The Decembrists (opera)

The Decembrists had a long gestation, lasting indeed for most of Shaporin's professional life. In its first version, titled Polina Gyobel’, it focused on the love between Ivan Annenkov, one of the conspirators in the Decembrist revolt of 1825, and his French wife, the title-character.[4] Polina Gyobel’ had a libretto by the historian Pavel Shchegolev and Shaporin's close friend Aleksey Tolstoy, one of whose poems he had previously set. Two scenes from it were performed in 1925 to mark the uprising's centenary. In the succeeding years Shaporin worked on rewriting the opera, taking advice from his friend Boris Asafyev and other writers.[5] In 1935 the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow commissioned a work from him, inducing him on to renew his efforts, and some scenes from a new version were staged at the Bolshoi shortly thereafter.[3] For several years from 1947 Shaporin worked his way towards a third version of the opera, going through a series of new draft librettos by several well-known writers; over the years enough of these were produced to fill seven filing boxes.[6] This version, completed in 1951, still did not meet with official approval.[7] The last libretto, largely by Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky, brought to the forefront the Decembrist revolutionaries themselves rather than the two lovers, and assigned a greater role to the Russian masses than in fact they actually played in the Decembrist story, Shaporin having been persuaded to abandon his previous intention to keep his opera historically accurate. This version culminated in a battle-scene conceived on a huge scale which could only be produced by an opera house boasting a very large stage and an almost unlimited budget for sets and extras.[8] By September 1952, having met all the authorities' demands for revision, Shaporin had completed his score and a production had been prepared by the Bolshoi, but no-one dared to stage it until Joseph Stalin had seen and approved it. Twice he failed to turn up to inspect the production, and this obstacle was only finally removed by Stalin's death in March 1953.[9]

The opera was premiered in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre on 23 June 1953[10] with Alexander Melik-Pashayev conducting. The Leningrad premiere took place later that month at the Mariinsky Theatre with Boris Khaikin conducting.[11]

The Decembrists is a work firmly in the tradition of 19th-century Russian opera.[12] Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and particularly the Borodin of Prince Igor are among the composers seen as being most influential on its style and structure, though Shaporin's work is more than a mere pastiche.[13] Harmonically, it draws on Shaporin's encyclopedic knowledge of music history, sometimes, it has been said, sounding like "a grousy Grieg or an attenuated Wagner",[14] and at other times reminding the listener of the harmonies of Borodin, Tchaikovsky and, if only faintly, of Prokofiev.[15]

The Decembrists has been a popular work in Russia,[8] and for many years in the Soviet era it was the only contemporary opera in the Bolshoi's permanent repertoire.[12] The Soldiers' Chorus, which announces the arrival of the Moscow regiment in Senate Square, is the popular hit of the work, a frequently performed crowd-pleaser[16][17] which has, according to the musicologist Stanley D. Krebs, achieved "a folk popularity".[14] However, it must be said that the success of the opera as a whole has not spread to the West.[1]

Soviet critics were largely agreed that The Decembrists was a great achievement, accessible, dramatic and in keeping with the Russian national tradition. Dimitri and Elena were thought to be successful Romantic creations, and there was praise for his vision of the Russian masses and of the various Decembrist leaders, even if the latter were not particularly differentiated musically.[18] There was wide agreement that the composer should have made the rebellion itself the climax of the opera, but the final scene, in which the Decembrists and the peasants express their hope for the future together, was nevertheless praised. The phrase "optimistic tragedy" was coined to summarise Shaporin's conception of his theme, and one critic wrote that he had

successfully translated the lofty tone of the Decembrists' civic feelings and intentions, the historical optimism of their struggle, and instilled in the listeners deep sympathy for the heroes who gave their young lives for the happiness of future generations.[19]

Shostakovich, not in general an enthusiast for Shaporin's works, wrote that

The quality of the music is very high. It's in good taste, melodious and very singable. I may be a little concerned that the characters are not clearly individuated, but I cannot deny that the composer has succeeded in his presentation of this collective portrait of the Decembrists.[20]

Later critics in the West and elsewhere have seen this opera as being well-made, far better than the general run of the Soviet Union's propaganda works. Paul Griffiths has gone so far as to call it "the outstanding [Soviet] opera of the period",[21] although others have denied it to be a great opera comparable to Prokofiev's and Shostakovich's finest works.[22][8] There has been much criticism of the libretto, which Boris Schwarz considered "undramatic and structurally deficient", making the opera static.[6] Stanley Krebs was disappointed by the shift of focus in the libretto's final version from the love story to the history of the Decembrist revolt; both he and Ludmilla Trigos believed that the opera struggles to solve the problem of how to make the people the centre of the action, as socialist realist orthodoxy demands, when historically they were not.[19][8] The characters have been called "walking statues",[20] the Tsar, for example, being "evil overdone".[14] The music has been praised for its glossy surface,[20] and for its nobility and lyricism.[1][15][6] Stephen Johnson has written that "the vocal writing is sympathetic, the orchestral contribution has colour, atmosphere and, in places, real intensity of feeling"; however, he had to agree with Gerald Abraham in missing "some element that can be isolated and labelled 'unmistakable Shaporin'".[22][2]

The Orchestra and Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre under Alexander Melik-Pashayev, who were entrusted with the opera's premiere in 1953, made the only complete recording of The Decembrists the following year. The cast included Alexei Ivanov, Alexander Pirogov, Ivan Petrov and Georgii Nelepp. In 2004 a remastered version of this recording was released on CD by Preiser Records.[15]