The Golden Cockerel (Rimsky-Korsakov) Paris 2002 Schagidullin Levinsky Breus Saenz

WATCH THE FULL PERFORMANCE HERE ACT 1, ACT 2, ACT 3

The Golden Cockerel  or Le Coq d’Or  by Rimsky-Korsakov
Théâtre Musical de Paris – Châtelet, France
2002

Albert Schagigullin – King Dodon

Ilya Levinsky – Prince Guidon

Andrei Breus – Prince Afron

Ilya Bannik – Gen. Polkan

Elena Manistine – Amelfa

Barry Banks – The astrologer

Olga Trifonova – Queen of Shemakha

Yuri Maria Saenz – Le Coq d’or
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Conductor: Kent Nagano

Orchestre de Paris

St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theatre Chorus

Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko

Choreographer: Kanshino Fujima
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Stage Director: stage director

Stage Designer: Setsu Asakura

Costume Designer: Tomio Mohri

Lighting Designer: Jean Kalman
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The Golden Cockerel (Russian: Золотой петушок, romanized: Zolotoy petushok listenⓘ) is an opera in three acts, with a short prologue and an even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last complete opera, before his death in 1908. Its libretto written by Vladimir Belsky, is derived from Alexander Pushkin’s 1834 poem, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel. The opera was completed in 1907, and premiered in 1909, in Moscow, after the composer’s death. Apart from Russia, it has often been performed in French, as Le coq d’or.

Time: Unspecified

Place: In the thrice-tenth tsardom, a far off place (beyond thrice-nine lands) in Russian folklore

Note: There is an actual city of Shemakha (also spelled “Şamaxı”, “Schemacha” and “Shamakhy”), which is the capital of the Shamakhi Rayon of Azerbaijan. In Pushkin’s day it was an important city and capital of what was to become the Baku Governorate. But the realm of that name, ruled by its tsaritsa, bears little resemblance to today’s Shemakha and region.

After quotation by the orchestra of the most important leitmotifs, a mysterious Astrologer comes before the curtain and announces to the audience that, although they are going to see and hear a fictional tale from long ago, his story will have a valid and true moral.

The bumbling Tsar Dodon talks himself into believing that his country is in danger from a neighbouring state, Shemakha, ruled by a beautiful Tsaritsa. He requests advice of the Astrologer, who supplies a magic Golden Cockerel to safeguard the Tsar’s interests. When the little cockerel confirms that the Tsaritsa of Shemakha does harbor territorial ambitions, Dodon decides to preemptively strike Shemakha, sending his army to battle under the command of his two sons.

However, his sons are both so inept that they manage to kill each other on the battlefield. Tsar Dodon then decides to lead the army himself, but further bloodshed is averted because the Golden Cockerel ensures that the old Tsar becomes besotted when he actually sees the beautiful Tsaritsa. The Tsaritsa herself encourages this situation by performing a seductive dance – which tempts the Tsar to try and partner her, but he is clumsy and makes a complete mess of it. The Tsaritsa realises that she can take over Dodon’s country without further fighting – she engineers a marriage proposal from Dodon, which she coyly accepts.

The Final Scene starts with the wedding procession in all its splendour. As this reaches its conclusion, the Astrologer appears and says to Dodon, “You promised me anything I could ask for if there could be a happy resolution of your troubles … .” “Yes, yes,” replies the Tsar, “just name it and you shall have it.” “Right,” says the Astrologer, “I want the Tsaritsa of Shemakha!” At this, the Tsar flares up in fury, and strikes down the Astrologer with a blow from his mace. The Golden Cockerel, loyal to his Astrologer master, then swoops across and pecks through the Tsar’s jugular. The sky darkens. When light returns, the Tsaritsa and the little cockerel are gone.

The Astrologer comes again before the curtain and announces the end of his story, reminding the public that what they just saw was “merely illusion,” that only he and the Tsaritsa were mortals and real.

Quoted from Wikipedia