RIMSKY-KORSAKOV : PSKOVITYANKA

Rimsky's The Maid of Pskov

Radio New Zealand Concert network
Sunday 28th of June 2009 at 3 - 5.15 pm

INTRODUCTION (Wikipedia)
PREVIEW (with pictures)
SYNOPSIS ('playbill' from the theatre)
RECORDINGS

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: The Maid of Pskov, in three acts
Tsar Ivan the Terrible....................... Alexei Tanovitski
Prince Yuri Ivanovich Tokmakov...... Gennady Bezzubenkov
Nikita Matuta................................... Nikolai Gassiev
Prince Afanasy Vyazemsky............... Yuri Vorobyev
Bomelius.......................................... Pavel Shmulevich
Tucha............................................... Mikhail Vishnyak
Velebin............................................ Edem Umerov
Princess Olga................................... Irina Mataeva
Styosha............................................ Varvara Solovyeva
Vlasyevna........................................ Ludmila Kanunnikova
Mariinsky Theatre Chorus & Orch/Valery Gergiev
(recorded in the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg by Russian Radio)

The Maid of Pskov by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. This was his first opera, at the top of the list of fifteen. The libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mei.

The story concerns Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and for this reason his name was attached to the final version of the work; the maid of the title is Olga, his daughter (as it is eventually revealed). The setting is Ivan's war against the cities of Novgorod (which he destroyed) and Pskov (which he spared). There is a Romeo and Juliet love story interwoven into the drama, Tucha and Olga being the lovers, and she is being forced to marry an older man; she is killed accidentally in the fighting between the rebel army (including her Tucha) and the Tsar's forces.

The original version of the opera was completed in 1872, and received its premiere in 1873 in St Petersburg, Russia. The third and final version was completed in 1892 and was made famous by the legendary bass Fyodor Chaliapin (Shalyapin) in the role of Ivan the Terrible.

I have no recording of this one (it is completely new to me) so I have included a heading above, for your information.

PSKOV? Spit it out! (Presumably P-SKOV, not PSoKov?)