Price:
from 3000 to 20,000 rub.
Opera "The Tsar's Bride."
Performed with two intermissions.
Duration: 3 hours 30 minutes.
Ticket prices: 
bilkon 2000-10,000 rub.
Mezzanine 2500-14000 rub.
Amphitheater 10,000-14,000 rub.
Parterre 12000-18000 rub.
The drama “The Tsar's Bride,” written by playwright, poet and translator L. Mey, attracted the attention of composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1868. True, Rimsky-Korsakov began creating an opera based on this plot only thirteen years later, in the winter of 1898. After 10 months, the opera was ready. In the fall of 1899, the premiere took place on the stage of the Moscow private opera theater of S.I. Mamontov.
The work of L. May, which was the basis of the opera, was created based on the historical episode of the third marriage of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. According to little-known historical data, the king began to look for a third wife, having become quite bored as a widower. Applicants were brought from all over the Russian land, as a result, Grozny chose the beautiful Marfa Sobakina, the daughter of a Novgorod merchant. At the same time, the king chose a bride for his son. The girls' fathers received boyar rank, estates and wealth. But the royal bride suddenly began to get sick - she was losing weight and getting dry every day. It was rumored that evil tongues, haters of Ivan the Terrible, were to blame. Suspicion fell on the close relatives of the deceased queens... Many people were killed. Despite Martha's illness, the king married her, hoping, in his words, to save the girl by trusting in God's mercy... But a few days after the wedding feast, the unfortunate Martha died, and no one ever found out whether she was really a victim of human malice or an unwitting culprit of numerous executions and massacres...
The historical plot was reinterpreted in accordance with the artistic concept. Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Tsar’s Bride,” which you can visit today at the Bolshoi Theater, takes viewers to the era of the reign of Ivan the Terrible, during the period when there was a bloody struggle between the guardsmen and the boyars. Despotism and arbitrariness manifested themselves everywhere, and in May’s play both dramatic situations and everyday life of Muscovite Rus' of that era are clearly depicted, and the characters from various social strata are presented. The libretto of the opera The Tsar's Bride almost completely repeats the text of Mey's play and does not introduce significant changes. In the opera, there is a contrast between two characters - the pure, bright, charming Martha and the imperious, insidious, hot-tempered Dirty. In addition to these central figures, there are other equally significant characters - Lyubasha, Gryazny’s abandoned lover; the cruel and calculating Elisha Bomelius; gullible and naive Lykov. The presence of Tsar Ivan the Terrible is felt invisibly throughout the entire opera, although Ivan Vasilyevich himself appears on stage once and does not utter a word...
Libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Ilya Tyumenev based on the drama of the same name by Lev May
Musical director and conductor -
Gennady Rozhdestvensky
Stage director: Yulia Pevzner
Scenographer: Alona Pikalova
based on the scenography by Fyodor Fedorovsky (1955)
Costume designer: Elena Zaitseva
Chief choirmaster - Valery Borisov
Lighting designer: Damir Ismagilov
Choreographer: Ekaterina Mironova
"The Tsar's Bride" is one of Rimsky-Korsakov's most popular operas, written at the end of the 19th century, but relevant and popular today. The plot is based on love. The daughter of a Novgorod merchant, Marfa, is in love with the boyar Ivan Lykov and is betrothed to him. But Grigory Gryaznov is in love with her. In order to somehow get the girl away from Lykov and draw attention to himself, he decides to give Marfa a witch’s potion to drink. But the result of this idea is sad, Martha drinks poison. The opera ends with Grigory Gryaznoy, saying goodbye to the girl, deciding to take revenge on all the offenders.
The historical plot of the opera "The Tsar's Bride" is very fascinating. Excellent performance of all arias, unique musical content, well-played roles... And all this is complemented by beautifully made antique decorations and well-designed costumes that correspond to their era. Despite the fact that the opera has a hundred-year history, its popularity continues today. The closeness of the revealed themes of love, betrayal and deception allows you to enjoy watching this production. And if you want to have a good time, we recommend to buy tickets for the opera “The Tsar’s Bride”, which is staged at the Bolshoi Theater.
The opera “The Tsar's Bride” will be performed at the Bolshoi Theater.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Set designer - Alona Pikalova based on the set design by Fyodor Fedorovsky (1955)
Chief choirmaster - Valery Borisov
The premiere took place in 1899 in Moscow in the private opera of Savva Mamontov. The public received the “non-advanced” opera with a bang. And to this day, “The Tsar’s Bride” is one of the most beloved and frequently performed operas in the Russian repertoire. And her magnificent “complete musical numbers” are invariably performed in concerts. It was first staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1916. In the very first performance, the great Marfa - Antonina Nezhdanova and the great Lyubasha - Nadezhda Obukhova, then just a beginning soloist at the Bolshoi, appeared on stage. And later the most famous artists shone in this production. In 1955, in the second year of his service, the production of “The Tsar’s Bride” was carried out by twenty-seven-year-old Evgeny Svetlanov. Ten years earlier, the second episode of Sergei Eisenstein’s film “Ivan the Terrible” was put on the shelf: Stalin was not satisfied with the ominous image of the bloody tsar-dictator. But in 1955, Stalin was no longer around and the breath of the approaching “thaw” was clearly felt. And something akin to what Eisenstein embodied on the screen, thanks to Svetlanov’s baton, then sounded in Rimsky-Korsakov’s music: history “came to life” and intersected with modernity at the most painful point. That performance, in turn, was out of the ordinary: according to the initially established tradition, historicism was emphasized in this opera with the help of other expressive means. Realism and historical verisimilitude of everyday life - such was his unwritten slogan.
The next time The Tsar's Bride was staged at the Bolshoi was in 1966. The third production, which features historically accurate sets by Fyodor Fedorovsky that amaze with their magnificence, is a classic example of the so-called “grand style”.
In 2014, Yulia Pevzner offered her director's version of The Tsar's Bride.
Duration - 03:30, the performance has two intermissions
Buy tickets for the opera The Tsar's Bride
Opera N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride is a large-scale work, it embodies the traditions of Russian classical music, directing, and scenography. Seeing the names of famous conductors and singers on the poster, the viewer understands that there is a bright performance ahead. Its premiere took place in 2014; director Yulia Pevzner, musical director and conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, set designer Alona Pikalova staged it based on the set design by Fyodor Fedorovsky. In the title roles, viewers will see the famous bass Vladimir Matorin, Kristina Mkhitaryan, Ksenia Dudnikova. Opera The Tsar's Bride at the Bolshoi Theater- a notable event on the capital's music scene.
Buy tickets for The Tsar's Bride
The beautiful Marfa Sobakina is betrothed to Ivan Lykov, the young people are in love and happy. However,
The image of the girl haunts Grigory Gryazny, in an attempt to win her heart, he turns to the doctor Bomelius for a love potion. Lyubasha, Gryazny’s mistress, overhears this conversation and plans to harass her rival. At this time, the news spreads around the area that Tsar Ivan the Terrible is organizing a brideshow, Martha and other girls are invited to the palace. But it seems that everything is working out, but while congratulating the newlyweds, Marfa accepts from the hands of Gryazny a glass, where instead of a potion Lyubasha has added poison. Lykov is accused of poisoning her and is executed, and his beautiful bride dies.
Everyone can attend a beautiful performance, hurry up order tickets for the opera The Tsar's Bride.
Act I
The upper room in the house of the guardsman Grigory Gryazny. Grigory is in thought: he passionately fell in love with Martha, the daughter of the merchant Sobakin, but she was betrothed to the young boyar Ivan Lykov. To forget himself, Gryaznoy decided to arrange a feast, where he invited the royal physician Bomelius; Gryaznoy has important business with him. Guests arrive: guardsmen led by Malyuta Skuratov, a friend of Gryaznoy, Ivan Lykov and the long-awaited Elisey Bomeliy. Lykov talks about foreign lands from which he recently returned. Everyone praises Emperor Ivan the Terrible, feasts and has fun. Malyuta remembers Lyubasha. “Who is this... Lyubasha?” - asks Bomelius. “Dirty’s mistress, miracle girl!” - Malyuta answers. Gryaznoy calls Lyubasha, who, at Malyuta’s request, sings a song about the bitter lot of a girl forced to marry someone she doesn’t love. The guests disperse, Gregory detains Bomelius. Lyubasha, sensing something bad, overhears their conversation. Gryaznoy asks Bomelius for a love potion - “to bewitch the girl to himself.” The doctor promises to help.
After Bomelius leaves, Lyubasha bitterly reproaches Gregory for having stopped loving her. But Gryaznoy does not listen to the girl. They call for matins. Gregory leaves. Lyubasha vows to find the homewrecker and turn her away from Gryaznoy.
Act II
Love potion
Street in Alexandrovskaya Sloboda. The parishioners leave the monastery after Vespers. Marfa tells her friend about her fiancé Ivan Lykov. Suddenly a detachment of guardsmen appears from the gates of the monastery. She does not recognize Tsar Ivan the Terrible at the head of the detachment, but his gaze frightens Marfa. Only after seeing her father and groom does Martha calm down. Sobakin invites Lykov into the house, the girls follow them. Lyubasha appears at the Sobakins' house. She wants to see her rival and looks into the lighted window. Lyubasha is amazed by Marfa's beauty. In desperate determination, she rushes to Bomelius and asks him to sell a potion that could destroy human beauty. Bomelius agrees in exchange for her love. Indignant Lyubasha wants to leave, but the doctor threatens to tell Gryazny about her request. Marfa's laughter coming from the Sobakins' house forces Lyubasha to agree to Bomelius's condition.
Act III
The upper room in the house of the merchant Sobakin. The owner tells Lykov and Gryaznoy that Marfa, along with Dunyasha and other boyar daughters, has been summoned to the Tsar’s palace for a viewing.
Lykov is alarmed, and Gryaznoy is alarmed. Sobakin tries to calm the groom down. Gryaznoy volunteers to be a groomsman at Lykov’s wedding.
Domna Saburova, Dunyasha’s mother, enters and talks about the Tsar’s bride viewing party. The king barely glanced at Martha, but he was very affectionate with Dunyasha. Lykov sighs with relief. Grigory pours two glasses to congratulate the bride and groom, and he pours a love potion into Marfa’s glass. As soon as Martha enters the upper room, Gregory congratulates the newlyweds and brings them glasses. Martha, according to the ancient custom, drinks her glass to the bottom. Saburova sings a majestic song, which is picked up by the bridesmaids.
Malyuta solemnly appears with the boyars and announces the will of Ivan the Terrible - Martha has been chosen to marry the sovereign and become queen.
Act IV
Bride
Tsar's tower. Sobakin is saddened by his daughter’s illness: a serious unknown illness is tormenting her. Gryaznoy comes with the Tsar's word and reports to Marfa that Lykov allegedly repented of his intention to kill Marfa with a potion and the Tsar ordered his execution, which he, Gryaznoy, did with his own hand. Martha falls unconscious to the floor. When she wakes up, she doesn’t recognize anyone: she mistakes Gryazny for Lykov, speaks affectionately to him, remembering the happy days spent with her fiancé. Shocked, Gryaznoy confesses that he slandered Lykov and killed Marfa himself by giving her a love potion. Gryaznoy, in despair, is ready to accept a “terrible judgment,” but before that he wants to “divorce” Bomelius, who deceived him. “Divorce me,” Lyubasha, who appears, tells him. She says that she replaced the love potion that was given to Marfa with poison. Gregory kills her with a knife.
But Martha does not notice anything. All her thoughts are in the past, with Lykov.
“The Tsar’s Bride” was written by Rimsky-Korsakov in 1898 in ten months; the premiere took place on October 22, 1899 at the Private Opera of S.I. Mamontov. The opera was received ambiguously by contemporaries, but it has stood the test of time very successfully, remaining one of the composer’s most sought-after creations today. Very close, in essence, to European opera, in a musical sense understandable and familiar to Western listeners, but at the same time equipped with a rich Russian flavor and melody - this is exactly the work that is perfectly suited for presenting the possibilities of Russian opera to foreigners, it has a place in a number of “calling cards” of the Bolshoi Theater, the main opera house of Moscow.
And this is where the list of disappointed expectations begins. Performances, as is now customary in opera houses, are performed with subtitles. When foreign operas are performed in the original language, the Russian translation is used, but here, naturally, a translation from Russian into English appeared. To be honest, Russian subtitles would not have been a bad idea - an obvious minority of singers were able to handle the diction perfectly, and the realistic concept of the production still made it necessary to thoroughly understand every word. But the point is not even this, but the very vocabulary of translation: translating the libretto of an opera, written in the century before last about historical events of ancient times, into the language of second-rate Hollywood films is an unacceptable, vulgar idea. After all, no one is trying to translate, for example, Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” into Russian in the vocabulary of a detective series (although why not, since both are crime dramas about murders), but on the contrary, for some reason it turned out to be possible...
In fact, of course, this is not the greatest evil, but nevertheless alarming. A much greater danger, paradoxically, lay in the direction, the place of which in the reconstructed production seems to be not at all so significant.
But first, a little digression. I, who fanatically love the opera genre, have always been disgusted by the radicalism of modern directors, and it seemed that there was nothing more beautiful than traditionalism in the director’s concept. However, the premiere of The Tsar's Bride revealed a different problem. Not in radical modernization as such, not in emphasizing a hidden or contrived semantic layer - everything is clear with this, well, that’s what a director’s opera is! In a sense, this approach gradually influenced us as spectators - we will never be the same again, but will wait for the introduction of new technical capabilities on stage and a reasonable “shaking out of the mothballs.” But the greatest evil happens when the mothball caftans and ceiling-mounted fortresses are just in place, and the viewer receives the expected and familiar spectacle, but from the inside, in small ways, corroded by an absolutely inappropriate wormhole of analogies with modernity.
"The Tsar's Bride" at the Bolshoi Theater. Photo by Damir Yusupov/Bolshoi Theater
Here, for example, is the end of the second act: Tsar Ivan the Terrible rides a horse - well, let’s say, on great theater stages he often rode like that, although it is clear that the public, as soon as the animal appeared on stage, no longer cared about what someone there at this moment he is still singing and playing. But here a small “modern” detail is introduced: he is not accompanied by a guardsman with a broom, as in the libretto, but by a good platoon of them with sabers openly protruding from under the monastic robes in which they are dressed for camouflage, and the path ahead of them is scouted out by other “employees” " Authors of the 19th century never even dreamed of such “security measures” for a sovereign who decided to secretly look at merchant daughters.
But Gryazny’s big aria – torment alone with oneself? Nothing of the sort, he is the one who opens up with the servant who is busy doing housework, and the latter, having completed his work, quietly and without any permission leaves. Or the girls, who in ancient times were kept “locked up” by the Muscovites, are frivolously swinging on kindergarten swings right in the middle of the street - to the delight of the good fellows. The same Gryaznoy is not taken away to be punished for a crime against the sovereign, but is quickly stabbed with a knife right on the stage, leaving Marfa with a corpse even before all her lines are over. Sennaya girls serve the table, and then harness themselves to the “Russian bird-troika”, which rides the drunken Malyuta, wearing necklaces and festive boyar kokoshniks... Do I need to continue?
About kokoshniks and costumes, along with bear skins, boyar hats and other things, turning “haberdashery realism” in the style of Sergei Solomko (maybe, by the way, completely normal for the first productions of the opera a hundred years ago) into spreading export “cranberries” today - separate conversation. Not only foreigners, but also our fellow citizens are sure that the Russian style is a kokoshnik, pearls, fur dusheres, as well as kaftans and sundresses (the words themselves, by the way, are Turkic). The basis for this idea was laid by world-famous photographs from a costume ball in the Winter Palace in February 1903, in modern terms, a “reconstruction party”, in which society ladies and gentlemen were ordered to dress up smartly in ancient fashion, about which they had a very vague idea. Therefore, officers boldly put Polish robes on starched shirts, and ladies coquettishly placed precious kokoshniks over their cropped and curled locks (despite the fact that historically this is a headdress that symbolically covers a married woman’s hair forever after the wedding). That ball was the last of such a scale in Russian history; two years later the first revolution happened and there was no time for that, while even its participants themselves in their memoirs called the costumes not authentically historical, but “opera.” More than a century has passed since then, and the degree of scientific research into the history of costume and the availability of information in libraries and the Internet has changed fundamentally. Now, in a couple of clicks, it is not difficult to find out that the kokoshnik (if there was one in the family at all, since only fairly wealthy people could afford to order it) was worn only a few times in life - after the wedding and on especially important holidays, and that this shape and degree of decoration with precious With stones, as now on stage, only married women from the upper boyar class could wear kokoshniks. And if it is all right to use such ideas in the ironic comedy “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession,” then in a serious opera production, and even with the declared historicism, it is extremely reckless. For then the question arises, which of the historical truths do we preserve with such “realism”?
There are at least three options: designing operas in the style of the author’s time (in the current premiere, partially reflected in the costumes), Soviet scenography (here implemented in partially preserved and rebuilt sets for the new world, quite spectacular) or using real Russian history? And the viewer who does not bother with the details leaves the performance, by the way, with the full conviction that it was she who was shown to him! Worse, the director, with much greater ease than in a modernist production, can load any mythology, any random or directed associations regarding the interpretation of our history into a pseudo-historical picture - and they will happily be “eaten up”, imperceptibly, at the subconscious level. Not only is this easier than thoroughly thinking about how people lived then, how they moved, how they behaved, but it also gives room for manipulation!
However, let's return to the opera; not everyone, like the royal bride, languishes behind a false gilded cage of stage decisions. The presence of the venerable conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky ensured that the performance had a sufficiently conventional attitude towards our great opera, its musical accents, as well as, as far as possible in the premiere, the minimization of orchestral defects. That's probably all. The choir, unfortunately, did not have time to bring it to the same level of readiness - there was a rather unsung, on the verge of lacking, intonation in the tenor and soprano groups and a general dullness and dustiness of the sound.
Marfa - Olga Kulchinskaya. Lykov - Roman Shulakov. Photo by Damir Yusupov/Bolshoi Theater
The vocalists, on the whole, left a moderately good impression. The list of praise should definitely begin with Marat Gali (Bomeliy) - he is a brilliant, characteristic tenor, with excellent diction, with a flying and expressive sound. The director's concept saw in the royal doctor a real medieval European warlock - so for Galya and acting this is not a problem, he turned out to be a colorful lame old man, devilishly cunning and tenacious.
Our outstanding bass Vladimir Matorin (Sobakin) also appeared on stage, of course, having now crossed the equator of optimal vocal form in his long-term career, but still maintaining the condition for performing Russian operas. Its bass is still sonorous, as if specially created by nature to fill the historical hall of the Bolshoi Theater. Even if the voice was already somewhat unfocused, the artist played this correctly, making his hero not a “noble father,” but rather also a characteristic Russian character, extremely sincere both in his love for the feast and in his burning paternal sadness.
For soprano Olga Kulchinskaya (Marfa), despite all the questions about the acting (well, it’s not very good when a modest and not very healthy merchant’s daughter sportsly rushes around the stage until the last minute and throws out completely modern gestures), we should recognize the vocal success. The composer honored the titular heroine with an extraordinary task, giving her a couple of main themes and two large arias that were similar in material. But Kulchinskaya managed to remain the main one on stage and did not turn the opera into “Grigory Gryaznoy” (as happens most often) or even “Vasily Sobakin” (although Matorin, admittedly, was very close to pulling the blanket over himself). Her voice is soft, in no way glassy-coloratura, but rather lyrical, bright enough for the Bolshoi stage, with a good school and not yet chattered at all, fresh and pleasant. And the singer uses it very wisely, without overload, but expressively, somehow very European. From this, of course, the final scene finally turned into “the madness of Lucia di Lammermoor”, quite active, and not sacrificially passive - the singer’s interpretation only emphasized the musical similarity of the two great scenes laid down by the composer.
Alexander Kasyanov (Gryaznoy) gave up the championship without a fight. The role of the restless Tsar's guardsman is probably familiar to the singer, having long been unlearned, and even the premiere excitement in the main theater of the country did not spoil this. But we didn’t get any special impression, a true tragedy - he worked the part conscientiously as best he could, rather than lived through it. The same can be said about the work of Irina Udalova (Saburova) and Elena Novak (Dunyasha) - they did everything standardly, didn’t spoil anything, didn’t reveal any revelations, but unlike Gryaznoy, this wasn’t required in their small roles.
The most controversial result was shown by Agunda Kulaeva (Lyubasha). At the moment of entering the stage, her very first phrase made the audience shudder - a roundly noble, deep, almost contralto sound, tragic color. But then the shivers down the spine, despite the fact that her musical text is the most blessed and diverse, no longer appeared. The scale of the stage and the hall forced the singer, in pursuit of sonority, to shift the top notes in a purely drumsoprane manner, and the bottom notes somehow became dull due to excessive ennoblement. It’s not that it looked bad – on the contrary, she sang better than many. Just knowing the capabilities of this singer, I have a different opinion about her - I wanted more, and we believe that it will really manifest itself over time. But the main thing is that she, together with Kulchinskaya, did not fall into the peculiar stylistic trap of this work - the parts of Marfa and Lyubasha are written in a close range with a difference of only one and a half tones, and the sound should be very contrasting - and they really felt it!
Lykov's part from Roman Shulakov requires more serious preparation - for some reason the singer saw in it an Italian hero-lover, and not a lyrically pensive “pro-Western liberal” from the time of Ivan the Terrible. Shulakov tried to sing brightly, expressively, sometimes he neglected consistent performance of the role for the sake of exaggerated vocalization, this interfered with intoning, and there was no need to talk about any freedom and real flight of sound.
Well, frankly, Oleg Tsybulko (Malyuta) did not do the best work - for a fairly young and “Italian-shaped”, not Russian bass, it may be too early to sing it, and to play it is not close in texture. The tall singer, portraying drunken fun in the costume of Malyuta, seemed extremely tense and tense - like the merry master of life, but instead of joy and daring, for some reason there was only torment and stiffness in his appearance.
As for forecasts about the future of this performance: we believe that there will almost certainly be many new introductions of Russian soloists ahead, perhaps other conducting forces, and it is possible that there will also be a rejection of some unnecessary movements of the artists on stage within the framework of the director’s concept. But the main thing is that we have such an opera, and it is sung at the Bolshoi.
Photo by Damir Yusupov / Bolshoi Theater
