Special edition for Pawlak, Herrsching 1985, p. 275.
13. ↑ Georg Maliniak (German translation) in “The Sorótschintzi Fair” in the archive of the Vienna State Opera, accessed on August 28, 2018.
14. ↑ Reclam's Opernlexikon (= digital library . Volume 52). Philipp Reclam jun. in Directmedia, Berlin 2001, pp. 1302-1306.
15. ^ Ulrich Schreiber : Opera guide for advanced learners. 19th century. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2000, ISBN 3-7618-1028-8 , p. 733.
16. ↑ ^{a b c d} Modest Petrovic Mussorgsky. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.
17. ↑ Mussorgsky - The Sorochintsi Fair on The Opera Platform ( Memento from September 6, 2017 in the Internet Archive ).