Masquerade (Khachaturyan)
The incidental music for Masquerade was composed in 1941 by Aram Chatschaturjan for a production of the play of the same name by the Russian poet and playwright Mikhail Lermontov . The masquerade is the musical tragedy of a woman who is killed by her husband after a false accusation of infidelity. The premiere took place on June 21, 1941 in the Vakhtangov Theater in Moscow . The composition is also known in the form of a five-movement suite.
background
Khachaturyan was asked by Ruben Simonov to write music for a production of the masquerade. The famous waltz theme Khachaturian originated during the war and required a lot of effort during the creation and he was finally inspired by the words of the heroine Nina: "How beautiful is this new waltz, [...] something between sadness and joy grabbed my heart. " The composer had long struggled to find a suitable theme, because it should be beautifully melodic and modern at the same time. His former teacher Nikolai Myaskovsky tried to help Khachaturian by introducing him to a collection of romances and waltzes from Lermontov's time, even if these did not directly inspire him, Khachaturyan admitted, but it was nevertheless a help, especially for the second topic. When this was done, the rest of the composition fell to him, as if by magic, with no effort. "
action
The story begins during a big masked ball, at which the Baroness Schtral finds a bracelet. Since she is secretly in love with the prince, she gives him this bracelet as a token of her affection. Because the baroness is disguised by her mask, the prince does not know who she is and who he is dating. In his distress he asks Arbenin, his confidante, to help him find the mysterious woman. It fails. When Arbenin comes home, he notices that his own wife, Nina, is missing a very similar bracelet. When Nina now wants to clarify the matter, she visits the baroness in search of her lost jewelry. Unfortunately, there she also meets the prince, who is convinced that she had given him the bracelet. The talk about Nina's alleged flirtation spreads and finally reaches her husband. Arbenin is furious that his wife has allegedly cheated on him and, in his jealousy, seeks revenge. In the meantime, however, the baroness has also heard of the misunderstanding and confesses in a letter to the prince that it was she who gave him the bracelet and that Nina is innocent. A new ball is due and Nina receives her bracelet back, but her husband Arbenin gave her previously poisoned ice cream. In her dying desperation, Nina tries again to convince her husband that she is innocent and that it is all a misunderstanding. But it's too late, she's dying. Arbenin remains skeptical so as not to admit the mistake he made. When the prince himself appears, the tragedy is perfect because he confirms that there was no affair between him and Nina and he gives Arbenin the letter from the baroness, which explains everything.
suite
Later, in 1944, Khachaturyan extracted five movements from the stage work in order to modify them into a symphonic suite . The sequence is:
The world figure skating champions Tatjana Wolossoschar and Maxim Trankow competed in the 2014 Grand Prix Skate America in Detroit with the Masquerade Waltz. In addition, they won the European Figure Skating Championships in Budapest in 2014, also with a freestyle for the masquerade waltz. In particular, the masquerade waltz became known as a film music for war and peace .
Recordings
- 2008 Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by Loris Tjeknavorian , ASV
- 2010 CJD Orchestra, conducted by Christof Harr on October 16, 2010 from the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin
literature
- Yuzefovich, Victor. Aram Khachaturyan , translated. Nicholas Kournokoff and Vladimir Bobrov. New York, Sphinx Press, 1985. ISBN 0-943071-00-3
Web links
- "November love". In: Religion on the radio. Retrieved January 19, 2019 .
- http://www.spox.com/de/sport/mehrsport/wintersport/1401/News/eiskunstlauf-europamemeisterschaft-aljona-savchenko-robin-szolkowy.iegen-auf-rang-zwei.html