A life for the tsar
| Work data | |
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| Title: | A life for the tsar |
| Original title: |
Жизнь за царя (Schisn sa zarja) |
Title page of the 1899 edition of the score |
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| Original language: | Russian |
| Music: | Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka |
| Libretto : | Baron Yegor Fyodorovich von Rosen |
| Premiere: | November 27th jul. / December 9, 1836 greg. |
| Place of premiere: | Bolshoi Theater Saint Petersburg |
| Playing time: | approx. 2 ¾ hours |
| Place and time of the action: | Russia and Poland, 1612/1613 |
| persons | |
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A life for the tsar ( Russian Жизнь за царя ) is an opera in four acts and an epilogue by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka with a libretto by Baron Yegor Fyodorovich von Rosen . The premiere took place on December 9, 1836 in the Saint Petersburg Bolshoi Theater . In the Soviet Union, the opera was also known under the title Iwan Sussanin ( Russian Иван Сусанин ).
plot
first act
Street in Domnino
When the numerous volunteer fighters who were able to successfully fight the Polish invaders return to the small Russian village of Domnino, they are warmly welcomed and greeted by their wives and the villagers. After the death of the last Russian tsar , Boris Godunov , the Polish king Sigismund used the disorientation and temporary lack of rulership in Russia to invade there and try to put a Pole on the Russian tsarist throne. However, the daughter of the farmer Ivan Sussanin , Antonida, is unhappy and unsettled because her newly fiancé Sobinin is not among the returnees. In addition, her father refuses to agree to the upcoming wedding because, in his opinion, the times are currently too uncertain for it. Only when Sobinin, who returned later, assured him that the Poles had been repulsed on their march to Moscow by a force under the orders of Prince Poscharsky and that Mikhail Romanov's election as the new tsar was certain, did he consent to the wedding.
Second act
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King Sigismund III's throne room
With happy singing and traditional national dances, Sigismund celebrates the victory over Russia together with the Polish nobility at his castle, until a messenger interrupts the happy mood: He reports that the Russians have successfully fought the Polish army and have chosen a new tsar. Immediately a new plan is drawn up and a counterattack against the new Russian tsar is decided so that they can get hold of him as soon as possible.
Third act
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Room in Sussanin's house
The first preparations for the wedding of Antonida and Sobinin are made in the Sussanin estate. Sussanin tells his foster son Vanya, an orphan boy whom he is raising like his own child, about the Russian volunteer army that is fighting so successfully against Poland. He also raves about the new Tsar Mikhail Romanov, which makes Vanya very greedy to be able to fight for his fatherland soon. Gradually the house is filling up with wedding guests, some of whom are picked up by Sobinin himself from far away. But the happy mood came to an end when Polish soldiers entered: They asked Sussanin to lead them to the hiding place of the newly elected tsar, who was staying in a monastery nearby. Neither Sussanin's assertion that he does not know the hiding place, nor his attempt to invite her to his wedding feast can dissuade the Poles from their plan. When they finally threaten him, he gives in and agrees. But his secret plan is to show the Poles the wrong way in order to gain time. Unnoticed, he orders his stepson Vanya to rush into the monastery and warn the tsar. Then Sussanin sets off with the Polish soldiers with a heavy heart. The village girls arrive and want to sing Antonida a wedding song, but learn about what has happened right away. Sobinin finally comes back with the guests and immediately notifies all men in the village after he has been informed about the intruders. Together they take up the pursuit of the enemy.
Fourth act
Dense forest (three different parts)
Vanya set off straight away and reached the monastery before dawn. After the residents of Vanya learned what had happened in the village, they frightened out of their beds and immediately prepared for an armed march to advance against the Poles. Meanwhile, Sussanin has misled the Poles. You have a suspicion against Sussanin, but the darkness still covers his deception. Exhausted, they lay down to sleep. Only at dawn does Sussanin admit the deception, because now he knows that the tsar has since been warned. The Poles kill Sussanin in anger that their plan has been thwarted. Sobinin and his companions arrive too late at the monastery.
epilogue
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In front of the gates to Red Square - the Red Square
In Moscow the Russian people celebrate their victory over the Poles. But not only the new tsar is cheered, but Sussanin's heroic deeds are also honored.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up for the opera includes the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : two flutes (the second also piccolo ), two oboes (the second also English horn ), two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , three trombones , ophikleide
- Timpani , snare drum
- harp
- Strings
- Incidental music : trumpet, snare drum, glockenspiel
Work history
The premiere took place on November 27th July. / December 9, 1836 greg. in the Bolshoi Theater in St. Petersburg . With this opera Glinka succeeded in creating an independent Russian music; it is considered to be the first Russian opera. The original title of the opera was Iwan Sussanin , but at the request of the tsar he renamed it shortly before the premiere. The opera has a historical background and is set in the time of turmoil shortly after 1600, when various foreign powers, especially Poland , wanted to bring their candidates to the Russian tsarist throne.
After the October Revolution of 1917, it was initially not allowed to be performed in the Soviet Union . It was only when Stalin turned to the national Russian heritage in World War II that it returned to the stage, albeit under the original title of Ivan Sussanin . Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it has been back on the agenda as A Life for the Tsar .
Web links
- A Life for the Tsar : Sheet Music and Audio Files in the International Music Score Library Project
- Plot of A Life for the Tsar at Opera-Guide Landing page currently unavailable due to URL change
- Discography of A Life for the Tsar at Operadis
Individual evidence
- ^ Sigrid Neef : Schisn sa zarja. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Music Theater . Volume 2: Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 412-416.