The stingy knight (opera)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The stingy knight |
| Original title: | Скупой рыцарь / Skupoi ryzar |
Photo of the premieres actors |
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| Shape: | Opera in three pictures |
| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Sergei Rachmaninov |
| Libretto : | Alexander Pushkin |
| Literary source: | Alexander Pushkin |
| Premiere: | January 11th jul. / January 24th, 1906 greg. |
| Place of premiere: | Bolshoi Theater Moscow |
| Playing time: | Around 1 hour |
| Place and time of the action: | medieval England |
| people | |
The stingy knight ( Russian Скупой рыцарь ) is a one-act opera in three pictures by Sergei Rachmaninov , op 24, composed in the years 1903–1905. The libretto is based on Pushkin 's tragedy of the same name from 1830.
action
The work takes place in medieval England.
First picture. In the tower of the castle
Knight Albert's helmet was damaged in one of his numerous tournaments and he is also missing a splendid robe. His father, a rich baron , is extremely stingy and doesn't give any money. Albert ponders with his servant where there is still money to be obtained. The Jewish moneylender (only referred to as a Jew in the original text), who lent him previously, is called in, but does not want to give anything more without a deposit. Since Albert has no pledges, the moneylender suggests poisoning the baron instead in order to get the inheritance. Albert throws him out indignantly.
Second picture. In the basement of the castle
The baron takes delight in the filled gold chests and imagines the power that money could bring him. To celebrate the filling of the sixth chest, he lights candles in front of each chest. At the same time, he worries about the gold if his son inherits it and presumably wastes it.
Third picture. In the Duke's palace
Albert complains to the Duke about his father's poor financial resources. He summoned the baron and asked about the son. The baron takes refuge in all kinds of lies in order not to have to present his son. Since the Duke insists, he finally claims that the son wanted to kill and steal from him. Then Albert, who overheard everything, rushes out of the next room and accuses him of lying. The baron then throws down the gauntlet , which Albert picks up. But the Duke takes the glove from him and sends him out. When he reprimands the baron for his behavior, the latter dies worrying about his money.
Work history
The literary model is Pushkin's eponymous tragedy from the Little Tragedies , composed in 1830. The other three tragedies had already been set to music by other composers ( The Stone Guest by Dargomyschski , Mozart and Salieri by Rimski-Korsakow and The Feast in Times of the Plague by César Cui ) . The blank verse template, apart from a slight abbreviation (approx. 40 lines), has been adopted almost one-to-one as the libretto . The performance lasts approximately one hour. According to the original, the opera does not contain female voices.
The world premiere took place at the same time with the one-act play Francesca da Rimini in 1906 at the Bolshoi Theater under the direction of Rachmaninoff. Presumably, Rachmaninoff had accepted the post at the Bolshoi Theater in 1904 precisely because of the need to perform these two operas in the making. Even today, both one-act plays, if they are played here and there, are performed together, but combinations with other one-act plays, especially by Puccini , also occur. The title role was written for Fyodor Chalyapin , who was becoming a star in Russia at the time , who was also scheduled for the world premiere, but then gave up the role after a private preview with piano accompaniment by Felix Blumenfeld because he was of the opinion that “the word will not be in Sound reproduced ". Apparently he shared Rimsky-Korsakov's view that the orchestra dominated at the expense of the singing.
Rachmaninoff had attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1902 ; Accordingly, the size of the orchestra is large with three to four-fold wood , including brightly colored dark instruments such as two English horns and two bass clarinets and - typical for Rachmaninoff - extended percussion with bass drum , triangle , cymbal and tam-tam , as well as a harp . The Wagnerian leitmotif technique is not missing.
Rachmaninoff, who was often critical of his works and revised or shortened a number of them during his life, stated in an interview with an American newspaper in 1927 that the Miserly Knight (which was composed after works such as the second piano concerto ) was the first, correct beginning of his Life.
Recordings
(the singers in the order Baron, Albert, Duke, Jew, Servant)
Audio
- Boris Dobrin, Lev Kuznetsow, Sergei Jakowenko, Alexei Usmanow, Iwan Budrin. Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Roshdestvensky . Melodija around 1971
- Mikhail Krutikow, Vladimir Kudryashov, Wladislav Werestnikow, Alexander Archipov, Pyotr Gluboky. Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater, Andrei Tschistjakow. Le Chant du Monde 1993
- Sergei Aleksaschkin, Sergej Larin , Vladimir Chernov, Ian Caley, Anatoly Kocherga. Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra , Neeme Järvi . Deutsche Grammophon 1996
- Mikhail Guschow, Vsevolod Grivnov, Andrei Baturkin, Borislav Moltschanow, Vitaly Efanow. Russian State Orchestra, Valery Polyansky . Chandos Records 2003
Video
- Sergei Leiferkus , Richard Berkeley-Steele, Albert Schagidullin, Vyacheslav Wojnarowski, Maxim Michailow. London Philharmonic Orchestra ; Vladimir Jurowski . Recording from Glyndebourne 2004, Opus Arte DVD.
Web links
- The Miserly Knight : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project