Opera "Khovanshchina": content, interesting facts, video, history

Mn Mussorg opera "Khovanshchina"

"Khovanshchina" is an inexhaustible palette of violent paints, violently bringing down all its power to the viewer and not leaving the slightest chance to resist, to stand on his feet - so that all attention is focused on the scene from the beginning to the very end of the opera. Taking as a basis the works of the ambiguous events of the first Streltsy revolt of 1682, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky He put all his originality into music, with confident strokes of composer's talent, reflecting in the sound of both a raging crowd and calm islets of reason in the midst of raging passions. Unfortunately, the work was not performed during the life of the author, so he never learned what impact it had on his contemporaries, and how deeply the fans of his talent burst into the soul, being a reflection of Modest Petrovich’s rebellious inner world ...

In a letter dated 1872 and addressed to V.V. Stasov, Mussorgsky wrote: "I ask to count this epistle in the order of numbering No. 1, for there will be consistently other epistles, tastes and ferments of different, but on the subject of Streletsky. Let this be the memory of our new work, hard work." From that moment on, the painstaking work of opera, full of heavy creative torment and rushing, began.

Summary of the opera Mussorgsky "Khovanshchina"and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Summary of "Khovanshchina"

"Khovanshchina" shows the terrible events of a relatively short time period of 1682, the time of the wild and eventful Streltsky revolt and the seizure of power, led by Prince Khovansky - the commander of the rifle troops. Another contender for the throne - Prince Golitsyn, a European warehouse man, clinging, however, for antiquity. Both princes, hating each other, are trying to conclude an alliance in the face of a new force in the face of the young Tsarevich Peter.

In their designs, they also rely on the help of the Old Believer schismatics headed by Dositheus. But Khovansky's plans did not come true. During the feast, he is invited to the council, ostensibly on behalf of Princess Sophia, and then Shaklovity slaughters the prince with a dagger. Golitsyn is sent to the link, as not justified trust. The rifle troops accused of rebellion and accompanied by their weeping wives should be executed, but they are pardoned by Peter. Dosifey after long hard reflections decides to urge the Old Believers to burn themselves. Marfa and Andrei Khovansky together go to the flames of the fire. When the appearance of Peter the Great, only burnt ruins remain.

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Interesting Facts

• As known, Mussorgsky he did not have time to finish Khovanshchina, and the work of Soviet musicologist Pavel Lamm, who managed to restore the full original text of the opera to author’s autographs, is all the more valuable. The opera was subjected to numerous editions by various composers: ON. Rimsky-Korsakov, I.F. Stravinsky in collaboration with M. Ravel, B.V. Asafiev, D.D. Shostakovich.
• Mussorgsky very meticulously and thoroughly investigated the plot and characters of all the characters, each giving their own specificity and originality. As a supporter of the "Pushkin School", he divined the psychology of people, sat at night over historical documents, creating complete, complete images from separate fragments. At the same time, he was repelled not only from the character’s “historicity”, but also deeply revealed his inner world, his experiences, supplementing them with his creative imagination.
• It was believed that the opera is the joint fruit of two composers: N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov and M.P. Mussorgsky. Allegedly, Modest Petrovich did only a raw, unfinished thing, and Rimsky-Korsakov designed and gave it a finished look. The son of Rimsky-Korsakov mentions this in his memoirs.
• Interestingly, in the 20s of the last century, the work was considered to be a religious, sort of a kind of "pathetic tragedy of faith." Naturally, such blasphemous views were subsequently rejected.
• F. Chaliapin, from November 12, 1897, was the most famous performer of Dositheus. For the first time, the aria of Dosifei performed by him in the Moscow private opera of S.I. Mammoth. Then in 1911 in St. Petersburg, on the Mariinsky stage, and in Paris he sang at the first foreign production with S. Dyagilev.

• Mussorgsky specially created a special notebook, which he called Khovanshchina. It is known that the idea of ​​the opera belonged to Stasov; Modest Petrovich also dedicated this work to him. In the notebook, the composer kept the data written out from the books he had read about events and historical figures of interest to him. Initially, there were nine main sources, but then the composer expanded his knowledge in this area so much that he stopped making notes, holding everything in his head.
• In P. Lamma, the opera was divided into 5 acts, where the 4th was divided into 2 pictures. Mussorgsky, on the other hand, wanted to make 6 paintings that would be equal to acts.
• Modest Petrovich wrote the opera libretto on his own, constantly consulting with Stasov on all issues. At the same time, he extremely exactingly approached the quality of the text, repeatedly correcting and reworking the finished material.

Famous arias and numbers from the opera Khovanshchina

Entry "Dawn on the Moscow River" (listen)

Choir "Swan Swan" (listen)

Martha's aria, "It was a young one," (listen)

Shaklovity's aria "Sleeping Strelets Nest" (listen)

Final Choir (listen)

The history of the creation and production of "Khovanshchina"

A long time, a whole 131 year has passed since the beginning of the stage life of Khovanshchina. Opera filled with paradoxes, does not fit into the usual framework - and therefore unfairly corrected, refined contrary to the wishes of the author.

The first performance dates back to 1886, when Khovanshchina was edited ON. Rimsky-Korsakov put the Music and Drama Circle from St. Petersburg in Kononov Hall. The performance went almost unnoticed, since the innovation, which belies the entire opera, simply could not show itself in all its glory, being transmitted by amateurs from the music circle. Moreover, Rimsky-Korsakov significantly “ennobled” the opera, according to his musical taste, correcting sharp corners, smoothing and simplifying the harmonic language, turning the historical folk drama into a static “action in costumes”. But at the same time, the merits of the composer, who fully completed and promulgated the opera of a deceased comrade in 1883, cannot in any way be diminished. Having taken on such grave labor for free, Nikolai Andreevich revealed this work to the world, which earned him immense gratitude to his descendants.

With the advent of "Khovanshchina" is connected an interesting observation. Usually, after the appearance of such large-scale works, they began a stormy discussion, heated disputes flared up between the adherents of various movements. Take at least the acclaimed "Boris Godunov“There was nothing of the kind here. Partly, this was explained by the radical alteration of the composer’s idea. In the static presentation, which resulted in nothing, there was nothing to argue about, nothing to talk about. And only after many years, the opera began to gradually discard the clutches of punches and misinterpretations, freeing up the idea that was put inside, which I would like to see Mussorgsky…

True, one heated argument still was. In 1913, the first foreign production of the opera took place. Stravinsky, along with Ravel, partially reworked the opera, restoring individual fragments from the manuscripts of Musorgsky and re-writing the final. This Parisian production was sharply criticized by Rimsky-Korsakov, who called the actions of the composers, as well as the actions of Dyagilev, "vandalism". Ravel showed himself to be an ardent defender of Musorgsky's musical ideas, saying that they do not need any improvements and are unique in their own right. However, this interpretation of “Khovanshchina” was not successful enough, contradicting the original plan of Mussorgsky.

A radical change in the fate of the work can be associated with the name DD. Shostakovich. It was he who created the full score of the opera, based on the clavier of P. Lamma and partly on the editorial staff of Rimsky-Korsakov. It is in this orchestration that the author’s ideas are most fully expressed, and it is precisely this that can be considered closest to the original. Shostakovich carried out this work in 1958, according to a separate order for the Mosfilm studio, and in 1959 Khovanshchina was first broadcast on television.

The same orchestration was taken by R. Tikhomirov for production in 1960, on the stage of the Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after S.M. Kirov. Conducted S. Yeltsin. Unfortunately, the theater could not open to the viewer the true Mussorgsky, since with the new arrangement the old text was left in some places. Thus, "Khovanshchina" lost the integrity originally pledged, and its interpretation remained completely unchanged.

In 1950, "Khovanshchina" was placed in Moscow, where she deserved the Stalin Prize, and 10 years later, in 1960, reached St. Petersburg.

The staging of the opera by the Opera and Ballet Theater of the Byelorussian SSR in 1971 was a real breakthrough in the understanding of Mussorgsky’s drama. For the first time it was shown as a dynamic, real folk drama, full of life and movement.

In Vienna, "Khovanshchina" was performed in 1989, when the genius of music C. Abbado stood behind the conductor's stand, and the director was A. Kirchner. The performance was very warmly received by the public.

In 1999, in Saratov, the next production, as amended by DD. Shostakovich, conductor - Yu.L. Kochnev.

In November 2014, the Khovanshchina staged again in Vienna, conducted by the American Semyon Bychkov, theater director Lev Dodin. The press and opera observers very ambiguously perceived the statement, filled with strange images and wild technological solutions. Most were inclined to the unanimous opinion that the orchestra and the stage were severed from each other, and if it were not for the magical performance of music, it would be a complete failure.

So, all the actions took place in a very limited space, in a terrible cramp. For all movements of characters and choirs, Dodin used a special platform on which they moved up and down. The stage space was divided by the scaffolding into several levels, which designated a kind of "power level". To interact with each other, the singers had to bully and bow their heads, which looked ridiculous. Great doubts were also caused by images created by the director. The idea of ​​Marfa’s sexual dependence on Dosifei, completely uncharacteristic of Mussorgsky, singing from the prompting box Podkyachiy, absurd dances in negligee - the public could not tolerate all this. The logical outcome was the complete rejection of the production (but not music!), Which was expressed in a single spectator "Boo!", The only thing that Dodin won at the end of the opera. Bychkov was awarded with applause, which he undoubtedly deserved, since the orchestra played at a truly world level.

In 2015 - a carefully prepared production at the Moscow Academic Musical Theater. Conductor - A.N. Lazarev. Director - A.B. Titel. For its outstanding performance, the production won several awards and accolades, in particular, the Golden Mask Award and the Moscow Prize in Literature and Art for 2016.

Historical accuracy in the images of the characters "Khovanshchina"

"What a vast, rich world of art, if the target is taken by a man! You fly into unusual, completely unexpected tasks and not forcibly, but as if by chance it is done."

"MP Mussorgsky. Literary Heritage"

In Khovanshchina, Mussorgsky conveys historical realities through the eyes of those who directly participated in them. A people who "cannot personally verify that they are cooked out of it." The suffering side, which, with any reigning ruler, remains where it was - at the bottom, hopeless and dark. This is what the connecting key goes through the whole musical narration.

Images

• Prince Khovansky - according to the recollections of people who knew him - a man "famous primarily for his defeats and complaints to his subordinates." Frivolous, intoxicated by power and cruel, not considered to anyone's opinion;
• Prince Golitsyn is an inconsistent, explosive man, quick-tempered and many-sided. But at the same time - poetic, not without a peculiar charm and subtlety. Extremely complex image, controversial and ambivalent;
• Podkyachy is a fictional compound person, not having a name and a specific historical prototype. The representative of the clerical class, so unloved by the people. The two-faced, fussy and slippery type, fawning only in front of the force, adapted to any conditions of existence;
• Prince Andrew, the son of Khovansky, is a character who was supposed to show the complex relationship between father and son. Due to lack of time, the author did not assign him an important role in the opera;
• Shaklovity - the composer bravely recorded the closest assistant to the princess Sophia as the sole originator of the denunciation on Khovansky. In the interpretation of the author, this character does not have a specific display. Rather, it can be represented as the embodiment of a blind historical force;
• Dosifey - the book “The Life of Protopopus Avvakum” served as a background for creating the image of a schismatic. She was a kind of muse, but the composer did not blindly copy the image shown in "Life". In the opera, Dositheus is much softer than his predecessor Avvakum, closer to the people, more noble and elevated;
• Martha is a bright lyrical image, permeated with features of a harsh nationality. Spiritualized and self-confident, Martha is a completely fictional character. Helps Dosifey in his political struggle /

Auxiliary characters of the opera

• Emma, ​​Khovansky's concubine, is, in fact, his slave;
• Varsonofyev, an adherent of Golitsyn, has no opinion on any matter;
• Susanna, Pastor, Archer Kuzka, Golitsyn's sack;
• three unnamed archers;
• Moscow diverse alien people, archers, dissenters, Old Believers, slaves Khovansky, people.

Adhering to historical events, Mussorgsky added quite noticeable distortions of historical facts to the opera, but only to help better understand the dramatic collisions occurring at that time. So, in addition to the main characters, fictional minor characters were added that help to better understand the composer’s idea and multiply the effect on the viewer. The key figure in the development of the plot is the people - as the driving force that sweeps away everything in its path, unstoppable and crushing all obstacles, but at the same time dependent on power. In addition, the composer freely enough managed with a time frame and added to the events on the stage those actions that will occur only much later - in 1689. To emphasize the horror of lawlessness and to show the impossibility to influence what is happening to only one person, such a confluence of temporary events is fully justified and only proves the skill of Mussorgsky, who managed to harmoniously combine different periods of history with the life of the main characters.

Such is the brief history of this complex and controversial work. As you can see, his path was thorny and hard, fate was difficult. But thanks to the power of "folk" music, thanks to the efforts of friends and associates Mussorgsky"Khovanshchina" still remains on the scene, revealing to the viewer all the new facets of its complex inner world. Unfortunately, many theater directors still do not understand the fact that the interpretation of crowd scenes must necessarily be in a dynamic way! Statics, which all levels, turns the opera into a sluggish musical performance. Open the opera in terms of movement, "popular unrest" - this is the main task of the director. So for now "Khovanshchina"remains one of the most complex operas, both in terms of music and in terms of theatrical performance.