Zhenitba (opera)

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Modest Mussorgsky in 1870

Zhenitba (Russian: Женитьба, Zhenit'ba, Marriage) is an unfinished opera begun in 1868 by Modest Mussorgsky to his own libretto based on Nikolai Gogol's comedy (1842). The Marriage is a satire of courtship and cowardice, which centres around a young woman, Agafya, who is wooed by four bachelors, each with his own idiosyncrasies.

[edit] Composition history

Mussorgsky's manuscript: "An experiment of dramatic music in prose, Zhenitba, a completely improbable event in three acts. The work began on Tuesday , June 11, 1868 in Petrograd [St Petersburg], and was finished on Tuesday, July 8, 1868 in the village Shilovo, Tula District."

The idea to set Gogol's Marriage to music came from the advice and influence of Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who began to compose his own experimental opera, The Stone Guest, to Pushkin's tragedy just two years earlier (in 1866). Dargomyzhsky declared that the text would be set "just as it stands, so that the inner truth of the text should not be distorted", and in a manner that abolished the 'unrealistic' division between aria and recitative in favour of a continuous mode of syllabic but lyrically heightened declamation somewhere between the two. In 1868, Mussorgsky rapidly set the first eleven scenes of Zhenitba, with his priority being to render into music the natural accents and patterns of the play's naturalistic and deliberately humdrum dialogue. The aim of Mussorgsky was to create individual musical signatures for each character using the natural rhythms of the text. The first act was completed in 1868 in a vocal score.

The Marriage was one of Mussorgsky's first musical masterpieces. It was an experiment in Russian opera, using grotesque and satirical musical language.

[edit] Early performance history

• Shortly after the completion of the first act of the opera in 1868, a performance took place at the home of César Cui.
• The first concert performance took place in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's house in 1906.
• The work was also staged with a piano accompaniment in 1908 in St Petersburg.

In the 1868 performance, Nadezhda Purgold, the future wife of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, played the piano part in the vocal score. Her sister Aleksandra Purgold (later Molas) sang the part of Fyokla Ivanovna. Among the participants in the 1906 performance, Sigizmund Blumenfeld is the brother of Felix Blumenfeld, Sofia Rimsky-Korsakov is the daughter of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, and Gury Stravinsky is the brother of Igor Stravinsky.

[edit] Publication history

A vocal score was first published in 1908 by Vasily Bessel (St Petersburg) edited by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The original composer’s version was published by Muzgiz (Moscow) together with Universal Edition in 1933 (in the second issue of Volume IV of the Complete Works by Mussorgsky").

[edit] Versions

• Rimsky-Korsakov: The first full production in Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's revision took place in Petrograd 1917.

• Gauk: The opera was also orchestrated by the Russian conductor Alexander Gauk and staged in 1917,

• d'Harcourt: French opera conductor and composer Eugène d'Harcourt created his orchestation in 1930.

• Duhamel: Duhamel's version is dated as 1954.

• Ippolitov-Ivanov: In 1931 Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov added three acts (acts 2-4) to this opera and orchestrated a complete score. This version was given in 1931 at the Radioteatr, Moscow.

• Tcherepnin: Another complete version by Alexander Tcherepnin (German: Die Heirat) was premiered on September 14, 1937, Essen, Germany. Here are the details:

WoO Die Heirat (The Marriage), in 2 scenes after a comedy by Nikolai Gogol (65')

Music: First scene by Modest Mussorgsky (1863) (30')

Second scene by Alexander Tcherepnin (1934-1935) (35')

The entire work was orchestrated by Alexander Tcherepnin.

Text in Russian and German. (German translation by Heinrich Burkard)

Orchestration: 2222 / 4221 / percussion / harp / strings

Publisher: Universal Edition

• Rozhdestvensky

Gennady Rozhdestvensky orchestrated the opera in 1982.

[edit] Roles

[edit] Synopsis

The idle bachelor Podkolyosin attempts to find a wife: “Well, when one considers carefully, one sees that marriage can be very useful.” He currently leads a chaotic life, with his poor servant, Stepan, constantly at his beck and call.

A marriage broker, Fiokla Ivanovna, arrives to give Podkolyosin details of a girl she has chosen for him. However, he is more interested in her dowry: “And what kind of dowry will I receive? Let’s start from the beginning and discuss the dowry…” He also worries that she is not sufficiently highly bred for him: “I don’t suppose she is the daughter of an Officer?... So, is this really the best bargain?”

Fiokla suggests that he can’t afford be fussy with his poor looks and greying hair! Unexpectedly Kochkarev, Podkolyosin’s best friend, turns up and is angry to see the marriage broker. He complains that she has married him off to a troublesome, bossy woman. He sends her away, and decides to take over the match-making duties himself. He paints an idealistic and hassle-free picture of married life for his friend: “There will be a bird in its cage and some embroidery. Just imagine yourself in your chair, quiet and serene and at your side a little caressing woman, all round and pretty. Her hand will stroke you…like this…”

A reluctant Podkolyosin resists Kochkarev’s demands that he at least visit the girl:”Leave it for now… come on, we’ll go tomorrow”. And Kochkarev answers: “You’re an idiot and coward! You are even worse… you’re a sissy and an ass!” And Kochkarev literally shoves Podkolesin out of the door of his apartment. Here the 1st act ends.

[edit] Quotations

“I would very much like my characters on the stage to speak like living people, and in such a manner that the character and force of the intonation, supported by the orchestra and forming the background for their speech, would gain its object, that is, my music must be the artistic reproduction of human speech in all its subtle nuances.” (Mussorgsky).

“I have completed the first act. It rained without stopping for three days running and I worked without stopping in keeping with the weather. The Marriage gave me not a minute of calm – so I wrote it” (Mussorgsky, Summer 1868)

"With all its jolting contrasts and exaggerations, when the composer, in the best Russian- Petersburg tradition, mocks his characters but at the same time "weeps" over them." (Solomon Volkov)

[edit] Discography

• Olympia CD OCD145 76 minutes : DDD

Mussorgsky "The Marriage" with Rimsky-Korsakov "Mozart and Salieri"

Roles: Vladimir Khrulev, baritone (Podkolesin) Alexander Podbolotor, tenor (Kochkarev) Ludmilla Kolmakoa, mezzo-soprano (Fiokla Ivanovna) Vladimir Ribasenko, bass (Stepan) Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, conductor USSR Ministry of Culture Symphony Orchestra

Recording 1982

Playing Time 38:11

Orchestrated by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky based on the vocal score by the composer

Tracks:

25-30. Scene 1

31-36. Scene 2

37-40. Scene 3

41-49. Scene 4

Review

Composed in 1868, The Marriage is his most outré composition, a document of calculatedly experimental 'realism' - abandoned as a one-act fragment in piano score only - Gennadi Rozhdestvensky is the latest in a succession of orchestrators, and if his scoring occasionally sounds like a cross between Janacek and an accompaniment to cartoon comedy, it should be remembered that Mussorgsky's music is itself far ahead of its time. The recording dates from 1982 and is less vivid than it might be, nor is the singing uniformly first-class (though Vladimir Khrulev is excellent in the all-important part of Podkolesin). A minor distraction is the eccentric transliteration in an otherwise admirable booklet. But for the moment beggars can't be choosers—there is no other current version in the catalogue, and no aficionado of Russian opera can afford not to know this extraordinary work.' (Gramophone: Olympia CD OCD145 76 minutes : DDD)

[edit] Music and sound samples

The opening bars of the opera

[edit] External links

• The Musical Pointers' review