MR (Marina and Rainer)
Encyclopedia
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in one act (5 scenes) by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Nikolai Korndorf
Nikolai Korndorf
Nikolai Sergeevich Korndorf was a Russian and Canadian composer and conductor. He was prolific both in Moscow, Russia and in Vancouver, Canada.-Biography:...
(1947-2001). The libretto by Yuri Lourié is in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek is the stage of the Greek language in the periods spanning the times c. 9th–6th centuries BC, , c. 5th–4th centuries BC , and the c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD of ancient Greece and the ancient world; being predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek...
and Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
). Commissioned by the Munich Biennial, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, it was composed in 1989.
Premiere
The first performance was on May 20, 1994 at the Muffathalle in MunichMunich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany, with the Munich Biennial Singers, Ulm Orchestra, and S. Bachli, conductor.
Structure
The opera consists of five scenes:- 1. Tsvetayeva and Rilke
- 2. SaphoSapphoSappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
and AlcaeusAlcaeusAlcaeus may refer to:*Alcaeus , a writer of ten plays of the Old Comedy.*Alcaeus , one of several figures of this name in Greek mythology*12607 Alcaeus - a main belt asteroid... - 3. Tsvetayeva and Rilke again
- 4. Yakamochi and Sakanoue
- 5. Tsvetayeva and Rilke again.
Roles
- Marina
- Rainer
- Sapho
- Alcaeus
- Yakamochi
- Sakanoue
Three pantomime actors symbolizing the illness and fate as well as the poets’ relations in a real life.
Plot
This is a moving story told in letters between two great poets, the Russian Marina TsvetaevaMarina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Moscow famine that followed it. In an attempt to save her daughter Irina from...
and the Austrian Rainer Maria Rilke
Rainer Maria Rilke
René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...
. They never met but their fiery relationship lasted for several months. At that time Rilke was severely ill with leukaemia and had already not written for two years. However the letters of Tsvetaeva returned him to poetry. The love of Tsvetayeva for Rilke’s poetry grew to the love of him as a person. She was ready to come and meet him in real life, but when her last letter to him was written, Rilke was already dead. As a background to this story, two other pairs of poets were added: the Ancient Greek poets Sapho
Sappho
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos. Later Greeks included her in the list of nine lyric poets. Her birth was sometime between 630 and 612 BC, and it is said that she died around 570 BC, but little is known for certain about her life...
and Alcaeus
Alcaeus
Alcaeus may refer to:*Alcaeus , a writer of ten plays of the Old Comedy.*Alcaeus , one of several figures of this name in Greek mythology*12607 Alcaeus - a main belt asteroid...
, and the 8th century Japanese poets Otomo no Yakamochi
Otomo no Yakamochi
was a Japanese statesman and waka poet in the Nara period. He is a member of the . He was born into the prestigious Ōtomo clan; his grandfather was Ōtomo no Amaro and his father was Ōtomo no Tabito. Ōtomo no Kakimochi was his younger brother, and Ōtomo no Sakanoe no Iratsume his aunt...
and Lady Otomo no Sakanoue.
Scoring
- Singers: soprano, coloratura soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass, 3 pantomime actors
- Orchestra: Flute (= piccolo, basso, flauto dolce soprano), oboe, 2 clarinets (I = piccolo, alt saxophone; II = bass clarinet), bassoon, 1(= contrabassoon), 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, percussion 2 players, harp, celesta (= cembalo), piano I prepared (= piano II normal), electric guitar (= bass guitar) 2 violins, viola, celo and double bass.
Duration = 90 minutes
External links
- Official website
- Onno van Rijen's Soviet composer's page
- Korndor page fat the Classical ArchivesClassical ArchivesClassical Archives is an online digital music store focused exclusively on classical music. Originally opening as the Classical MIDI Archives in 1994 primarily as a repository for free MIDI sequences of classical music works, in August, 2000 the site incorporated as Classical Archives, LLC, and...
- Canadian Music Centre
- Elena Dubinets, Musykalnaya Arademia: detailed information, biography, and interview in Russian