Жизнь за царя: Опера Михаила Глинки

Opera by Mikhail Glinka

A Life for the Tsar ( ) is a "patriotic heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name Ivan Susanin (Иван Сусанин ). The original Russian libretto, based on historical events, was written by Nestor Kukolnik, Egor Fyodorovich (von) Rozen, Vladimir Sollogub and Vasily Zhukovsky. It premiered on 27 November 1836 OS (9 December NS) at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg. The historical basis of the plot involves Ivan Susanin, a patriotic hero of the early 17th century who died in the expulsion of the invading Polish army for the newly elected Tsar Michael of Russia, the first of the Romanov dynasty, elected in 1613.

The plot of A Life for the Tsar had been used earlier in 1815, when Catterino Cavos, an Italian Russian composer, had written a two act singspiel with the same subject and title. The original title of the opera was to be Ivan Susanin, after the hero, but when Nicholas I attended a rehearsal, Glinka changed the title to A Life for the Tsar as an ingratiating gesture. 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. It was one of the first Russian operas to be known outside Russia.

The opera was given its premiere performance on 27 November 1836 in Saint Petersburg conducted by Catterino Cavos with set designs by Andreas Roller. It was followed several years later with its premiere in Moscow on 7 September (Old Style) 1842 in a new production with sets by Serkov and Shenyan. Glinka's opera was featured heavily throughout the Romanov tercentenary celebrations in 1913. It was performed in a gala performance at the Marinsky Theatre, Schools, regiments, and amateur companies throughout imperial Russia staged performances of A Life for the Tsar. Pamphlets and the penny press printed the story of Susanin "ad nauseam", and one newspaper told how Susanin had showed each and every soldier how to fulfill his oath to the sovereign. The image of the seventeenth century peasant features prominently at the bottom of the Romanov Monument in Kostroma, where a female personification of Russia gives blessings to a kneeling Susanin. In Kostroma, Tsar Nicholas II was even presented with a group of Potemkin peasants who claimed to be descendants of Susanin.

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 Rogneda, Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Rimsky Korsakov's Maid of Pskov, Tchaikovsky's The Oprichnik or Mazeppa, and Borodin's Prince Igor.

RoleVoice typeWorld premiere,St. Petersburg27 November (Old Style) (9 December, NS) 1836(Conductor: Catterino Cavos)Moscow premiere7 September (Old Style) 1842(conductor: Ivan Iogannis )Ivan Susanin, a peasant of the village of DomninobassOsip PetrovDmitriy KurovAntonida, his daughtersopranoMariya StepanovaMariya LeonovaVanya, Susanin's adopted soncontraltoAnna Petrova VorobyovaAnfisa PetrovaBogdan Sobinin, a militiaman, Antonida's fiancetenorLev LeonovAlexander BantyshevCommander of the Polish DetachmentbassSergey BaykovA Polish couriertenorI. MakarovCommander of the Russian DetachmentbassAleksey YefremovChorus and silent: Peasant men and women, militiamen, Polish nobles and ladies, knights

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.

Time: The autumn of 1612 and the winter of 1613.

Red Square, Moscow. 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, discovers their connection with Susanin and comforts them. As the scene changes to Red Square, the people proclaim glory to the tsar and to Susanin's memory.

The opera is scored for two flutes, two oboes (second oboe doubling cor anglais), two clarinets (in B flat and A), two bassoons, four horns, two clarino natural trumpets, three trombones, ophicleide, timpani, bells, harp, strings, as well as two offstage wind bands or concert bands, offstage clarinet in A, offstage chromatic (valved) trumpet, offstage drum, offstage bells. Some pieces are also scored for full orchestra, including the dance segments. The finale piece, another popular composition played in patriotic concerts and other events, can be also arranged for a full military band or concert band with the bells and chromatic trumpets and also for the Balalaika and the Bayan accordion, as heard in several cover versions.

Source: operadis opera discography. org. uk
+ Year Conductor w/chor./orch. Susanin Antonida Sobinin Vanya Notes 1947 Alexander Melik Pashayev, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Maxim Mikhailov Natalya Shpiller Georgi Nelepp Elizaveta Antonova 1950 Vasily Nebolsin, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Mark Reizen Elizaveta Shumskaya Georgi Nelepp Irina Sokolova 1954 Alfredo Simonetto, RAI Milano Chorus and Orchestra Boris Christoff Virginia Zeani Giuseppe Campora Anna Maria Rota Live in Italian 1955 Oskar Danon, Yugoslav Army Chorus and Belgrade National Opera Orchestra Miroslav Čangalović Marija Glavačević Drago Starc Milica Miladinović 1957 Igor Markevitch, Belgrade Opera Chorus and Orchestre Lamoureux Boris Christoff Teresa Stich Randall Nicolai Gedda Melanija Bugarinović 1957 Boris Khaikin, Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Ivan Petrov Vera Firsova Nikolai Gres Valentina Klepatskaya 1979 Mark Ermler, USSR Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra Evgeny Nesterenko Bela Rudenko Vladimir Shcherbakov Tamara Sinyavskaya 1986 Ivan Marinov, Sofia National Opera Chorus and Orchestra Nicola Ghiuselev Elena Stoyanova Roumen Doikov Hristina Angelakova 1989 Emil Tchakarov, Sofia National Opera Chorus and Sofia Festival Orchestra Boris Martinovich Alexandrina Pendatchanska Chris Merritt Stefania Toczyska 1992 Alexander Lazarev, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus Evgeny Nesterenko Marina Mescheriakova Alexander Lomonosov Elena Zaremba Live DVD