Little Red Riding Hood (Cui)
Encyclopedia
Little Red Riding Hood is an opera-fairytale for children in two acts (three tableaux) by César Cui, composed in 1911. The libretto
was written by Marina Stanislavona Pol', based on Charles Perrault
's fairytale of the same name
.
The printed score
from 1912 bears a dedication to Crown Prince Alexey
of Imperial Russia.
The earliest date of a performance for this opera has yet to be established. However, it is known to have been staged in 1921, in Gomel
, in the Byelorussian SSR
(now Belarus
), by students from the People's City Conservatory and the Technical School.
Act I, Tableau 1. The chorus introduces the story. The setting is the edge of a forest; the porch of Little Red Riding Hood's house is off to the side. As Riding-Hood goes off to take a basket to her ill Grandmother., her Mother warns her not to dawdle in the woods or to talk to strangers. The scenery changes without a break to --
Act I, Tableau 2. -- a place inside the forest. Woodcutters can be heard chopping wood. Riding-Hood comes out of some bushes. As she pauses to pick some flowers, and the Wolf catches sight of her. On the path he stops her and makes up a story about a shortcut the Grandmother's house. When he challenges her to see who will get there first, she agrees, and both of them run off in different directions as the woodcutters resume their work.
Act II. The chorus appears again to explain that the Wolf has not eaten for three days and was able to get to Grandmother's house first. We see inside Grandmother's cottage and outside, a glade. The Wolf, pretending to be Riding Hood, manages to get into the house and swallow Grandmother. He takes her place in the bed before Riding Hood arrives. In several questions she expresses her surprise at how differently Grandmother looks now, and the Wolf swallows her.
Some hunters and woodcutters, who have been tracking the Wolf, come by and enter the house. They find the Wolf in his sleep and open his belly to let Grandmother and Riding-Hood out. After they sew up the Wolf again, he repents and is permitted to live in the forest as long as he lives up to his promise to be good.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
was written by Marina Stanislavona Pol', based on Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault
Charles Perrault was a French author who laid the foundations for a new literary genre, the fairy tale, with his works derived from pre-existing folk tales. The best known include Le Petit Chaperon rouge , Cendrillon , Le Chat Botté and La Barbe bleue...
's fairytale of the same name
Little Red Riding Hood
Little Red Riding Hood, also known as Little Red Cap, is a French fairy tale about a young girl and a Big Bad Wolf. The story has been changed considerably in its history and subject to numerous modern adaptations and readings....
.
The printed score
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
from 1912 bears a dedication to Crown Prince Alexey
Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia
Alexei Nikolaevich of the House of Romanov, was the Tsesarevich and heir apparent to the throne of the Russian Empire. In English, his title is usually given as Tsarevich, a title that has a separate meaning in Russia. Alexei was the youngest child and only son of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress...
of Imperial Russia.
The earliest date of a performance for this opera has yet to be established. However, it is known to have been staged in 1921, in Gomel
Homyel
Gomel ; also Homiel, Homel is the administrative center of Gomel Voblast and the second-largest city in Belarus. It has a population of 482,652...
, in the Byelorussian SSR
Byelorussian SSR
The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union. It was one of the four original founding members of the Soviet Union in 1922, together with the Ukrainian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
(now Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
), by students from the People's City Conservatory and the Technical School.
Characters and Setting
- The Grandmother: altoAltoAlto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
- The Mother: mezzo-sopranoMezzo-sopranoA mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
- Little Red Riding-Hood: sopranoSopranoA soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
- The Wolf: alto
- A Hunter: soprano
- A Woodcutter: mezzo-soprano
- Hunters and woodcutters
- Narrating chorusChoirA choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
Synopsis
(Note: The plot, though nominally based on Perrault, adds a happy ending.)Act I, Tableau 1. The chorus introduces the story. The setting is the edge of a forest; the porch of Little Red Riding Hood's house is off to the side. As Riding-Hood goes off to take a basket to her ill Grandmother., her Mother warns her not to dawdle in the woods or to talk to strangers. The scenery changes without a break to --
Act I, Tableau 2. -- a place inside the forest. Woodcutters can be heard chopping wood. Riding-Hood comes out of some bushes. As she pauses to pick some flowers, and the Wolf catches sight of her. On the path he stops her and makes up a story about a shortcut the Grandmother's house. When he challenges her to see who will get there first, she agrees, and both of them run off in different directions as the woodcutters resume their work.
Act II. The chorus appears again to explain that the Wolf has not eaten for three days and was able to get to Grandmother's house first. We see inside Grandmother's cottage and outside, a glade. The Wolf, pretending to be Riding Hood, manages to get into the house and swallow Grandmother. He takes her place in the bed before Riding Hood arrives. In several questions she expresses her surprise at how differently Grandmother looks now, and the Wolf swallows her.
Some hunters and woodcutters, who have been tracking the Wolf, come by and enter the house. They find the Wolf in his sleep and open his belly to let Grandmother and Riding-Hood out. After they sew up the Wolf again, he repents and is permitted to live in the forest as long as he lives up to his promise to be good.