…In 1899, as Russia was celebrating the centenary birth anniversary of
its greatest poet Alexander  Pushkin,
there was a raft of excellent musical dedications coming out, among them
the Solemn Polonaise by Anatoly Lyadov.
Anatoly Lyadov is by right touted as one of the most authoritative Russian
composers of the late 19th and early 20th century. Born into the family
of professional musicians, Lyadov received excellent musical education
and for a whole 30 years shared his time between conservatory professorship
in St.Petersburg and conducting symphonies. It was during one such concert
that he unveiled the Solemn Polonaise dedicated to Russia’s best loved
poet…
Looking at the opera department, Alexander Dargomyzhsky happens to be among
the first to write  music
to Pushkin’s verse. In 1856 he wrote The Mermaid, an opera based on Pushkin’s
little tragedy of the same name about a prince falling in love with the
young daughter of a village miller. However, as Pushkin puts it “Princes
are not free to marry their loved ones…” One day the Prince comes to his
best beloved only to tell her the terrible news: he has to marry another
girl. Heartbroken, the poor girl jumps into the river and turns into
a mermaid.
Years later, the Prince revisits the place and is gripped by sweet memories
of his love blissfully unaware that it won’t be long before he reunites
with his loved one on the river bottom…
“The Mermaid” once topped the list of Russian lyric operas. Its premiere
at the Mariinsky Theater in St.Petersburg was a resounding success but
that was really dwarfed by the triumph of the new production that came
fifty years later where the miller’s part was sung by the venerable Fyodor
Chaliapin.
Chaliapin’s inimitable performance inspired a plethora of other bass singers
to try their luck always looking for new, theretofore hidden, comic or
tragic sides of Dargomyzhsky’s music. The miller’s aria is a hugely popular
number per se placed at the very beginning of the opera where the practically-minded
miller is instructing his daughter how best to keep her high-born
fianc? by her side.
“Dubrovsky” is another 19th century opera to Alexander Pushkin’s story.
It was produced by Eduard Napravnik, Russia’s leading conductor who handled
the musical department at the Mariinsky
Theater in St.Petersburg and authored several of his own operas, many of
them inspired by Pyotr Tchaikovsky Napravnik admired so much. Successfully
staged at the Mariinsky in 1894, “Dubrovskly” carries certain similarities
to Tchaikovsky’s style…
Pushkin’s Dubrovsky is a Russian Robin Hood – an impoverished nobleman
turned a highwayman out to take his revenge on the rich and protect the
poor. In his libretto Napravnik played down the social aspect underscoring
the love story of Dubrovsky and the daughter of his sworn enemy.
Overall, Napravnik stayed true to Pushkin’s romantic style...
And, finally, we are moving to a ballet to Alexander Pushkin’s little tragedy
“Egyptian Nights” to the music by the famous late-19-early 20th century
Russian composer Anton Arensky who wrote operas, symphonies, chamber pieces
and theater scores. “Egyptian Nights”, the only ballet he ever wrote, appeared
in 1900 commissioned by the Directorate of the Russian Imperial Theaters.
It was supposed to  be
staged at the royal summer residence at Peterhoff in the suburb of St.Peetrsburg
to coincide with the visit there by the Persian Shah. During the premiere
Cleopatra’s part was danced by the famous Russian ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.
The part of the doomed Egyptian queen was later performed with equal luster
by Ida Rubinstein and Anna Pavlova.
Pushkin’s little tragedy, just like Arensky’s ballet, is set in 1st century
Egypt. The main characters here are Cleopatra, the Roman commander
Antonius and Amun, a young Egyptian, who is madly in love with Cleopatra
and eventually pays with his own life for his hopeless affection...
The best 20th century production of Arensky’s ballet was by the legendary
choreographer Mikhail Fokine who gave additional zest to the whole production
by imitating the postures characteristic of the ancient Egyptian frescoes.
The famous entrepreneur Sergei Dyagilev showcased the production during
his 1909 Russian Seasons in Paris.
Critics lavished praise on the “Egyptian Nights” as an avant-garde production,
opening a new chapter in ballet history and a “fascinating excursion into
the world of archeological iconography and ethnological dance.”
08/16/05 |
|
