Mlada (Rimsky-Korsakov)
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Mlada (Млада in Cyrillic) is an opera-ballet in four acts, composed in 1889-1890 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, to a libretto by Viktor Krylov that was originally written for an aborted project of the same name from 1872.
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[edit] Background
<To be elaborated; the following paragraph from the Mlada article:> In 1889-1890 Rimsky-Korsakov dusted off the libretto for Mlada and composed his own complete setting of the opera-ballet anew. Its first production was not a success, and it did not become a regular repertory item. The orchestral suite from the Rimsky-Korsakov's opera includes the well-known "Procession of the Nobles" from Act II.
[edit] Characters and Setting
Principal Characters:
- Mstivoy, prince of Retra: bass
- Voyslava, his daughter: soprano
- Yaromir, prince of Arkon: tenor
- High Priest of Radegast: baritone
- Lumir, Czech singer: alto
- Morena, goddess of the underworld, appearing in the first act in the form of the old woman Svyatokhna: mezzo-soprano
- Chernobog: unison male chorus
- Kashchey the Immortal: unison male chorus
Characters in the market scene of the second act:
- Man from Novgorod: tenor
- His Wife: mezzo-soprano
- A Varangian: baritone
- Tiun: bass
- Moor from the Caliphate: tenor
- First Merchant Man with hides: tenor
- Second Merchant Man with weapons: bass
- First Merchant Woman with beads and idols: soprano
- Second Merchant Woman with thread: mezzo-soprano
- Third Merchant Woman with fish: alto
Non-speaking characters:
[Other]
- Maidens, armor-bearers, and retinue of Mstivoy
- Merchants, supplicators, people of various Slavic lands. Priests and priestesses of Radegast, trumpeters. Cherv (god of destruction of grasses), Chuma [plague], Topelets (god of floods and sinkings), wood-goblins, werewolves, phantoms, witches, ghosts of the deceased. Ghosts of dancers, of black male and female slaves of Empress Cleopatra. Spectres of ancient heroes. Slavic gods.
Setting: The action takes place in the ninth or tenth century in Slavic lands of the Baltic sea-coast, in the city of Retra, near Laba (Elbe).
[edit] Synopsis
Act I. Voyslava has killed Mlada, Yaromir's bride, to have him for herself. With the help of Morena, the goddess of the underworld, she has captivated Yaromir. But he sees the murder in his dreams.
Act II. At the midsummer festival the people dance, while the spirit of Mlada interves between Yaromir and Voyslava.
Act III. By night Mlada leads Yaromir up Mount Triglav, where the dead gather, before the Witches' Sabbath in which Yaromir is shown a vision of Cleopatra.
Act IV. Yaromir, at the Temple of Radegast, is shown by the spirits that Voyslava is guilty. She confesses her sin and he kills her. Morena, with whom Voyslava had made a compact, destroys the temple and the city of Retra, but Yaromir is united with Mlada in heaven.
[edit] Bibliography
- Abraham, Gerald. "Rimsky-Korsakov's Mlada," in On Russian Music. London: W. Reeves, 1939; rpt. New York: Books for Libraries, 1980.
- Gaub, Albrecht. Die kollektive Ballett-Oper "Mlada": ein Werk von Kjui, Musorgskij, Rimskij-Korsakov, Borodin und Minkus. Studia slavica musicologica; Bd. 12. Berlin: Kuhn, 1998. ISBN 3-928864-53-X
- Rimsky-Korsakov, N.A.. My Musical Life. Ed. with an introduction by Carl van Vechten; trans. by Judah A. Joffe. 3rd American ed. A. A. Knopf, 1942.
