A Life for the Tsar , as it is known in English, although its original name was
Ivan Susanin is a "patriotic-heroic tragic
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
" in five acts with an epilogue by
Mikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
. The original
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
, based on historical events, was written by
Nestor KukolnikNestor Vasilievich Kukolnik was a Russian playwright and prose writer of Carpatho-Rusyn origin. Immensely popular during the early part of his career, his works were subsequently dismissed as sententious and sentimental. Today, he is best remembered for having contributed to the libretto of the...
, Yegor Fyodorovich Rozen,
Vladimir SollogubCount Vladimir Alexandrovich Sollogub was a minor Russian writer, author of novelettes, essays, plays, and memoirs....
and
Vasily ZhukovskyVasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s.He is credited with introducing the Romantic Movement to Russian literature. The main body of his literary output consists of free translations covering an impressively wide range of poets from Ferdowsi to Schiller...
.
The plot of
A Life for the Tsar had been used earlier in 1815, when
Catterino CavosCatterino Albertovich Cavos , born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and conductor settled in Russia...
, an Italian-Russian composer, had written a two-act
singspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias...
with the same subject and title.
A Life for the Tsar , as it is known in English, although its original name was
Ivan Susanin is a "patriotic-heroic tragic
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
" in five acts with an epilogue by
Mikhail GlinkaMikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
. The original
RussianRussian is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the largest native language in Europe...
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
, based on historical events, was written by
Nestor KukolnikNestor Vasilievich Kukolnik was a Russian playwright and prose writer of Carpatho-Rusyn origin. Immensely popular during the early part of his career, his works were subsequently dismissed as sententious and sentimental. Today, he is best remembered for having contributed to the libretto of the...
, Yegor Fyodorovich Rozen,
Vladimir SollogubCount Vladimir Alexandrovich Sollogub was a minor Russian writer, author of novelettes, essays, plays, and memoirs....
and
Vasily ZhukovskyVasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky was the foremost Russian poet of the 1810s.He is credited with introducing the Romantic Movement to Russian literature. The main body of his literary output consists of free translations covering an impressively wide range of poets from Ferdowsi to Schiller...
.
The plot of
A Life for the Tsar had been used earlier in 1815, when
Catterino CavosCatterino Albertovich Cavos , born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and conductor settled in Russia...
, an Italian-Russian composer, had written a two-act
singspielA Singspiel is a form of German-language music drama, regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias...
with the same subject and title. (Incidentally, Cavos also conducted the premiere of Glinka's opera.)
The original title of the opera was to be
Ivan SusaninIvan Susanin was a Russian folk hero and martyr of the early 17th century's Time of Troubles.-Evidence:In 1619, a certain Bogdan Sobinin from Domnino village near Kostroma received from Tsar Mikhail one half of Derevischi village. According to the extant royal charter, these lands were granted...
, after the hero, but when
Nicholas INicholas I , , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometres.Nicholas I was born in Gatchina to Emperor Paul I and...
attended a rehearsal, Glinka changed the title to
A Life for the Tsar as an ingratiating gesture. This title was retained in the
Russian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
until the
October RevolutionTheOctober Revolution , also known as the Soviet Revolution or Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution. It began with an armed insurrection in Petrograd traditionally dated to 25 October 1917 Julian calendar...
, when it reverted to
Ivan Susanin.
The historical basis of the plot involves
Ivan SusaninIvan Susanin was a Russian folk hero and martyr of the early 17th century's Time of Troubles.-Evidence:In 1619, a certain Bogdan Sobinin from Domnino village near Kostroma received from Tsar Mikhail one half of Derevischi village. According to the extant royal charter, these lands were granted...
, a patriotic hero of the early 17th century who gave his life in the expulsion of the invading
PolishPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
army for the newly elected Tsar Mikhail, the first of the Romanov dynasty, elected in 1613.
Glinka and the writers with whom he was associated chose, in Susanin, a hero of Russian nationalism well suited to the mood of the time. The opera was immediately hailed as a great success, and became the obligatory season-opener in the Imperial Russian opera theaters.
A Life for the Tsar occupies an important position in Russian musical theater as the first native opera to win a permanent place in the repertoire.
The opera was given its premiere performance on 29 November 1836 at the
Bolshoy TheaterThe Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.-History:It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical design as the Kamenny Theatre. It was rebuilt in 1802 and renamed the Bolshoi, but burned down in 1811...
,
St. PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city's other names were Petrograd and Leningrad...
conducted by
Catterino CavosCatterino Albertovich Cavos , born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and conductor settled in Russia...
with set designs by Andrey Roller. It was followed several years later with its premiere in
MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
on 7 September (
Old StyleOld Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though contemporary documents use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar ,...
) 1842 in a new production with sets by Serkov and Shenyan..
It was one of the first Russian operas to be known outside Russia.
Influences
In keeping with Glinka's European training, much of
A Life for the Tsar was structured according to conventional Italian and French models of the period. Nevertheless, several passages in the opera are based on Russian folk songs or folk melodic idioms that become a full part of the musical texture.
Most importantly, this opera laid the foundation for the series of Russian nationalistic historical operas continued by works such as Serov's
RognedaRogneda is an opera in five acts, composed by Alexander Serov during 1863-1865. The scenario, by the composer, was based on the novel Askold's Grave by Mikhail Nikolaevich Zagoskin and the poem Rogneda by Kondraty Ryleev...
, Musorgsky's
Boris GodunovBoris Godunov is an opera by Modest Mussorgsky . The work was composed between 1868 and 1874 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is Mussorgsky's only completed opera and is considered his masterpiece. Its subject is the Russian ruler Boris Godunov, who reigned as Tsar from 1598 to 1605...
, Rimsky-Korsakov's
Maid of PskovThe Maid of Pskov , is an opera in three acts and six scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mei. The story concerns the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his efforts to subject the cities of Pskov and Novgorod to his...
, Tchaikovsky's
OprichnikThe Oprichnik or The Guardsman is an opera in 4 acts, 5 scenes, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky to his own libretto after the tragedy The Oprichniks by Ivan Lazhechnikov . The subject of the opera is the oprichniks...
or
MazeppaMazeppa, properly Mazepa , is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Victor Burenin and is based on Pushkin's poem Poltava....
, and Borodin's
Prince IgorPrince Igor is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the East Slavic epic The Lay of Igor's Host, which recounts the campaign of Russian prince Igor Svyatoslavich against the invading Polovtsian tribes in 1185...
.
Roles
| Role |
Voice type |
World premiere,
St. Petersburg
29 November (Old StyleOld Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though contemporary documents use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar ,...
) 1836
(Conductor: Catterino CavosCatterino Albertovich Cavos , born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and conductor settled in Russia...
) |
Moscow premiere
7 September (Old StyleOld Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though contemporary documents use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian calendar ,...
) 1842
(conductor: Ivan Iogannis ) |
| Ivan Susanin, a peasant of the village of Domnino |
bass A bass is a type of classical male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second F below middle C to the E above middle C . Its tessitura, or...
|
Osip Petrov Osip Afanasievich Petrov was a Russian operatic bass-baritone of great range and renown.He started his career by singing in a church chorus...
|
Kurov |
| Antonida, his daughter |
soprano A soprano is a singing voice with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music...
|
Mariya Stepanova |
Mariya Leonova |
| Vanya, Susanin's adopted son |
contralto In music, a contralto is a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano. The term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice. The typical contralto range lies between the F below middle C to two Fs above middle C...
|
Anna Petrova-Vorobyeva |
Petrova |
| Bogdan Sobinin, a militiaman, Antonida's fiance |
tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
|
Lev Leonov |
Aleksandr Bantïshev |
| Commander of the Polish Detachment |
bass |
|
|
| A Polish courier |
tenor |
|
|
| Commander of the Russian Detachment |
bass |
|
|
| Chorus and silent: Peasant men and women, militiamen, Polish nobles and ladies, knights |
Publications of the score
- 1857, piano-vocal score
A vocal score or piano-vocal score is a music score of an opera, or a vocal or choral composition with orchestra such as an oratorio or cantata, in which the vocal parts are written out in full but the accompaniment is reduced and adapted for keyboard...
, as A Life for the Tsar, Stellovsky, St. Petersburg
- 1881, full score, as A Life for the Tsar, Stellovsky, St. Petersburg
- 1907, new edition by Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov , also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as "The Five." Noted particularly for a predilection for folk and fairy-tale subjects as well as his extraordinary skill in orchestration, his...
and GlazunovAlexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer of the late Russian Romantic period, music teacher and conductor...
, BelyayevMitrofan Petrovich Belyayev was a Russian music publisher, outstanding philanthropist, and the owner of a large wood dealership enterprise in Russia...
, Leipzig
- 1942, as Ivan Susanin, Muzgiz
- 1949, as Ivan Susanin, Muzgiz
- 1953, as Ivan Susanin, Muzgiz
Performance practice
As popular as the opera was, its monarchist libretto was an embarrassment to the Soviet state. After some unsuccessful attempts were made to remedy this situation, in 1939 the poet S.M. Gorodetsky rewrote the text to remove references to the Tsar and otherwise make the libretto politically palatable.
Synopsis
- Time: The autumn of 1612 and the winter of 1613.
(Note that the Act 4 and the Epilogue can contain more than one set of stage decor.)
Act 1
The village of Domnino
Antonida is eager to marry Sobinin, but her father Susanin refuses permission until a Russian has been duly chosen to take the Tsar's throne. When Sobinin informs him that the Grand Council in Moscow has chosen a Tsar, everyone celebrates.
Act 2
Poland
In a sumptuous hall, the nobility are celebrating the Polish dominance over the Russians with singing and dancing. Suddenly a messenger comes in, with the news that Mikhail Romanov has been selected as the Tsar of Russia and is now in hiding. The Poles vow to overthrow him.
Act 3
Susanin's cabin
Susanin and his adopted son Vanya pledge to defend the new Tsar. Susanin blesses Sobinin and Antonida on their upcoming wedding. A detachment of Polish soldiers bursts in, demanding to know where the Tsar is hiding. In order to protect the Tsar, Speaking privately to Vanya, Susanin tells him that he will lead the soldiers off the trail, and sends Vanya off to warn the Tsar. Pretending to help them, Susanin goes off with the Poles. Antonida is devastated. Sobinin gathers some men to go on a mission to rescue Susanin.
Act 4
A dense forest
Sobinin reassures his men of the rightness of their mission. Night falls. In a part of the forest near a monastery, Vanya knocks at the gates and alerts the inhabitants to spirit the Tsar away. Susanin has led the suspicious Polish troops into an impassable, snow-covered area of the forest. The Poles sleep while Susanin waits for the dawn and bids farewell to his children. A blizzard sets in, and when day breaks, the Poles awake. When they realize that Susanin has deceived them, they kill him.
Epilogue
Red SquareRed Square is the most famous city square in Moscow, and arguably one of the most famous in the world. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
, MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
.
Across the stage walks a crowd of people, celebrating the triumph of the new Tsar. Alone in their own solemn procession, Antonida, Sobinin, and Vanya mourn Susanin. A detachment of Russian troops comes upon them and, after discovering their connection with Susanin, comforts them. As the scene changes to Red Square, the people proclaim glory to the Tsar and to Susanin's memory.
Principal arias and numbers
- Overture
Act I
- Cavatina and Rondo: "To the field, to the field", «В поле, в поле» (Antonida)
Act II
- Chorus: Polonaise
The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its name is French for "Polish." The notation alla polacca on a score indicates that the piece should be played with the rhythm and character of a polonaise The polonaise is a slow dance of Polish origin, in 3/4 time. Its...
, Полонез
- Dance: Krakowiak
The Krakowiak, sometimes referred to as the Pecker Dance, is a fast, syncopated Polish dance in duple time from the region of Krakow and Little Poland. This dance is known to imitate horses, the steps mimick their movement, for horses were well loved in the Krakow region of Poland for their...
, Краковяк
- Dance: Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, Вальс
- Dance: Mazurka
The mazurka is a stylized Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo that has a heavy accent on the third or second beat.-History:...
, Мазурка
Act III
- Song: «Как мать убили у малого птенца» (Vanya)
Act IV
- Aria: "Brother in the darkness we are not able to find our enemy" No. 18; (Sobinine)
- Aria: "They sense the truth!", «Чуют правду!» No. 21; (Susanin)
Epilogue
- Chorus: "Be glorified, be glorified, holy Rus'!", «Славься, славься, святая Русь!» (People)
Orchestral excerpts heard in the concert hall consist largely of the
overtureOverture in music is the instrumental introduction to a dramatic, choral or, occasionally, instrumental composition...
and the Polish numbers of the second act.
Selected recordings
- 1947, Aleksander Melik-Pasheyev (conductor), Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Maksim Mikhaylov (Ivan Susanin), Nataliya Shpiller (Antonida), Georgiy Nelepp (Bogdan Sobinin), Yelizaveta Antonova (Vanya), Fyodor Svetlanov (Sigizmund King of Poland), Sergey Khosson (Russian soldier), Ivan Skobtsov (Polish messenger)
- 1957, Igor Markevitch (Conductor), Artistes et Choeurs de l'Opera de Belgrade (Chef des Choeurs: Oscar Danon); Orchestre de l'Association des Concerts Lamoureux; Boris Christoff, Bass; Theresa Stich-Randall, soprano: (Antonida); Nicolai Gedda, tenor: (Bogdane Sobinine); Mela Bugarinovitch, contralto: (Vania). Recorded in Paris on 26 November through 18 December, 1957. No other singer's names given.