Opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan": content, interesting facts, videos, history

ON. Rimsky-Korsakov opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan"

Fantastic Opera N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov was written by him on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of A.S. Pushkin and, according to the composer himself, was one of his favorite musical works. He himself admitted in letters to friends that he was overcome by pride and admiration from his own creativity.

A summary of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" and many interesting facts about this work can be found on our page.

Summary

The plot of the tale begins in the city of Tmutarakan. The king, passing under the windows of the hut, accidentally heard the conversation of the three sisters and was very interested in them. But most of all he liked the speech of his younger sister and her desire to give birth to his hero. He immediately invited them to live in the palace, and the third sister chose his wife. But as often happens in fairy tales, the other two girls envy decided to take revenge on her. As soon as the king left for the war, they wrote him a letter informing him that the sovereign had given birth to an "unknown animal." Of course, this unexpected news greatly upset him. Through the efforts of the sisters, the young Militris and her newborn son were immediately imprisoned in a barrel and allowed into the open sea.

When the waves nailed a large barrel to the shore of Buyan Island, the prisoners were finally able to be set free. Gvidon, noticeably matured, immediately went in search of prey. Suddenly he heard the cry of the Swan Princess, for which the evil Kite was chasing. Guidon struck the treacherous villain and in gratitude for this, Lebed promised to repay the youth with good.

Early in the morning Militris and Gvidon saw that a thick fog had cleared and how magic the wonderful city of Candy appeared. Residents began to warmly welcome dear guests and asked Guidon to reign in their wonderful city. However, the young man is not cheerful, because all this time he does not cease to think about his father and to long for very much, hoping to at least someday be able to see him. Tsarevna Swan promised to help him in this matter. Thanks to her magic power, Gvidon was able to turn into a bumblebee and went on a ship to Tmutarakan to meet his father Saltan. There, from the rich merchants, he learned about unusual wonders: a squirrel, singing songs, sea knights, as well as a beautiful princess. Returning to Buyan Island, Guidon again turned for help to the Swan Princess. And in this case, she was able to help him by presenting a squirrel and brave knights with Black Sea to him. When Gvidon asked to help him find the beautiful princess, the bird swan revealed its main secret. It turned out she is this beautiful princess! Now, nothing could stop the love of the lovers, and Militris happily blessed them.

At this time, the ship of Saltan arrived on the island along with the king and his entire retinue. The long-awaited guests entered the posh palace of Guidon and met with unknown wonders. Surprised, Sultan immediately asked him to introduce him to the queen, and, to great joy, he recognized his beloved wife Militris in her, and in Gvidon — his son, whom he had no hope of ever meeting. Insidious traitors sisters immediately began to beg for mercy, fearing that they would face severe punishment, but the king Saltan forgave them.

A photo:

Interesting Facts

• When conductor V. Safonov received the score from the composer for familiarization in order to perform the "musical pictures", he immediately sent him a telegram. In the message, he admitted that he had read this work all night long, while admiring the genius of the author. (This is about the skill of Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration)
• It is noteworthy that in the opera the composer used a genuine lullaby, and Rimsky-Korsakov himself confessed that he and his children once sang it. This is a lullaby for baby Gvidon.
• Music critic Vasily Yastrebtsev called "Saltan" Russian "Siegfried."
• This performance continues the line originating in the works of Scheherazade and Sadko. This is a theme of the sea and sea images.
• The composer actively participated in the process of staging the opera and he managed to convince the director to exclude mechanical dolls on the stage in the role of squirrel and bumblebee. As a result, these roles were assigned to children at the insistence of Rimsky-Korsakov.
• The legendary and popular "Flight of the Bumblebee" from the third act has become the hallmark of both the composer himself and many virtuosos of performers who gladly perform an encore.
• Did you know that for his operas Rimsky-Korsakov invented fairy tales invented his own special mode, which is called a reduced scale? With the help of such a new paint, the composer emphasized mysterious and fantastic images in his works.
• The author himself called his score "trick guide" because of the unusual orchestration
• At the premiere, the party of Tsarevna was performed by singer Nadezhda Zabela, the wife of artist Mikhail Vrubel, who designed the scenery for the play.

Popular numbers

Aria of Tsarevna Swan from Act II - listen

Three Miracles (Little Squirrel, 33 Bogatyrs, Swan) - Listen

Flight of the Bumblebee - listen

History of creation

The opera is based on the “Tale of Tsar Saltan” by A. Pushkin, the author of the libretto was V. I. Belsky. It is noteworthy that it was this librettist who was a regular contributor to the composer, after the opera Sadko.

There is information that the idea to write a fabulous opera on this plot, the maestro was presented by the well-known critic V. Stasov. Already in the winter of 1898, Rimsky-Korsakov actively began to develop the script, the following year he took up music. Thus, in the autumn of 1899 the opera was written in full, and in early 1900 the score was completed. During the work on the play, the author and Belsky constantly corresponded and they discussed all the important points concerning the opera. For example, some proposals of Belsky, Rimsky-Korsakov were forced to reject, for example, the proposal to add realism to Gvidon at the expense of his desire to take his own life if he did not find the beautiful Tsarevna anywhere. Belsky also offered to show Guidon the child at the expense of exaggerated children's intonations. But some ideas of the librettist Rimsky-Korsakov met enthusiastically - the intended dramatic plan, emphasizing the appearance of a magical city on the scene. By the way, it was this scene that created a real sensation during the premiere, partly thanks to Vrubel, who designed the scenery.

It is noteworthy that the composer, conceived of the opera as close as possible to the original source, however, it contains a number of significant differences. Rimsky-Korsakov intentionally strengthened the beautiful image of Tsarevna Swan and maximally increased the satirical line in the images of Saltan, Babarikh and her sisters, ridiculing their vices. The performance is replete with folk life, festivities and buffoons.

Productions

The premiere of the opera was held in Moscow in 1900 in the Mamontov Private Opera. The performance was very enthusiastically accepted by the public. Even the composer himself in his autobiographical book notes that "Sultan" was put well. Vrubel was engaged in costumes and decorations. The Militris party was performed by E. Tsvetkova, Swan - N. Zabel, Saltan - Mutin. Conductor - M. Ippolitov-Ivanov.

After a successful premiere, the opera was brilliantly staged on the stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1902, the public of the St. Petersburg Conservatory was able to evaluate the work of the composer, in 1906 the premiere was held at the Zimin Opera House.

It is curious that the performance was staged on the main stages of the imperial theaters only in 1913 (Bolshoi) and 1915 (the Mariinsky Theater). In Soviet times, theatrical scenes from various cities delighted the audience with a fabulous opera. In addition, the performance was successfully staged in Barcelona, ​​Brussels, Milan, Sofia and Paris and many other European cities.

Among the modern productions it is worth noting the performance of 1997, staged on the stage of the Moscow Musical Theater. The director this time was A.Titel. With success, the opera was also staged at the Mariinsky Theater (2005), the Moscow Children's Musical Theater. Natalia Sats and Rostov Musical Theater (2008). An interesting version was presented to the public in November 2016 at the Samara Musical Theater. In this performance, modern technical means were actively used. Vivid pictures of the opera - the appearance of a magical city, the fairytale Swan Princess, the scene of the Kite attack, the audience could see in 3D.

The opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" is, above all, a fairy tale, a real, kind one, where good always triumphs over evil. This work is perfect for family viewing and will appeal to all without exception. Everything is in this beautiful performance: a wedding, love, a feast for the whole world and an extraordinarily beautiful, heartfelt, colorful, bright, colorful music of Rimsky-Korsakov. It is no coincidence that the composer himself highly appreciated this work. We offer you to appreciate and look right now the opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" in the original production and excellent quality.