Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
The Golden Cockerel: opera in three acts
Libretto by Vladimir Belsky (1866-1946) based on a tale by Pushkin
Dmitry Ulyanov, bass – Tsar Dodon
Nina Minasyan, soprano – Tsaritsa of Shemakha
Andrey Popov, tenor – Astrologer
Margarita Nekrasova, mezzo-soprano – housekeeper
Mischa Schelomianski, bass – General Polkan
Andrey Zhilikhovsky, baritone – Prince Afron
Vasily Efimov, tenor – Prince Guidon
Maria Nazarova, soprano – Voice of the golden cockerel
Wilfried Gonon, actor – Performer of the golden cockerel
Dancers, Orchestra & Chorus of the Opéra National de Lyon/Daniele Rustioni
rec. live, 18 & 20 May 2021, Opéra National de Lyon, France
NAXOS DVD 2.110731 [128]
Although, at least in Britain, Rimsky-Korsakov is best known for his orchestral works, above all for Scheherazade, he actually devoted most of his compositional energies to writing operas, of which there are fifteen. He also made performing editions of operas by his friends Borodin and Mussorgsky. Many of these have subjects from fairy tales, and this is true of The Golden Cockerel, which was his last opera.
The story of The Golden Cockerel is not a traditional fairy tale, like those collected by the brothers Grimm, but an invented one, like those written by Hans Andersen. It was a poem by Pushkin, which was turned into a libretto by Vladimir Belsky, who had written several other libretti for Rimsky-Korsakov. The story is that in the first act the bumbling Tsar Dodon is convinced that his kingdom is under threat from the neighbouring kingdom of Shemakha, which is ruled over by a beautiful Tsaritsa. He consults the Astrologer who gives him a golden cockerel, which can warn him when it is safe and when not. He decides to attack and his two sons, Afron and Guidon, each give him different but equally bad advice. In the second act, he discovers on the battlefield that his sons have killed each other. The Tsaritsa approaches and beguiles him, so that he rejects the advice of General Polkan and makes a fool of himself trying to dance, and then he proposes to her. She accepts, as a way of taking control of his kingdom. In the third act, after the wedding procession the Astrologer returns and asks for his reward: the Tsaritsa in marriage to him. Tsar Dodon kills him. The golden cockerel and the Tsaritsa disappear. The Astrologer returns and tells us that this was a story and only he and the Tsaritsa were real. However, as well as being a fairy story Rimsky-Korsakov intended the work as a satire on incompetent and despotic rule, which got him into trouble with the censors so that the work was not produced in his lifetime.
The music Rimsky-Korsakov wrote for this is in the idiom of Russian orientalism, which he did so much to develop. This is characterised by the use of non-Western scales and Russian folk tunes, by colourful orchestration and by the avoidance of techniques associated with Western symphonic writing. As well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s own work this idiom can be seen in such works as Borodin’s Polovotsian Dances, Balakirev’s Tamara, the symphonic poems of Liadov and The Firebird by Rimsky-Korsakov’s pupil Stravinsky. There are some motifs which run throughout the work, the characterization is clear and strong and their music idiomatically vocal.
Although the production is itself is from Lyon, here we have a strong cast of what I presume are native Russian speakers. Dmitry Ulyanov makes a success of the unrewarding role of Tsar Dodon, whose fate it is to be consistently outsmarted by others. Nina Minasyan has a ravishing voice as the Tsaritsa, and her aria is for me the high point of the score, though the ensuing dialogue with Dodon seems to me rather over-extended. Andrey Popov, the Astrologer, has the high tenor voice which is what is needed, but he sings only fortissimo and hearing him is rather a strain. The title role is sung by the soprano Maria Nazarova, which is the voice type for which the part was written, but is acted by a young man, Wilfried Gonon. The smaller parts are well taken and the chorus, which does not have a great deal to do, and is often off-stage anyway, is adequate. The orchestral playing and conducting is good and the live recording very acceptable both in vision and sound. The booklet gives a synopsis in English and French and discusses the characters but has no information about the cast or production.
This is a magical story which cries out for vivid colour in its staging. Instead, we get something really dreary and dismal. The director, Barrie Kosky, seems to have no idea how to stage a fairy tale. Perhaps he is one of those sad people who were not read fairy stories in their childhood. The curtain goes up on a blasted heath, in which there is one stunted tree. This would have been an entirely suitable set for Waiting for Godot, but as an evocation of a royal palace, in which the first act is set, it does not begin. The Astrologer comes in with a tall hat and long beard, which seems appropriate. However, Tsar Dodon then enters wearing a crown but otherwise in his underwear, which seems none too clean. Although part of the plot is that of his humiliation, it does seem unnecessary to reinforce this by this costume, particularly since the libretto at one point refers to him a ‘king by rank and dress.’ The two brothers are city slickers dressed in identical modern sharp suits. The boyars are the chorus but all wearing horses’ heads. The golden cockerel takes his station in the stunted tree. When we move to the battlefield in the second act, we discover that we have the same set, more appropriate here than in the previous act. The headless bodies of the brothers are hanging upside down from the tree while their heads are stacked neatly side by side next to the lamenting Dodon, whose actions make it clear that he preferred one brother to the other, something not supported by the text. As this makes it clear that each killed the other with a sword, the gruesome display is misconceived. Dodon is supposed to see the Tsaritsa emerge from a pavilion but there is no sign of this and she just turns up, in a dazzling dress, which for once is appropriate, and with a splendid hat with feathers. She has an entourage of four extremely poncey dancers, who try to lead Dodon in his inept dance. In the third act we are supposed to be in the town square but the set is unchanged. When the Astrologer returns after having been supposedly killed, he is carrying his head in his hand, and this severed head makes his concluding announcement. Fans of modern opera will remember the same trick from Birtwistle’s Gawain, staged some years ago at Covent Garden.
I hesitate to criticize Pushkin and I do not know what changes Belsky made to the original, but this does not seem to me the strongest of stories. None of the characters is sympathetic: Dodon is weak and easily led, the Tsaritsa manipulative, the brothers spivs, the Astrologer a cipher and the cockerel a mere device. That Dodon would immediately succumb to the wiles of the Tsaritsa who is supposedly his enemy is not credible even in a fairy story. Rimsky-Koprsakov’s satirical intent has also completely lost its bite with the passage of years. However, much of the music is enchanting and I think Szymanowski must have had the Tsaritsa’s aria in mind in composing Roxana’s one in King Roger. Musically, this performance has much to be said for it, but the production fails to make the most of the work. There are at least three other DVDs available, of which I suspect that the all-Russian one under Gergiev is probably the most convincing. There is also an orchestral suite, which is frequently recorded.
Stephen Barber
Production staff
Stage Director – Barrie Kosky
Set Designer – Rufus Didwiszus
Costume Designer – Victoria Behr
Lighting Designer – Franck Evin
Choreographer – Otto Pichler
Dramaturgy – Olaf A. Schmitt
Chorus Master – Roberto Balistreri
Film director – François Roussillon
Video details
NTSC 16:9
PCM stereo and DTS 5.1
Region 0 (worldwide)
Sung in Russian (original language)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
