Opera Khovanshchina - M. Mussorgsky (Opera in concert) Moscow theatre "New Opera"
Schedule for Khovanshchina - M. Mussorgsky (Opera in concert) 2022
Composer: Modest Mussorgsky Choirmaster producer: Natalya Popovich
Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra of the "New Opera" Theatre
Soloists, choir and orchestra of the Novaya Opera Choirmasters -
Natalya Popovich, chief choirmaster of the theatre, Yulia
Senyukova
Conductor - Dmitry Volosnikov
Time: The year 1682 Place:
Moscow Background and Theme: The principal theme of
Khovanshchina is stated outright in the choral number "Akh, ty Rodnaya, Matushka
Russ" ("Oh poor Motherland"), which laments that Russia is bleeding and dying
not because of a foreign enemy, but because of fragmentation within. Something
like a three-way civil war is in progress. Tsar Peter is modernizing, and two
powerful forces are resisting his changes: the Streltsy and the Old Believers.
The Streltsy are decommissioned elite soldiers/guards ("Streltsy" literally
means "shooters", just like "musketeers"), past their prime and on indefinite
furlough. They are fanatically loyal to Prince Ivan Khovansky. The Old Believers
are Russian Orthodox Christians who have left the state-sponsored church because
it went along with Tsar Peter's changes. Their leader is Dosifey. Fortunately
for Tsar Peter, these two factions despise each other, as the Streltsy are rowdy
degenerates and the Old Believers are pious ascetics. Each of the three
principal basses in the opera believes himself to represent the "true" Russia
against her internal enemies: Prince Ivan Khovansky by noble birth and military
prowess, Dosefei by religion, and Shaklovity by supporting Tsar
Peter. Act 1 Moscow, Red
Square Shaklovity, a Boyar and agent for Tsar Peter, dictates
a letter to the Tsar, warning of a rebellion planned by Prince Ivan Khovansky
(captain of the Streltsy Guards) and the Old Believers. He conceals himself as
Prince Ivan arrives. Prince Ivan promises an adoring crowd that he will defend
the "young Tsars", by whom he means Tsar Peter's conservative rivals within the
royal family. He and the crowd exit. Prince Andrey, Ivan's son, chases in Emma,
a German girl, intending to assault her. Marfa, an Old Believer, interferes.
Andrey threatens to kill Emma, but Prince Ivan returns, and decides to capture
Emma himself. The ensuing quarrel between father and son is interrupted by the
arrival of Dosifey, the leader of the Old Believers. Dosifey reproves everyone
for being so quarrelsome and un-Christian. Marfa leaves with
Emma. Act 2 Summer study of Prince Vasily
Golitsin Golitsin, a nervous progressive nobleman, hires Marfa
to tell his fortune in secret. She predicts that he will fall from power. After
she leaves, Golitsin orders his servants to kill her. Prince Ivan Khovansky
disrespects Golitsin by entering without waiting to be announced, and complains
loudly that Golitsin has been interfering with his friends in the nobility. A
quarrel ensues, each making insulting remarks about the other's military
campaigns, but Dosifey enters and draws their attention away from their argument
by criticising both of them—Golitsin for his modern views, and Prince Ivan for
letting the Streltsy get drunk and run around making trouble all the time.
Marfa, who has been saved by the Tsar's guards, reappears, followed by
Shaklovity, who menacingly announces that the Tsar has been warned of the
planned rebellion, and has issued orders to arrest the Princes Khovansky. At
this unlikely moment, the curtain falls. Act
3 The Streltsy Quarter, south of the Moscow
River Marfa is overheard singing of her love, by Susanna, a
fellow Old Believer. Susanna scolds Marfa until Dosifey appears and drives
Susanna away. Marfa admits to Dosifey that she loves Andrey Khovansky (the one
she restrained from assaulting Emma). Dosifey tells her to pray for relief. They
exit and Shaklovity, who until now had been presented as a purely threatening
character, sings a haunting prayer for troubled Russia's protection from the
Streltsy (he refers to them as "mercenaries") and from the rebellious powers
they obey. Hearing them coming he exits; some of the Streltsy enter and sing a
drinking chorus. The scribe arrives and informs them that Hungarian troops are
invading, and that Tsar Peter's bodyguard fought with the foreigners against the
Streltsy—Russian soldiers and foreign soldiers killing other Russian soldiers
together. Ivan Khovanski enters and begs their forgiveness for the
defeat. Act 4 Scene 1: A richly furnished chamber in
Ivan Khovansky's mansion Prince Ivan Khovansky is warned by a
servant of Golitsin that he is in danger, but he ignores the warning and watches
his servant girls dance. Shaklovity enters and kills him, scornfully imitating
the servants' song. Scene 2: Moscow. The square before the
Cathedral of Vasiliy the Blessed Golitsyn is led into exile.
Dosifey mourns the conspirators' downfall and the success of Tsar Peter. Marfa
offers sanctuary to Andrey with the Old Believers. The Streltsy are led to their
execution. Peter, through an agent, intervenes to pardon them (which is not in
agreement with historical fact).
Act 5 A pine forest, a
secluded monastery, a moonlit night Dosifey and his followers
have taken refuge in a hermitage in the forest. Although he is weighed down by
the sorrows and sufferings of the brethren, he remains defiant and determined to
win a "crown of glory" in fire and flame ("Here, in this holy place"). He
exhorts the brethren to don white clothing and light candles, preparing for
immolation. They enter the hermitage. [Andrey enters, singing of his lost love,
still seeking Emma. Marfa sings to Andrey, reminding him of their love, and
assuring him that she will not leave him, but will burn with him. Dosifey and
the brethren return, dressed in white and carrying candles. They build a funeral
pyre. Offstage trumpet calls herald the approach of Tsar Peter's soldiers. Marfa
sings to Andrey of the hopelessness of their situation. The trumpet calls sound
again. Dosifey exhorts the brethren to remain strong one last time. Marfa lights
the pyre. The schismatics sing a final hymn ("God will save me"). As Dosifey,
Marfa, Andrey, and the Old Believers perish in the flames, Peter's soldiers
arrive in a vain attempt to capture them.]
Schedule for Khovanshchina - M. Mussorgsky (Opera in concert) 2022
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