The Night Before Christmas (Opera)
| Opera dates | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The night before Christmas |
| Original title: |
Ночь перед Рождеством (Notsch pered Roshdestwom) |
Title page of the piano reduction, Leipzig 1895 |
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| Shape: | Opera in four acts |
| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov |
| Libretto : | Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov |
| Literary source: | Nikolai Gogol : The night before Christmas |
| Premiere: | November 28th jul. / December 10, 1895 greg. |
| Place of premiere: | Mariinsky Theater , Saint Petersburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ½ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | the Little Russian (Ukrainian) village Dikanka , at the court in the capital and in the air kingdom, 18th century |
| people | |
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The Night Before Christmas - A True Story and a Song for the Turn of Winter (Russian Ночь перед Рождеством , Notsch pered Roschdestwom ) is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov with its own libretto based on the story The Night Before Christmas from the second part ( 1832) the evenings in the hamlet near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol . The premiere took place on November 28th July. / December 10, 1895 greg. held in the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg.
action
The action takes place in the 18th century in the Little Russian (Ukrainian) village of Dikanka and at the Tsar's court in the capital and in the air kingdom.
first act
First picture: Dorfstrasse; Tschub's hut; Christmas Eve; bright moon and stars
The widow and witch Solocha flies on her broom out of the chimney of her hut, sits down on the roof and sings about the night of the winter solstice. The devil keeps you company on another roof. He is annoyed that people hardly fear him anymore. The blacksmith Wakula, Solocha's son, has taken his mockery particularly far with a caricature. Solocha promises to fix the problem if the devil helps her cut off her son's relationship with Oxana. She is interested in their father Tschub, a wealthy Cossack. To prevent him from leaving his apartment, Solocha and the devil steal the moon and stars from the sky and cause a snow storm to break out. The Cossack Panas, who is just passing by on the street, is amazed at the disappearing moon and shows the phenomenon to his friend Tschub. The two decide to go to the celebration of the sexton Ossip Nikiforovich despite the darkness. Wakula also goes to his beloved, who is now alone in the house. He stops at the door, unsure of her feelings towards him. Ultimately, the storm forces Tschub to turn back. However, he is evicted by Wakula in front of his own house, believes he is lost, and instead sets off to see Solocha.
Second picture: The inside of Tschub's hut
The young and moody Oxana admires her own reflection in a childlike way. Wakula gathers courage and enters. She shows little interest in his advertising, makes fun of him and explains that she is bored. She would rather play with her friends and collect gifts while singing Koljadka. When her friend Odarka walks in with her new shoes, Oxana finds an opportunity to get rid of Wakula. She laughs and claims that she would only marry him if he brings her a pair of slippers ("Tscherewitschki", actually pointed ladies' shoes with heels) from the Tsarina. The prank spread quickly among the village youth celebrating outside.
Second act
Third image: the interior of Solocha's hut; in the corner some big sacks of coal
Solocha is having fun with the devil when several other suitors arrive one after the other, all hoping for a rendezvous: the village head, the sexton and Tschub. Since none of them want to be seen, they all hide in the coal sacks. The wakula arriving last brings the sacks to his forge.
Fourth picture: Dorfstrasse; Wakula's Forge; Moon night
When Wakula unloads the sacks, he meets the young people singing Christmas carols, including Oxana, who makes fun of him again because of the slippers. Sadly, he says goodbye and runs away with the smallest sack in which he suspects his blacksmith equipment. Everyone is wondering what he's up to. The common-nosed woman and the purple-nosed woman spread rumors of Wakula's suicide in the village. Oxana becomes thoughtful for a moment, but quickly turns back to her friends. They recklessly open the sacks left behind, in which they find Solocha's lovers instead of the expected treasures. Tschub realizes that he is not her only admirer. The crowd bursts out laughing.
Third act
Fifth picture: The interior of Pazjuk's hut
Wakula seeks advice from old quack and magician Pazjuk. He hopes that he can find help from the devil for his endeavor to get the tsarina's shoes. To his horror, he meets Pazjuk at a strange meal: noodles jump from one bowl into a second one with cream and from there directly into Pazjuk's mouth. Pazjuk points out to Wakula that he doesn't have to look long for the devil because he is already carrying him on his back. This climbs out of the sack and is actually ready to help Wakula, provided he prescribes his soul to him. Wakula appears to agree, but then seizes the devil by the neck and uses the sign of the cross to force him to fly to the court of the tsars in Saint Petersburg.
Sixth image: firmament; Moon and stars; occasionally a bright cloud
During her flight through the night, Wakula observes various games and dances of the stars (mazurka, the comet's lift, chorowod, csárdás, the dance of the stars). Witches and wizards, among them Pazjuk and Solocha, celebrate the winter solstice with the "Teufelskoljadka" and prepare for the fight against the light gods Owsen and Koljada. When they notice Wakula, they try to stop him, but have to give way to his sign of the cross. The lights of the capital appear in the distance.
Seventh picture: brightly lit, decorated hall at the court
The courtiers pay homage to the tsarina in a polonaise . Wakula has joined a group of Zaporozhian Cossacks and with them reaches the ruler. While the courtiers bore the tsarina with lengthy speeches, Wakula took the opportunity to ask her for a pair of shoes like hers. Pleasantly surprised and amused, the tsarina brings him the most beautiful couple. The devil flies him back to his home.
Eighth image: firmament; Night; grey clouds
Towards the end of the night the ghosts have to leave. Their empty brooms and pitchforks whirl through the air. Wakula flies by with the shoes intended for Oxana. The morning star (Venus) shows herself as a virgin, Koljada as a young girl and Owsen as a young man on a boar with golden bristles. They dance with the bright spirits. Bells ring and singing resounds from the church of Dikankas: "In the east the light shines brightly ..."
Fourth act
Ninth picture: daylight; Tschub's homestead surrounded by a picket fence
Oxana was concerned about the various rumors. Right in front of her, the two women quarrel over Wakula's death. Oxana now knows she loves him and feels guilty. Then he appears himself. After he has appeased her father Tschub with presents, he hands Oxana the shoes and asks her for her hand. She happily agrees: the shoes were no longer necessary. Tschub calls the village together to announce the good news. Everyone cheers at Wakula's return home.
Finale: "In memory of Gogol"
Wakula announces that he will not reveal whether he was actually with the Tsarina. “Rudi Panko” will write the story down “with a golden pen”, and it will be told every Christmas. Everyone joins the hymn he has begun in praise of the poet Gogol .
layout
libretto
Rimsky-Korsakov's libretto differs conceptually from Gogol's original, in which the villagers create the fantastic events themselves in order to rebel against the social structures and hypocrisy. In the opera, on the other hand, the village and the supernatural world are juxtaposed, even if individuals such as Solocha or Pazjuk meet the spirits directly. This distinction shows the composer's interest in pagan deities. The names of the sun gods Koljada and Owsen are handed down in Russian and Minorussian (Ukrainian) traditional songs, which were sung at Christmas. They form the opposite pole to the dark spirits, wizards and witches.
At the end of the opera there is praise for Gogol instead of the generous Tsarina. In doing so, Rimsky-Korsakov referred to the praise of the poet Pushkin in Mikhail Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila and affirmed the power of democratic Russian art.
music
The self-written libretto offered Rimsky-Korsakov a good opportunity to perfect his favorite musical stylistic devices, including timbres, leading harmonies and the relationships between the keys.
The Koljada songs have a special meaning in opera. They are intoned by both people and spirits: from Solocha with the devil (I: 1), the girls (I: 2), the boys (II: 4), the young people (II: 4), Solocha with Pazjuk (III: 6), the devilish and bright pagan spirits (III: 6 and III: 8) and the entire people (finale). In terms of music, Rimsky-Korsakov combines peculiarities of Russian folklore (polyphonic lower voices, linear melodies, diatonic scales , superimposition of major and minor or variant technique) with art music ( counterpoint , homophonic movement). The polyphonic choir in the second picture of the second act is a highlight. It begins on one side of the stage with the tenor voices (boys), followed by the alto voices (girls) from the opposite side. While the two groups approach each other, the sopranos kick in. The basses are only used after the three other vocal groups have been united. “And now the sound of the choir peaks in the middle of the room, reaching up to the stars, so to speak” ( Sigrid Neef ). The voices insert several times fugato-like with different text passages and unite again and again to the refrain "Swjaty wetscher" ("Holy Evening"). This creates the “impression of a song unfolding far and wide in the frost-clear air”.
In his opera, Rimsky-Korsakov freely used many of the melodies from the collection of Ukrainian folk songs published by Alexander Rubets in 1872. For example, for the girls' Koljadka (I: 2), he placed a Ukrainian melody on a Belarusian text.
Some characters have special leitmotifs. Tschubs is based on a song from the Rubets collection. It is the well-known and versatile “Oi, rududu, rududu” that Modest Mussorgski also used in The Sorochinsy Fair . The motif of the "deacon" or sexton is a pious psalmody that appears comical due to the contrast to his undisguised sexual desires. Two leitmotifs are assigned to the protagonist Wakula: a passionate cantilena to the words “Ty mne i mat i otez” (“You are me mother and father”, I: 2) and his wistful farewell to Oxana to the text “Proschtschai, Oxana “('Farewell, Oxana', II: 4).
While most arias, duets, ensemble movements and choirs are kept short, Oxana has two extensive arias: the virtuoso mirror aria of childlike Oxana in I: 2 and her self-knowledge, which is completely different in content, in IV: 9, in which the vocal part and orchestral soloists perform together .
The orchestral setting shows the great harmonic and color ingenuity that is typical of Rimsky-Korsakov. One example is the end of the introduction to act two. There a sequence of ascending minor thirds (e '- g' - b '- des'' - e '' - g '') leads to a sequential passage that is almost entirely the octatonic scale with alternating whole and semitones .
In this opera Rimsky-Korsakov used the celesta in the orchestra for the first time to emphasize the magical colors. Together with harp and violin triplets, they represent the stars of the air kingdom. The moon is characterized by a horn.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : three flutes (3rd also piccolo ), two oboes (2nd also English horn ), three clarinets (3rd also piccolo clarinet ), two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , alto trumpet, three trombones , tuba
- three timpani , percussion : cymbals , triangle , tambourine , drum , tam-tam , glockenspiel , xylophone
- two harps
- Strings
Work history
Nikolai Rimski-Korsakov's opera The Night Before Christmas was written in 1894 and 1895. He composed the libretto himself. It is based on the story The Night Before Christmas from the second part (1832) of the evenings in the hamlet near Dikanka by Nikolai Gogol , which he has long cherished for the mixture of pagan and Christian customs and the inclusion of fantastic elements in everyday village life. Since Pyotr Tchaikovsky had already set the material to music a few years earlier under the title Der Schmied Wakula (later version: Tscherewitschki or Slipper ), it was taboo for Rimsky-Korsakov during his lifetime. Only after Tchaikovsky's death in 1893 did he feel “free in this respect”, especially since he “had always considered the work weak and Polonski's libretto completely unsuccessful”. The text is largely based on Gogol's original “right down to the diction”. Rimsky-Korsakov integrated many other fantastic elements in addition to the already existing motifs ("the Koljada customs, the blind man's game of the stars, the flight of brooms and pitchforks, the encounter with the witch"), which he explained through descriptions in Alexander Afanassjews Work The poetic views of nature of the Slavs "on the connection of the Christian Christmas celebration with the pre-Christian customs of the winter solstice, with old nebulous ideas of deities like Owsen and Koljada and so on". He admitted in his chronicle that the audience had problems with this mix. This mistake, brought about by his enthusiasm, had "given him the opportunity to write a lot of interesting music". He had completed the draft “right after the summer vacation” and immediately afterwards began with the instrumentation. He sent the finished parts of the score in sections to the music printing company Röder in Leipzig, which works for his publisher Beljajew .
Although Rimsky-Korsakov had carefully avoided the name of the tsarina and the capital Saint Petersburg after his experience with the opera Pskowitjanka , he ran into problems with censorship. This “categorically demanded the deletion of the seventh picture (the scene with the tsarina), since according to the highest order from 1837 Russian rulers should not be depicted in the opera.” Fortunately, with the help of the court minister, Count Vorontsov, Rimsky-Korsakov received a special permit. This induced the theater director Ivan Wsewoloschski to recreate the tsarina as closely as possible to the historical model and to bring "all the pomp of Katharina's court to the stage". At the main rehearsal, however, the Grand Dukes Vladimir Alexandrowitsch (Galitzki) and Mikhail Nikolajewitsch who were present recognized their ancestor Catherine II in the depicted tsarina and insisted indignantly that the edict should be observed. In addition, the Grand Duke Michail ordered that the Peter and Paul Cathedral be painted over in the background decoration, "because under no circumstances could he allow the burial place of his ancestors to be shown on a theater backdrop." Rimsky-Korsakov had to replace the role of tsarina with a "most noble prince" at short notice. This was easy to do musically, as the part only had to be transposed an octave lower, but the plot no longer made sense. The only consolation for him was that he "was able to make the highest and lower censors ridiculous, because with their permission it was now a most noble prince who owned the czarina's cloakroom." He himself stayed away from the premiere, and no one from the court came to the performance either. The opera's reputation was ruined and failure was inevitable. The Petersburg music criticism was accordingly hostile.
The premiere took place on November 28th July. / December 10, 1895 greg. under the direction of Eduard Nápravník in the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg. It sang Marija Piltz / Marija Aleksandrovna Slavina (Empress), Vladimir Jurevich Maijboroda (village head), Mikhail Korjakin (Tchub) Jewgenija Mrawina (Oxana), Marija Dimitrovna Kamenskaja (Solokha), Ivan Yershov (Wakula), Fedor Strawinski / Fedor Schaljapin ( Panas), Grigorij Ugrinovich (Ossip Nikiforowitsch), Nikolaj S. Klimov (Pazjuk), Mitrofan Ciuprinnikov (devil), YA Junosova (woman with a purple nose) and YG Glebova (woman with an ordinary nose).
In 1898 the work was shown in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and in 1913 in Odessa. The next performance was not given until 1943 in Perm by members of the Mariinsky Theater, now known as the “Kirov Theater”.
It was not until 1940 in Wuppertal for the German premiere in a German version by Heinz Herbert Steves with the unfortunate title Sonnenwendnacht (Ukrainian village saga), which the ruling National Socialists liked, but had nothing to do with the opera.
Since the subject also seemed unsuitable in the Soviet Union, the conductor Nikolai Golovanov replaced the term “Christmas Eve” (“Swjati wetscher”) with “Good evening” (“Dobry wetscher”) when he made his radio recording in 1947.
The US premiere was on December 15, 1977 in the Opera Theater of Indiana University Bloomington , the British after a broadcast by the BBC on December 24, 1987 on December 14, 1988 in the London Coliseum .
Recordings
- 1947 - Nikolai Golovanov (conductor), Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Radio Chorus.
Lyudmila Legostajewa (Tsarina), Sergei Ivanovich Migai (village chief), Sergei Krassowskij (Tschub), Natalja Dmitrijewna Schpiller (Oxana), Natalia Kulagina (Solocha), Dmitri Tarchow (Wakula), Vsevolod Wassiljewitsch. Vassiljewitsch Tjutjunnik (Sergei Panasovich ), Alexei Koroljow (Pazjuk), Piotr Pontryagin (devil).
Studio shot.
Melodia D-013693-8 (3 LPs), Ultraphone ULP 144-6 (3 LPs), Dante LYS 413-4 (2 CDs), Arlecchino ARL 72-73 (2 CDs), Lyrica LRC 01096-2, Cantus Classics 500592 (2 CDs). - Dec. 24, 1987 - Edward Downes (conductor), Chorus of Opera North , BBC Philharmonic .
Fiona Kimm (Tsarina), Petteri Salomaa (village chief), John Tranter (Tschub), Cathryn Pope (Oxana), Ann Howard (Solocha), Maldwyn Davies (Wakula), Nicholas Folwell (Panas), Stuart Kale (Ossip Nikiforowitsch), Paul Hudson (Pazjuk), Anthony Roden (devil), Shirley Thomas (woman with a purple nose), Pauline Thulborn (woman with a common nose).
In Russian with readings by actor David Suchet from Gogol's story. BBC
radio broadcast . - May / June 1990 - Michail Jurowski (conductor), Orchestra of the Forum-Theater Moscow, Yourlov Academic Russian Chorus.
Olga Terjuschnowa (Empress), Wladislaw Arkadjewitsch Werestnikow (village head), Stanislaw Suleimanow (Tchub), Ekaterina Kudrjawtschenko (Oxana), Elena Zaremba (Solokha), Vladimir Bogatschow (Wakula), Maxim Mikhailov II (Panas), Alexei Maslennikoff (Ossip Nikiforowitsch) , Boris Beschko (Pazjuk), Vyacheslav Woinarovsky (devil), Raisa Kotova and Zoia Smoljaninova (women).
Studio shot.
Chant du Monde F 28001/2 (2 CDs). - March 11, 2014 - Valery Polyansky (conductor), Russian State Orchestra Moscow, Choir of the Russian State Orchestra Moscow.
Elena Evseeva (Tsarina), Sergei Toptygin (village chief), Andrei Antonov (Tschub), Anna Pegova (Oxana), Lyudmila Kuznetsova (Solocha), Oleg Dolgov (Wakula), Alexander Markeev (Panas), Leonid Bomstein (Ossip Nikiforowitsch), Ruslan Rozyev (Pazjuk), Maxim Sazhin (Devil), Viktoria Smolnikova (woman with a purple nose), Anastasia Proviznova (woman with an ordinary nose).
Live from the Svetlanov Hall, International House of Music, Moscow.
Radio broadcast.
literature
- Nikolai van Gilse van der Pals : NA Rimsky-Korssakow. Opera and sketch about life and work. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim / New York 1977 (reprint of the Paris-Leipzig 1929 edition), ISBN 3-487-06427-8 , pp. 218-262.
- Sigrid Neef : The operas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (= Musik Konkret 18 ). Ernst Kuhn Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-936637-13-7 , pp. 113-137.
Web links
- Christmas Eve (opera) : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Nikolai Gogol : The night before Christmas in the Gutenberg-DE project , translator: Alexander Eliasberg
- Discography of Christmas Eve at Operadis
- Work information and table of contents (English) on balletandopera.com (event calendar of the Saint Petersburg theaters)
Remarks
- ↑ a b About the “Koljada songs” Gogol wrote at the beginning of his story: “These are the names of the songs that are sung in front of our windows on the eve of Christmas. The housewife, or the householder, or whoever has just stayed at home, usually tosses a sausage, a loaf or a copper coin to singers, depending on his or her ability. It is said that there was once an idol, Koljada, whom people believed was a god, and that the Koljad songs come from that time. Who can know? We, ordinary people, are not called to judge it. Last year, Father Osip tried to forbid the Koljad songs, because in this way the people would serve Satan. But, to tell the truth, there is no word of Koljada in these songs. Most of the time people sing about the birth of Christ and finally wish the householder, the housewife, the children and the whole house health. Beekeeper’s Note ”(translation: Alexander Eliasberg ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Sigrid Neef : Handbook of Russian and Soviet Opera. Henschelverlag Art and Society, Bärenreiter 1989. ISBN 3-7618-0925-5 , pp. 422-427.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Sigrid Neef : The operas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (= Musik Konkret 18 ). Ernst Kuhn Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-936637-13-7 , pp. 113-137.
- ↑ a b Richard Taruskin : Christmas Eve [Noch 'pered rozhdestvom]. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
- ↑ a b c Quotes from Rimski-Korsakow's chronicle of my musical life, quoted from Sigrid Neef .
- ^ Josif Filippowitsch Kunin: Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow. Translated by Dieter Lehmann. Verlag Neue Musik, Berlin 1981 (Original: Verlag “musyka”, Moscow 1979).
- ↑ December 10, 1895: “Notch pered Rozhdestvom”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia .
- ↑ a b Christmas Eve. In: Amanda Holden (Ed.): The Viking Opera Guide. Viking, London / New York 1993, ISBN 0-670-81292-7 , p. 868.
- ↑ a b Karsten Steiger: Opera discography. Directory of all audio and video recordings. 2nd, fully updated and expanded task. KG Sauer, Munich 2008/2011, ISBN 978-3-598-11784-8 , p. 392.
- ↑ a b Rimsky-Korsakov. In: Andreas Ommer: Directory of all complete opera recordings (= Zeno.org . Volume 20). Directmedia, Berlin 2005.
- ↑ Christmas Eve. Program information from December 24, 1987 from BBC Radio 3 , accessed July 7, 2020.
- ↑ Christmas Eve. Program information from December 22, 1988 from BBC Radio 3 , accessed July 7, 2020.
- ↑ Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov: The night before Christmas. Radio program from December 20, 2015 on SRF 2 Kultur radio , accessed on July 4, 2020.
Pskovitjanka (The Pskov Girl, 1873) | Boyarynja Wera Scheloga (The Boyarin Wera Scheloga, 1898) | Maiskaja notsch (The May Night, 1880) | Snegurochka (Snow Maiden, 1882) | Mlada (1892) | Notsch pered Roshdestwom (The Night Before Christmas, 1895) | Sadko (1898) | Mozart i Saljeri (Mozart and Salieri, 1898) | Tsarskaya Nevesta (The Tsar's Bride, 1899) | Skaska o zare Saltane (The tale of Tsar Saltan, 1900 | Servilia (1902) | Kashchei bessmertny ( Kashchei the Immortal, 1902) | Pan Wojewoda (1904) | Skasanije o newidimom grade Kitesche i dewe Fewronii (The legend of the invisible city of Kitez and of the virgin Fevronija, 1907) | Solotoi petuschok (The golden rooster, 1909)