The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (1903-4) (opera in 4 acts)
Svetlana Ignatovich - Fevroniya
John Daszak - Grishka Kuterma
Vladimir Vaneev - Prince Yuri Vsevolodovich
Maxim Aksenov - Prince Vsevolod Yurievich
Alexey Markov - Fyodor Poyarok
Ante Jerkunica - Bedyay
Vladimir Ognovenko - Burunday
Mayram Sokolova - Page
Netherlands Opera Chorus; Netherlands Concert Choir
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/Marc Albrecht
rec. live, Netherlands Opera, February 2012
Picture format: NTSC 16:9; Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1; Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Dutch, Japanese, Korean
OPUS ARTE OA1089D [2 DVDs: 187:00]
In 1904 Rimsky-Korsakov was feeling out of touch with contemporary
musical trends as well as creatively tired. However, in conversation
with his usual librettist, Vladimir Belsky, the two came up with
the idea for an opera based on a combination of two old Russian
legends: that of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the love of
the forest maiden Fevroniya for a prince. As their discussions
continued the story evolved into a mystical tale with pantheistic
overtones - one that revived the composer’s creative forces
to such a degree that he wrote what many consider his masterpiece
- The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden
Fevroniya - to give the full title.
It is almost obligatory to refer to Kitezh as the Russian
Parsifal. Belsky and Rimsky-Korsakov substituted legendary
Russia for Wagner’s Middle Ages and worship of nature for
Wagner’s brand of Christianity. Indeed, from the opening
notes Rimsky’s music conflates the natural world with the
idea of spiritual purity. This combination is exemplified by the
composer’s use of music that is folk-like yet totally original.
As a member of the Mighty Five Rimsky had always used folk elements
but here they are handled with a plasticity and naturalness unprecedented
in his output.
The music for Kitezh is through-composed and the composer
never lets the pace flag. The first music we hear contains the
group of related themes that make up the work’s basic musical
material. The opera takes place in a legendary time and place
- Fevroniya is a maiden who has retreated to the forest where
she can be one with nature. She is so good-hearted and benevolent
that wild animals are unafraid of her. The music is at first unobtrusive,
constantly unfolding variants of its main material as we are introduced
to Fevroniya’s world. Into this peaceful world stumbles
Prince Vsevolod, son of the ruler of the city of Great Kitezh.
He has been separated from his hunting companions and wounded
by a bear. Fevroniya’s healing powers, communion with animals
and purity of heart overwhelm his own grim view of life and the
two fall in love to gentle but passionate music. As Fevroniya
describes her view that the forest is itself a church we first
hear the bell motif that will assume such great significance later
in the opera. When Vsevolod hears his companions in the distance
he leaves promising to return for Fevroniya. Only when Vsevolod’s
friend Fyodor and the other huntsmen arrive does Fevroniya learn
Vsevolod’s identity.
Act 2 takes place in Little Kitezh, the earthly and dissolute
counterpart to the holy city of Great Kitezh. In the marketplace
the malicious drunkard Grishka Muterna is amusing the crowd when
the people hear that Fevroniya, the Prince’s bride, is to
pass through the town. The local nobles, incensed that the Prince
has chosen a forest maiden for a bride, pay Grishka to insult
Fevroniya, but she is not only unfazed, but genuinely sorry for
Grishka. A wonderful bridal song follows, but this is suddenly
broken off as Tatar hordes, led by Bedyay and Burunday, attack
the town and kill all but Fevroniya, Fyodor and Grishka - the
latter eventually agreeing to lead the Tatars to Great Kitezh.
Before being carried off by the Tatars Fevroniya prays that Great
Kitezh may be made invisible. The music in Act 2 slowly builds
in intensity from the festivities in the marketplace of Little
Kitezh to the village’s total destruction.
In Act 3 we are in Great Kitezh, the city that Vsevolod’s
father, Prince Yuri, has made into a place of spiritual purity
and earthly renunciation. Fyodor, blinded by the Tatars, has escaped
from their camp and in a powerful sequence tells the people of
the fate of Little Kitezh. Prince Yuri, in the equally powerful
“O Glory, vain wealth” sings of how he had tried to
protect the people of Great Kitezh from the evils of the world
and how such an effort could only be doomed to failure. The people
sing the chorus “Wondrous Queen of Heaven” - the choral
highpoint of the opera - while prophetic visions of the coming
destruction of the city increase in frequency. Prince Vsevolod
summons the men to defend the city even though all know they are
doomed. After they have left the bells of the city start ringing
of their own accord and the city is slowly shrouded in mist. Fevroniya’s
prayer is answered as the people of Kitezh are transfigured.
As the act continues Prince Vsevolod and his men do battle with
the Tatars in the well-known symphonic interlude The Battle
of Kerzhenetz. All are killed. The Tatars, conducted by Grishka,
arrive at night at Lake Yar at the foot of Great Kitezh. They
chain Grishka so he cannot escape and after arguing over Fevroniya,
all fall asleep. Grishka is losing his mind but at this point
only he can hear the tolling bells of Great Kitezh. He and Fevroniya
escape the Tatars. When the sun rises the Tatars hear the bells
and see the reflection of Great Kitezh in the lake but cannot
see the city itself and flee in panic.
Act 4 opens to despondent music weeks after the events of Act
3. Fevroniya and Grishka are lost amid the thickets of the forest
near Great Kitezh. Grishka eventually goes mad and runs off. The
exhausted Fevroniya lies down and sings a beautiful lullaby while
the strings play progressively more ethereal music. As she dies
her words from Act 1 come true-the forest is transformed into
Paradise. The bells of Kitezh return as do Vsevolod, Prince Yuri
and the other characters - two-legged and four-legged. To the
accompaniment of the bells all enter the transfigured city of
Great Kitezh.
Musically there are several elements that make Kitezh
the great opera that it is. Foremost is the endless variety with
which Rimsky develops his basic musical material, tailoring it
perfectly to the various dramatic situations. Secondly, he ably
balances the gentle and violent elements of the story as well
as the overall dramatic flow. Finally, he shows great flair for
musical characterization while avoiding the sentimentality which
the story could have engendered.
In looking at the cast-list for the opera one might be struck
by the fact that, except for that of Fevroniya, all the major
roles are for male voices. However, Fevroniya is onstage throughout
the opera - except for the first half of Act 3. This proves no
problem for Svetlana Ignatovich. She is strong both musically
and dramatically from beginning to end although her acting really
does not become firm until Act 2. John Daszak sings Grishka, Fevroniya’s
spiritual opposite, with great skill although his acting is somewhat
overwrought. Maxim Aksenov as Vsevolod is less impressive although
he sings well in Act 3 and is dramatically very convincing in
the opera’s conclusion. In the role of Prince Yuri Vladimir
Vaneev is alternately impressive and benevolent. Vsevolod’s
friend Fyodor is the only major character besides Fevroniya to
appear in all four acts and Alexey Markov handles the different
characterizations for each act skillfully. Smaller roles are uniformly
well-sung, especially Gennady Bezzubenkov as the Gusli Player
and Hubert Francis as the Bear Handler.
Dmitri Tcherniakov is the director, set designer and costume designer
for this production. The sets are very effective-especially the
misty forest of Act 1 and the Paradise of Act 4, although the
overall conception seems to be rural Russia in the present day.
Tcherniakov is also very effective at keeping things moving to
match the score and keeping our attention on what is happening.
In this he is ably assisted by Misjel Vermieren the screen director.
While it is customary nowadays to set operas in the present this
can sometimes take away from an opera with a fairy-tale setting
such as Kitezh, but that is not the major problem here.
Rather it is Tcherniakov’s overall avoidance of the opera’s
fairy-tale aspects that renders this production out of sync with
the conception of Belsky and Rimsky and this causes the production
to lose some of the opera’s emotional effect.
Mark Albrecht has been chief conductor of the Netherlands Opera
since 2011 and has built a real rapport with his players. This
is evident in the way they follow him through the many musico-emotional
contrasts of the score. They also play with great finish-all important
in Rimsky’s somewhat pointillist scoring. Albrecht's
conducting itself is a little lacking in force but this is balanced
by his ability to maintain the continuous flow of the music and
to bring out the varied developments of the basic material. The
Netherlands Opera Chorus is somewhat lacklustre but they do very
well with the Huntsman’s chorus at the end of Act 1.
Opus Arte is to be commended for the crispness of its HD filming
on these discs. The level of detail is outstanding without being
obtrusive. The sound quality for the singers is a little harsh
but perfect for the orchestra-all important in this particular
work. This two-disc set includes interviews with cast and crew
and a cast gallery. There are informative if not copious notes
by Tcherniakov although they deal only with his own interpretation
of the opera as opposed to the more standard ones. At present
the only other DVD version of Kitezh is on Naxos with
Alexander Vedernikov conducting. While this version has a number
of merits (see
link) the Albrecht version is the one to get in spite of the
directorial concerns.
William Kreindler
Support
us financially by purchasing this from |
|
 |
 |
 |
|