Mavra

  • Parasha (soprano )
  • Their mother (Alt )
  • Neighbor (mezzo- soprano)
  • Basil, a hussar (Tenor)

Mavra is a comic opera in one act by Igor Stravinsky based on a libretto by Boris Kochno. This in turn is based on the narrative poem " The little house in Kolomna " by Alexander Pushkin. The work was premiered on June 3, 1922 in the Paris Opera. The German premiere was held in Kiel on 7 November 1925.

Action

The opera is set in a small Russian village at the beginning of the 19th century.

Parasha is in love with their neighbors Basil, who is with the Hussars. The great care of her mother makes her not easy to meet with him. As the two lovers is fortunate to benefit: The cook of Para Shas mother suddenly passed away, and Mamuschka is heartbroken. She bursts into great wailing. The daughter she placed the order to search hastily for a new cook. It also does not take long until Parasha ran the job. The new chef is in reality a chef who, disguised as " Mavra " Basil. He and Parasha revel in luck. You can hardly believe that they will live from now on under the same roof.

However, the happy time does not last long. Para Shas mother has to watch as shaved her new cook. She lets out a loud scream and faints. Fortunately, the neighbor heard the scream. When she tries to come to the rescue and noticed the woman lying on the ground, she is frightened and also cries for help. Basil does not know what else to do than to jump out the window and run away aimlessly. Now parashah is screaming at the series - her lover behind!

Music

Mavra was in Stravinsky's neoclassical period of creativity. The work contains two arias, a duet and a quartet. It is both a tribute to Russian composers of the Romantic as well as a satire on the wealthy middle classes. In the original score Pyotr Tchaikovsky is known as the dedicatee.

Media

  • Columbia 72609: With Susan Belinck, Mary Simmons, Patricia Rideout, Stanley Kolk and the CBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer
  • Decca: With Joan Carlyle, Helen Watts, Monica Sinclair, Kenneth Macdonald and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Ernest Ansermet
  • Chandos CHA 9488: With Kravtsova Tatyana, Olga Korzhenskaya, Olga Markova - Mikhailenko, Alexei Martynov and the Netherlands Wind Ensemble, conducted by Thierry Fischer
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