The oprichnik
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| Title: | The oprichnik |
| Original title: | Oprichnik (Опричник) |
Apollinari Wasnezow : scenery sketch from 1911 |
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| Shape: | Opera in four acts and five pictures |
| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Pyotr Tchaikovsky |
| Libretto : | Pyotr Tchaikovsky |
| Literary source: | Ivan Lazechnikov : Oprichniki |
| Premiere: | April 24, 1874 |
| Place of premiere: | Mariinsky Theater , Saint Petersburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ⅘ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Russia at the time of the Oprichnina (1565–1573) during the reign of Ivan the Terrible |
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The Opritschnik ( Russian : Опричник, Opritschnik ) or The Bodyguard is an opera in four acts and five pictures by Pyotr Tchaikovsky with its own libretto based on the tragedy Oprichniki ( Russian : Опричники) by Ivan Laschetschnikow . Tchaikovsky worked at the opera from February 1870 to 1872 and performed it for the first time on April 24, 1874 in the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg.
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The opera is set in Russia at the time of the dreaded Oprichnina (1565–1573) during the reign of Ivan the Terrible .
first act
Garden at Prince Shemchushny's house
It is evening. The prince wants to marry his beautiful daughter Natalija to Moltschan Mitkow, but she regrets her fate and complains about it to her maids and her old nurse Zecharyevna. She really only loves Andrei Morozov, who also turns up at this moment with his friend Basmanov and a group of oprichniks. On Basmanov's advice, Andrei decided to join the oprichniks (like Basmanov) in order to get revenge on the prince who robbed and expelled him and his mother. When they left, Natalija mourns him and does not even allow herself to be comforted by the dance of her maids.
Second act
Farmhouse
Boyarin Morozova, Andri's mother, laments her misfortune and her worries that her son Andrei is connected to the oprichniks. Andrei appears and wants to tell her about his friend Basmanov and the oprichniks, but she doesn't want to know anything about it and doesn't want to accept their help.
Tsar's headquarters in Alexandrovskoye
In Alexandrovskoye , Andrei takes a solemn oath of allegiance to the tsar and has to renounce all previous connections to his relatives, his mother and his beloved Natalija. Prince Vyasminsky, an old enemy of Andrei's family, does not trust the new recruit, but under pressure from Basmanov he agrees to accept Andrei as the new oprichnik.
Third act
A place in Moscow
Natalija, who fled from her father's house before her hated fiancé, asks the boyarin Morozova for protection. The old woman refuses to help her at first. Then Natalija's father comes, who has found his daughter who has fled, and wants to punish her for it. The oprichniks led by Andrei and Basmanov come to the rescue just in time and protect Natalija. When Andreis mother learns that her son has become an oprichnik after all, she curses him. Shocked, Andrei decides to ask the Tsar to release him from his oath. Basmanov encourages him and says he could convince the tsar of it.
Fourth act
Tsar's headquarters in Alexandrovskoye
The wedding of Andrei and Natalja is celebrated in Alexandrovskoye. Andrei is to be released from his oath at midnight. Until then, however, he is still bound to this. But an hour before that, Prince Vyasminsky interrupted the festivities with news that the Tsar had sent to Natalja. Basmanov tries in vain to explain to Andrei that this is only a test of his loyalty, but Andrei refuses to carry out the tsar's order, breaking his oath. Natalija is kidnapped and taken to the Tsar, Andrei is arrested. The triumphant Prince Vjasminsky calls Andreis mother to the window to watch the execution of her son. When she sees her son being executed, she falls dead to the ground. The gloomy and solemn chorus of the oprichniks praises the terrible tsar.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwind : flute piccolo , two flutes , two oboes , two clarinets in A and B, two bassoons
- Brass : four horns in F, two trumpets in C and D, three trombones , tuba
- three timpani , percussion : triangle , cymbals , bass drum
- harp
- Strings : violins 1, violins 2, violas , cellos , double basses
Work history
The libretto was written by Tchaikovsky. The piece Oprichniki ( Russian : Опричники) by Ivan Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) served as a model . Ivan Lazhechnikov's tragedy is divided into 5 acts and 11 scenes. In his libretto, Tchaikovsky changed the structure of the tragedy. The first indication of his intention to write an opera "on a theme based on Ivan Lazhechnikov's tragedy, 'The Oprichniks'" is found in a letter from the composer to Aleksandra Davydova on February 17, 1870. Lazhechnikov's tragedy became October 18 First presented on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater in Saint Petersburg in 1867 and performed fifteen times during this season. In 1869/70 the piece was recorded again. It is very likely that Tchaikovsky watched the tragedy and was inspired to write an opera on the same theme.
For the first image of the first act, the composer used almost the entire libretto from the first scene of his opera The Voivode (Воевода) (1867/68). The text of the aria for Prince Vjasminsky (second act, No. 9a) was written by Grigory Lischin in 1878.
At the premiere in 1874 sang Vladimir Vasilyev (Prince Schemtschuschny), Wilhelmina Raab (Natalija), VF Sobolev (Moltschan Mitkow), Alexandra Krutikova (Bojaryna Morozova), Dmitry Orlov (Andrei Morozov), WM Vasilyev (Basmanov), Ivan Melnikov (Prince Wjasminski ), Olga Schröder (Sacharjewna).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Classical: Peter Iljitsch Tschaikowski (1840-1893): Opritschnik [Опричник]. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .
- ^ Tchaikovsky catalog raisonné. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .
- ↑ The Oprichnik - Tchaikovsky Research. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .
- ^ Letter 179 - Tchaikovsky Research. Retrieved June 10, 2019 .