Modest Mussorgsky: The Fair at Sorochyntsi (LP Transfer)
Modest Mussorgsky:
The Fair at Sorochyntsi (1874-1880, unfinished)
Opera in three acts.
(libretto by the composer, based on Nikolai Gogol's short story, from his collection of Ukrainian stories Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka)
Version of Vissarion Shebalin (1931)
Cast
Cherevik Guennadi Troitzki
Khivrya, Cherevik’s wife Antonina Kleschova
Parasya, Cherevik’s daughter Ludmila Belobraguina
Gritsko, a peasant lad Alexei Ousamanov
Afanasiy Ivanovich, a priest’s son Iouri Elnikov
The gypsy Alexander Poliakov
Chornobog Sergei Troukatchev*
Choeurs De La Radio De L'U.R.S.S.
Orchestre De La Radio De L'U.R.S.S.
Yuri Aranovich
1969
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Sides
A 00:00
B 19:13
C 41:20
D 1:00:24
E 1:17:36
F 1:35:21
Acte I
A1 Introduction
A2 Scène De La Foire
A3 Récit Du Tzigane
A4 Le Compére Et Tchérévik
B1 Tchérévik Et Khivria
B2 Chant Du Jeune Villageois
B3 Intervention Du Tzigane
B4 Marché Conclu Entre Gritzko Et Lui
Acte II
B5 Khivria Et Tchérévik (Début)
C1 Khivria Et Tchérévik (Fin)
C2 Khivria Avant Le Rendez-Vous Avec Le Fils Du Pope
C3 Chanson De Khivria
C4 Scéne Comique: Khivria Et Le Fils Du Pope (Début)
D1 Scéne Comique: Khivria Et Le Fils Du Pope (Fin)
D2 Entrée De Tchérévik, Du Compére Et Des Convives
D3 Chanson Rou-Dou-Dou
D4 Récit De La Veste Rouge (Debut)
E1 Récit De La Veste Rouge (Fin)
Acte III 1er Tableau
E2 Grande Scéne Comique
E3 Le Songe Fantastique De Jeune Homme
F1 Le Service Divin Du Dieu Noir
F2 Sabbat
F3 Ballet
Acte III 2e Tableau
F4 Chanson De Parassia
F5 Gritzko Et Le Compère
F6 Duo De Parassia Et Gritzko
F7 Entrée De Khivria
F8 Bénédiction Des Fiancés
F9 Gopak (Danse Petite-Russiene)
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Synopsis
Time: Beginning of the 19th century
Place: The village of Velikiye Sorochyntsі, near Poltava
Act 1
Scene 1: The Fair
Merchants are peddle their wares to crowds of visitors arriving from all around. The Gypsy makes reference to a red jacket that the devil is looking for, while the lad Gritsko woos Parasya. Her father, Cherevik, at first is indignant at this forwardness, but, after realizing that Gritsko is the son of a close friend, he agrees to let Gritsko marry his daughter. The two men go into the tavern to celebrate, as evening settles and the people disperse.
Cherevik and his buddy, Kum, comes out of the tavern in a drunken state. After they wander around in the dark, Khrivya, Cherevik's wife, comes out of their house, and he announces Parasya's engagement. But Khivrya objects, and, while Gritsko overhears, drunken Cherevik concedes that the wedding will not happen. Gritsko, alone, bemoans his sadness. The Gypsy enters, and the two make a pact: Gritsko will give the Gypsy his oxen for fifteen rubles if the latter can make Cherevik change his mind.
Scene 2: Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad (Intermezzo)
Alone, Gritsko falls asleep and has a dream involving witches and devils. They are dispelled by church bells.
Act 2
Kum's Hut
Inside Kum's house, where they are lodging, Khivrya quarrels with Cherevik, getting him to leave, so that she may keep her secret rendezvous with Afanasy Ivanovich, the son of the village priest. When the latter arrives, she offers him her culinary delicacies, which he devours. In the midst of their amorous encounter a knock is heard at the door. Afanasy hides on a shelf, and in walk Cherevik and Kum, with friends, alarmed by a rumor that someone has seen the red jacket and the devil. Kum tells the full story of the red jacket, concluding with the remark that the devil appears every year at the fair with a pig's face, looking for the red jacket. Suddenly a pig's snout is seen in the window, and everyone runs about in confusion.
Act 3
Scene 1: The Street before Kum's Hut
On a street, as a result of the superstitious confusion of the previous scene, Cherevik and Kum are being chased by the Gypsy and some lads. The latter accuse the two older men of stealing a mare, and tie them up. Gritsko enters, extracting a promise from Cherevik to have the wedding to Parasya the next day, and the two older men are released.
Scene 2: The Street before Kum's Hut
On a street in front of Kum's house, Parasya at first is sad about Gritsko, but then cheers herself up with a little hopak, in which Cherevik joins without her noticing. Kum and Gritsko enter, and Cherevik blesses the two lovers, only to be met by Khivrya's rage, which prompts the Gypsy to call on the lads to restrain her. The people celebrate the wedding with a hopak.
Principal arias and numbers
Introduction: A Hot Day in Little Russia (Orchestra)
Aria: Parobok's Dumka (Gritsko)
Aria: Parasya's Dumka (Parasya)
Finale: Hopak (Chorus)