The Golden Cockerel

Rimsky-Korsakov had considered his previous opera, The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (1907) to be his final artistic statement in the medium, and, indeed, this work has been called a "summation of the nationalistic operatic tradition of Glinka and The Five."[1] However, the political situation in Russia at the time inspired him to take up the pen to compose a "razor-sharp satire of the autocracy, of Russian imperialism, and of the Russo-Japanese war."[2] Also, Rimsky-Korsakov's previous works inspired by Alexander Pushkin's poems, especially Tsar Saltan (1899-1900), had proved to be very successful.

The work on The Golden Cockerel was started in 1906 and finished by September 1907. By the end of February 1908 the director of Imperial Theatres Vladimir Telyakovskiy passed the score to the censorship agency in order to get an approval for the Bolshoi Theatre. It was returned unedited, yet suddenly taken back the next day. This time many changes were requested to be made to the libretto as well as the original Pushkin's text. Rimsky-Korsakov suspected someone's denunciation and resisted any changes. He continued the work on orchestration while fighting with progressive illness. In June 1908 Telyakovskiy informed him that the Moscow Governor-General Sergei Gershelman was highly against the opera. In his last letter Rimsky-Korsakov asked his friend and music publisher Boris Jurgenson to contact Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi and suggest him to stage The Golden Cockerel in Paris. He died two days later and thus never witnessed the premiere of his last opera.[3]

The premiere took place on 7 October (O.S. 24 September) 1909, at Moscow's Solodovnikov Theatre in a performance by the Zimin Opera. Emil Cooper conducted; set designs were by Ivan Bilibin. The opera was given at the city's Bolshoi Theatre a month later, on 6 November, conducted by Vyacheslav Suk and with set designs by Konstantin Korovin. London and Paris premieres occurred in 1914; in Paris it was staged at the Palais Garnier by the Ballets Russes as an opera-ballet, choreographed and directed by Michel Fokine with set and costume designs by Natalia Goncharova.[4][5] The United States premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera House on 6 March 1918, with Marie Sundelius in the title role, Adamo Didur and Maria Barrientos in the actual leads, and Pierre Monteux conducting.

The Met performed the work regularly through 1945. All Met performances before World War II were sung in French; during the work's final season in the Met repertory, the Golden Cockerel was sung in English. The English translators were Antal Doráti and James Gibson.[6][7] The work has not been performed at the Met since the war, but it was staged at neighboring New York City Opera from 1967 to 1971, always in English, with Beverly Sills singing the Tsaritsa of Shemakha opposite Norman Treigle's Dodon, and Julius Rudel conducting Tito Capobianco's production.

At Covent Garden in London the opera was seen in January 1954 in a production by Robert Helpmann conducted by Igor Markevitch (making his Covent Garden debut); the cast included Hugues Cuénod as the astrologer, Howell Glynne as Dodon, and Mattiwilda Dobbs as the Queen of Shemakhan.[8] In 1998 the Royal Opera company presented a new production at Sadler's Wells Theatre produced by Tim Hopkins and conducted by Vladimir Jurowski with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt as the astrologer, Paata Burchuladze as Dodon and Elena Kelessidi as the Queen.[9]

On 13 December 1975 the BBC broadcast a live performance in English from the Theatre Royal Glasgow with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Gibson, and with Don Garrard as Tsar Dodon, John Angelo Messana as the Astrologer and Catherine Gayer as the Tsaritsa.

The Mariinsky Theatre staged a new production of The Golden Cockerel on 25 December 2014, with Valery Gergiev as conductor. The stage director and costume designer was Anna Matison. The opera was presented in Russian during the 2015 winter season by the Sarasota Opera conducted by Ekhart Wycik, with set designs by David P. Gordon, and featuring Grigory Soloviov as Tsar Dodon, Alexandra Batsios as the Tsaritsa of Shemakha, Timur Bekbosunov at the Astrologer, and Riley Svatos as the Golden Cockerel.

De Munt/La Monnaie staged a new production in Brussels in December 2016. This was a co-production with the Teatro Real of Madrid and Opera National de Lorraine (Nancy). The stage director and costume designer was Laurent Pelly; the conductor, Alain Altinoglu. The role of Tsar Dodon was shared between Pavol Hunka and Alexey Tikhomirov; the Tsarina shared between Venera Gimadieva and Nina Minasyan. Alexander Kravets took the role of Astrologer and the singing role of the Cockerel was played by Sheva Tehoval with Sarah Demarthe as the on-stage Cockerel.

• Woodwinds: 1 Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 1 Cor anglais, 2 Clarinets (in A-B), 1 Bass Clarinet (in A-B), 2 Bassoons, 1 Contrabassoon
• Brass: 4 French Horns (in F), 2 Trumpets (in C), 1 Trumpet contralto (in F), 3 Trombones, 1 Tuba
• Percussion: Timpani, Triangle, Snare Drum, Tambourine, Glockenspiel, Cymbals, Bass Drum, Xylophone, Tam-tam
• Other: Celesta, 2 Harps
• Strings: Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses

Note on names:

• Pushkin spelled Dodon's name as Dadon. The association of the revised spelling Dodon in the libretto with the dodo bird is likely intentional.
• Shemakha is a noun, denoting a place. Shemakhan is an adjectival usage.

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; Pushkin likely seized the name for convenience, to conjure an exotic monarchy.

Act 2

Tsar Dadon meets the Shemakha queen

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.

Act 1

Introduction: "I Am a Sorcerer" «Я колдун» (orchestra, Astrologer)

Lullaby (orchestra, guards, Amelfa)

Act 2

Aria: "Hymn to the Sun" «Ответь мне, зоркое светило» (Tsaritsa of Shemakha)

Dance (Tsaritsa of Shemakha, orchestra)

Chorus (slaves)

Act 3

Scene: "Wedding Procession" «Свадебное шествие» (Amelfa, people)

Preface to The Golden Cockerel by librettist V. Belsky (1907)

The purely human character of Pushkin's story, The Golden Cockerel – a tragi-comedy showing the fatal results of human passion and weakness – allows us to place the plot in any surroundings and in any period. On these points the author does not commit himself, but indicates vaguely in the manner of fairy-tales: "In a certain far-off tsardom", "in a country set on the borders of the world".... Nevertheless, the name Dodon and certain details and expressions used in the story prove the poet's desire to give his work the air of a popular Russian fairy tale (like Tsar Saltan), and similar to those fables expounding the deeds of Prince Bova, of Jerouslan Lazarevitch or Erhsa Stchetinnik, fantastical pictures of national habit and costumes. Therefore, in spite of Oriental traces and the Italian names Duodo and Guidone, the tale is intended to depict, historically, the simple manners and daily life of the Russian people, painted in primitive colours with all the freedom and extravagance beloved of artists.

In producing the opera the greatest attention must be paid to every scenic detail, so as not to spoil the special character of the work. The following remark is equally important. In spite of its apparent simplicity, the purpose of The Golden Cockerel is undoubtedly symbolic.

This is not to be gathered so much from the famous couplet: "Tho' a fable, I admit, moral can be drawn to fit!" which emphasises the general message of the story, as from the way in which Pushkin has shrouded in mystery the relationship between his two fantastical characters: The Astrologer and the Tsaritsa.

Did they hatch a plot against Dodon? Did they meet by accident, both intent on the tsar's downfall? The author does not tell us, and yet this is a question to be solved in order to determine the interpretation of the work. The principal charm of the story lies in so much being left to the imagination, but, in order to render the plot somewhat clearer, a few words as to the action on the stage may not come amiss.

Many centuries ago, a wizard, still alive today, sought by his magic cunning to overcome the daughter of the Aerial Powers. Failing in his project, he tried to win her through the person of Tsar Dodon. He is unsuccessful and to console himself, he presents to the audience, in his magic lantern the story of heartless royal ingratitude.

Vladimir Pikok sang the role of the Astrologer in the premiere of the opera. The difficult role is written for a tenor altino, as the Astrologer is a eunuch.
(Solodovnikov Theatre, Moscow, 1909)

Composer's Performance Remarks (1907)

1. The composer does not sanction any "cuts."
2. Operatic singers are in the habit of introducing interjections, spoken words, etc. into the music, hoping thereby to produce dramatic, comic or realistic effect. Far from adding significance to the music, these additions and emendations merely disfigure it. The composer desires that the singers in all his works keep strictly to the music written for them.
3. Metronome marks must be followed accurately. This does not imply that artists should sing like clock-work, they are given full artistic scope, but they must keep within bounds.
4. The composer feels it necessary to reiterate the following remark in lyrical passages, those actors who are on the stage, but not singing at the moment, must refrain from drawing the attention of the spectators to themselves by unnecessary by-play. An opera is first and foremost a musical work.
5. The part of the Astrologer is written for a voice seldom met with, that of tenor altino. It may however be entrusted to a lyric tenor possessing a strong falsetto, for the part is written in the extremely high register.
6. The Golden Cockerel demands a strong soprano or high mezzo-soprano voice.
7. The dances performed by the Tsar and Tsaritsa in the second act, must be carried out so as not to interfere with the singers breathing by too sudden or too violent movement.

Staging Practices

Early stagings became influential by stressing the modernist elements inherent in the opera. Diaghilev's 1914 Paris production had the singers sitting offstage, while dancers provided the stage action.[1] Though some in Russia disapproved of Diaghilev's interpretation, and Rimsky-Korsakov's widow threatened to sue, the production was considered a milestone. Stravinsky was to expand on this idea in the staging of his own Renard (1917) and Les Noces (1923), in which the singers are unseen, and mimes or dancers perform on stage.[10]

Rimsky-Korsakov made the following concert arrangement:

• Introduction and Wedding Procession from the opera The Golden Cockerel (1907)

Введение и свадебное шествие из оперы «Золотой петушок»

After his death, A. Glazunov and M. Shteynberg (Steinberg) compiled the following orchestral suite:

• Four Musical Pictures from the Opera The Golden Cockerel

Четыре музыкальных картины из оперы «Золотой петушок»

1. Tsar Dodon at home (Царь Додон у себя дома)
2. Tsar Dodon on the march (Царь Додон в походе)
3. Tsar Dodon with the Shemakhan Tsaritsa (Царь Додон у Шемаханской царицы)
4. The wedding and the lamentable end of Dodon (Свадьба и печальный конец Додона)

Efrem Zimbalist wrote Concert Phantasy on 'Le coq d'or' for violin and piano based on themes from the suite.

Marina Frolova-Walker points to The Golden Cockerel as the fore-runner of the anti-psychologistic and absurdist ideas which would culminate in such 20th century 'anti-operas' as Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges (1921) and Shostakovich's The Nose (1930). In this, his last opera, Rimsky-Korsakov had laid "the foundation for modernist opera in Russia and beyond."[1]

In 1978–79 the English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji wrote "Il gallo d’oro" da Rimsky-Korsakov: variazioni frivole con una fuga anarchica, eretica e perversa.

Audio Recordings (Mainly studio recordings, unless otherwise indicated)

Source: www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk

• 1951, Aleksey Korolev (Tsar Dodon), Pavel Tchekin (Tsarevich Gvidon), Levon Khachaturov (Tsarevich Afron), Sergey Krassovsky (General Polkan), Antonina Kleshcheva (Amelfa), Pavel Pontryagin (Astrologer), Nadezhda Kazantseva (Shemakhan Tsaritsa), Lina Shukhat (Golden Cockerel). The Great symphony orchestra of All-Union Radio and The Great choir of All-Union Radio. Choirmaster: Ivan Kuvykin. Alexander Gauk (conductor). This recording was discovered and released for the first time in any format in 2011 by the Russian label Aquarius. It is now considered the best recording of this work.
• 1962, Aleksey Korolev (Tsar Dodon), Yuri Yelnikov (Tsarevich Gvidon), Aleksandr Polyakov (Tsarevich Afron), Leonid Ktitorov (General Polkan), Antonina Klescheva (Amelfa), Gennady Pishchayev (Astrologer), Klara Kadinskaya (Shemakhan Tsaritsa), Nina Polyakova (Golden Cockerel). Moscow Radio Orchestra and Chorus. ' Aleksey Kovalev & Yevgeny Akulov (conductor).[11]
• 1971 (sung in English, live performance), Norman Treigle (Tsar Dodon), Beverly Sills (Tsaritsa Shemakha), Enrico di Giuseppe (Astrologer), Muriel Costa-Greenspon (Amelfa), Gary Glaze (Gvidon), David Rae Smith (Afron), Edward Pierson (Polkan), Syble Young (Le Coq d’or). Orchestra and Chorus of the New York City Opera. Julius Rudel
• 1985, Nikolai Stoilov (Tsar Dodon), Ljubomir Bodurov (Tsarevich Gvidon), Emil Ugrinov (Tsarevich Afron), Kosta Videv (General Polkan), Evgenia Babacheva (Amelfa), Lyubomir Diakovski (Astrologer), Elena Stoyanova (Shemakhan Tsaritsa), Yavora Stoilova (Golden Cockerel). Sofia National Opera Orchestra and Chorus, Dimiter Manolov. In German.
• 1987, Evgeny Nesterenko (Tsar Dodon), Vyacheslav Voinarovsky (Tsarevich Gvidon), Vladimir Svistov (Tsarevich Afron), Alexei Mochalov (General Polkan), Raisa Kotova (Amelfa), Boris Tarkhov (Astrologer), Elena Ustinova (Shemakhan Tsaritsa), Olga Shalaeva (Golden Cockerel). Academic Symphony Orchestra of Moscow State Philharmonic and All-Union Radio and Television Academic Grand Choir, Dmitri Kitaenko.
• 1988, (live performance), Yevgeny Svetlanov (conductor), Bolshoy Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, Artur Eisen (Tsar Dodon), Arkady Mishenkin (Tsarevich Gvidon), Vladimir Redkin (Tsarevich Afron), Nikolay Nizinenko (General Polkan), Nina Gaponova (Amelfa), Oleg Biktimirov (Astrologer), Yelena Brilova (Shemakhan Tsaritsa), Irina Udalova (Golden Cockerel)

Notable excerpts

• 1910 Antonina Nezhdanova (Shemakhan Tsaritsa): Hymn to the Sun (in Russian). Available on LP, CD, online.

Notes

Sources

• Abraham, Gerald (1936). "XIV. – The Golden Cockerel". Studies in Russian Music. London: William Reeves / The New Temple Press. pp. 290–310.
• Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. ISBN 0-14-029312-4

• Metropolitan Opera House libretto of Le Coq d'Or at archive.org
• Libretto at Google Books
• Pushkin's tale of The Golden Cockerel