Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was the composer of no fewer than 15 operas. But how many of them are known in the West?
This week on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll have a chance to sample one of them, as we welcome spring with selections from “The Snow Maiden.”
Based on an allegorical fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, it’s the story of a star-crossed love that brings about the end of a 15-year winter. The orchestral suite – which climaxes with the “Dance of the Tumblers” – is fairly popular, but the opera itself is seldom done, at least outside of Russia.
The recording we’ll sample, on the Capriccio label, features the Bulgarian Radio Symphony conducted by Stoyan Angelov. It may not hold a candle to the best Rimsky opera recordings by conductors like Nikolai Golovanov, but it’s enough to give a taste of what American opera lovers are missing.
I hope you’ll join me for “The Thaw of the Wild,” on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!
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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
https://kwax.uoregon.edu
Tag: The Snow Maiden
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Spring Arrives Tchaikovsky vs Rimsky-Korsakov
So long, winter. We hardly knew ye! Spring arrives this afternoon at 5:24 EDT.
Last night on “The Lost Chord,” I presented highlights from Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “The Snow Maiden.” The work is an allegorical fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, with the story of a star-crossed love bringing about the end of a 15-year winter.
Rimsky’s opera, composed in 1880-81, was based on a play by Alexander Ostrovsky, which was first presented in 1873 with incidental music by Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky.
Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) and Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) shared something of a complicated rivalry. In public, they were genial and even supportive of one another, while in private both grappled with suspicion and envy. By the mid-1880s, Tchaikovsky achieved such eminence that Rimsky found himself creatively paralyzed. For his part, Tchaikovsky swore his publisher to secrecy about his use of a recently-invented instrument, the celesta, to characterize the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker,” so nervous was he that Rimsky would steal his thunder.
Tchaikovsky’s untimely death finally lifted some of the pressure. Rimsky exorcised his demons by setting Nikolai Gogol’s short story “Christmas Eve,” a work Tchaikovsky had already adapted as an opera twice: in 1874, as “Vakula the Smith,” and in 1885, as “Cherevichki” (“The Slippers”). Rimsky’s own operatic version of the tale appeared in 1895.
Rimsky was only 50 when he began work on “Christmas Eve,” but it proved to be the start of something of an Indian summer for the composer. 11 of his 15 operas followed. By the time of his death at the age of 64, he could be said to have been every bit as revered as Tchaikovsky.
Thanks to the orchestral suite Rimsky distilled from “The Snow Maiden,” at least some of his music is better-known, especially “Dance of the Tumblers,” which is a favorite for drive-time radio. The best-known bit from Tchaikovsky’s version, which honestly has never really caught on to the extent that Rimsky’s has, is also his “Dance of the Tumblers.”
Winter isn’t over until a ray of sunshine strikes the Snow Maiden. All hail Yarilo, Slavic god of vegetation, fertility, and springtime!
Tchaikovsky, “Dance of the Tumblers”
Rimsky-Korsakov, “Dance of the Tumblers”
Tchaikovsky, Complete incidental music to “The Snow Maiden”
Rimsky-Korsakov, Suite from the opera “The Snow Maiden”
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Rimsky-Korsakov’s Lost Operas: Snow Maiden
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was the composer of no fewer than 15 operas. But how many of them are known in the West?
This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll have a chance to sample one of them, as we welcome spring with selections from “The Snow Maiden.”
Based on an allegorical fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, it’s the story of a star-crossed love that brings about the end of a 15-year winter. The orchestral suite – which climaxes with the “Dance of the Tumblers” – is fairly popular, but the opera itself is seldom done, at least outside of Russia.
The recording we’ll sample, on the Capriccio label, features the Bulgarian Radio Symphony conducted by Stoyan Angelov. It may not hold a candle to the best Rimsky opera recordings by conductors like Nikolai Golovanov, but it’s enough to give a taste of what American opera lovers are missing.
I hope you’ll join me for “The Thaw of the Wild,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
And lest anyone doubt my motives in celebrating a Russian composer since the invasion of Ukraine, Rimsky was no fan of authoritarianism, or imperialism, for that matter. If you’re interested to learn more, I wrote about it in this post about another one of his operas, last year:
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Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Snow Maiden” on “The Lost Chord”
A few days ago, on the occasion of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthday anniversary, I was going on about his operas. This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” you’ll have a chance to sample one of them, as we welcome spring with selections from “The Snow Maiden.”
Based on an allegorical Russian fairy tale of humans, quasi-mythological creatures, and the eternal forces of nature, it’s the story of a star-crossed love that brings about the end of a 15-year winter. The orchestral suite – which climaxes with the “Dance of the Tumblers” – is fairly popular, but the opera, as with all of Rimsky’s 16 efforts in the form, is virtually unknown in the West.
The recording, on the Capriccio label, which features the Bulgarian Radio Symphony conducted by Stoyan Angelov, doesn’t hold a candle to the best Rimsky opera recordings by conductors like Nikolai Golovanov, but it’s enough to give a taste of what American opera lovers are missing.
I hope you’ll join me for “Thaw of the Wild,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Wednesday evening at 6, or that you’ll listen to it later as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.
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