The Mandarin's Son is comic opera in one act by César Cui

César Cui

César Antonovich Cui was a Russian of French and Lithuanian descent. His profession was as an army officer and a teacher of fortifications; his avocational life has particular significance in the history of music, in that he was a composer and music critic; in this sideline he is known as a...

, composed in 1859. The libretto

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...

, which includes spoken dialogue, was written by V.A. Krylov.

No small influence for this work came from the French composer Daniel Auber

Daniel Auber

Daniel François Esprit Auber was a French composer.-Biography:The son of a Paris print-seller, Auber was born in Caen in Normandy. Though his father expected him to continue in the print-selling business, he also allowed his son to learn how to play several musical instruments...

, particularly his Le cheval de bronze

Le cheval de bronze

Le cheval de bronze is an opéra comique by the French composer Daniel Auber, first performed at the Opéra-Comique, Paris on 23 March 1835. The libretto is by Auber's regular collaborator, Eugène Scribe and the piece was a great success in its day. In 1837, it was transformed into an opera-ballet,...

, which had a similar setting, and was being performed in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 at the time.

Cui dedicated this opera to his bride, Mal'vina Bamberg. (They had married the previous year.) The orchestration is credited to Mily Balakirev

Mily Balakirev

Mily Alexeyevich Balakirev ,Russia was still using old style dates in the 19th century, and information sources used in the article sometimes report dates as old style rather than new style. Dates in the article are taken verbatim from the source and therefore are in the same style as the source...

.

Performance History

The first performance of The Mandarin's Son was "domestic," so to speak. It occurred on 22 February 1859 at the apartment of Cui's in-laws in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

, with piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 accompaniment. The cast for this performance included Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...

 in the role of the Mandarin and Mal'vina as the Innkeeper's daughter.

The first public performance was given on 7 December 1878 in St. Petersburg, by the Клуб художников [Artists' Club]. Thereafter it proved to be one of the few operas by Cui that was popular in Imperial Russia. Soon after the composer's death, however, the opera seemed to have disappeared from the repertory in 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...

. It was revived, however, in 1998 by the Pokrovsky Chamber Music Theater in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in a modified production.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, February 22, 1859 (piano accompaniment performed by Cui and Balakirev)
Kau-Tsing, the mandarin	bass	Modest Musorgsky
Zinzingu, the Innkeeper	baritone Baritone Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...	P. I. Gumbin
Iedi, his daughter	soprano Soprano A 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...	Malʹvina Rafailovna Cui
Muri, his servant	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Ia. I. Chernyavsky
Zai-Sang, his other servant	bass	N. N. Velʹyaminov

Synopsis

Place:At the Inn in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

The plot is very simple: The Innkeeper discovers that his daughter Iedi is interested in his servant Muri, whereupon he tells Muri to leave. In the meantime, the Mandarin has arrived, searching for his long-lost son, who turns out to be -- of course -- Muri.