Vladimir Ivanovich Belsky

Vladimir Ivanovich Belsky ( Russian Владимир Иванович Бельский * April 2 ^{. Jul} / 14. April  1866 ^greg. In Trakai , † 28. February 1946 in Heidelberg ) was a Russian librettist .

life and work

Belski, “literarily and philosophically comprehensively educated”, was considered a “connoisseur of Russian literature” and was a close friend and confidante of the Russian opera composer Nikolaj Rimski-Korsakow . For this he created the libretti for the operas Skazka o care Saltane ( The tale of Tsar Saltan ), Skazanije o nevidimom grade Kiteže i deve Fevronii ( The legend of the invisible city of Kitesch and of the virgin Fewronija ) and Zolotoj petušok ( The golden rooster ).

When writing the libretto for The Tale of Tsar Saltan in 1899, Belski reverted to the original text of the fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin and used a whole series of original Pushkin verses.

Belski's libretto for The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitesch and of the Virgin Fewronija (mainly written in 1903 and 1904) was based on the Christian eschatological ethics of the legend. Belski tried in particular to glorify an abstract idea in the liturgical character of the libretto. Belski designed his libretto based on the idea of ​​escaping from worldly needs and worries in a mystical exuberance. He placed particular emphasis on the internal, psychological processes of the characters. For Belski, who was committed to an idealistic pantheism , God and the world did not represent an absolute unity. In the relationship between God and the world, he gave God priority. From Rimsky-Korsakov he demanded a "mystical horror" in the composition. This approach met with resistance from Rimsky-Korsakov, who therefore insisted on textual changes to the libretto; in particular, he demanded a "scenic plot" and "absolutely some realism " from Belski .

Belski also used a literary model by Alexander Pushkin in the libretto for the opera Der goldene Hahn . However, he deviated very strongly from the “psychologizing and moralizing fairy tale content”. He also took back the didactic character of the template and did not let the course of the action be determined by the subjective perspective. In particular, Belski feared that an excessively farcical and comedic presentation would deprive the work of its actual direction. In his foreword to the first edition of the opera, Belski explained the historical dimension of the libretto: The fairy tale characters become "poetic signs of anti-Tsarist criticism."

Belski's libretto for the opera Der goldene Hahn differed from his other libretti for Rimsky-Korsakov, especially in the scenic meaning of the prologue . The prologue in The Tale of Tsar Saltan had described the prehistory. In the libretto for Der goldene Hahn , the prologue and epilogue form a kind of explanatory framework that makes the main story appear as an “instructive game”. Belski thus adopted a stylistic device that had previously been used successfully in the operas of verismo ( Pagliacci ): the play from theater to theater.

He wrote the revision reports for other works, including Due concerti per organo by František Xaver Brixi and Serenate boëme / Partite e notturni by Antonín Kammel , Jiří Družecký , Xaver František and Vincenc Mašek .

Web links

• Literature by and about Wladimir Iwanowitsch Belski in the catalog of the German National Library
• Belski at belcanto.ru (russ.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Sigrid Neef , Hermann Neef : Handbook of Russian and Soviet Opera. Henschelverlag Art and Society . 2nd, revised edition. Berlin 1988. Page 447. ISBN 3-362-00257-9 .
2. ↑ ^{a b} Sigrid Neef: Handbook of Russian and Soviet Opera. Henschelverlag Art and Society. 2nd, revised edition. Berlin 1988. Page 464ff. ISBN 3-362-00257-9 .
3. ^ Sigrid Neef: Handbook of Russian and Soviet Opera. Henschelverlag Art and Society. 2nd, revised edition. Berlin 1988. Page 471ff. ISBN 3-362-00257-9 .
4. ↑ Attila Csampai, Dietmar Holland: Opera guide . Hoffmann and Campe . Hamburg 1990, page 781. ISBN 3-455-08336-6 .