The Merchant Kalashnikov is a three-act opera

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...

 by Anton Rubinstein

Anton Rubinstein

Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein was a Russian-Jewish pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos...

, with a 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...

 by Nikolai Kulikov. It is based on The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov

The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov

A Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevish, the Young Oprichnik, and the Valorous Merchant Kalashnikov, often abbreviated as The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov, is a poem by Mikhail Lermontov written in 1837 and first published in 1838....

by Mikhail Lermontov

Mikhail Lermontov

Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...

.

Background

The opera was written between 1877 and 1879, and was first performed at the Mariinsky Theatre

Mariinsky Theatre

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...

, St. Petersburg on .
Written about the same time as the composer's Fifth Symphony

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...

, it has been seen as an attempt by Rubinstein to place himself as a Russian nationalist composer, like the members of the Kuchka. It has many elements in common with Russian nationalist operas which preceded it, notably Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...

's opera The Maid of Pskov

The Maid of Pskov

The Maid of Pskov , is an opera in three acts and six scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by the composer, and is based on the drama of the same name by Lev Mei. The story concerns the Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his efforts to subject the cities of Pskov and Novgorod to his...

and Tchaikovsky's opera The Oprichnik

The Oprichnik (opera)

The Oprichnik or The Guardsman is an opera in 4 acts, 5 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his own libretto after the tragedy The Oprichniks by Ivan Lazhechnikov . The subject of the opera is the oprichniks...

, both of which were also set in the times of Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 Ivan the Terrible. It also contains typical features such as folk-songs, dances of jesters, chants of monks, and a chorus of praise for the Tsar. Like Rubinstein's earlier opera, The Demon

The Demon (opera)

The Demon is an opera in three acts by Russian composer Anton Rubinstein. The work was composed in 1871. The libretto was by Pavel Viskovatov, based on the poem of the same name by Mikhail Lermontov.-Background:...

, (1871), it was based on a narrative poem by Lermontov.

Nonetheless, The Merchant Kalashnikov was not a success. It was taken off after its first two performances for political reasons (the climactic execution of Kalashnikov being objected to by Tsar Alexander II). It was revived in 1889, at first conducted by Eduard Nápravník

Eduard Nápravník

Eduard Francevič Nápravník was a Czech conductor and composer, who settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Russian musical life as the principal conductor of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg for many decades...

; but at one performance under the composer's own baton, his conducting style was seriously ineffective: 'the chorus and the orchestra strayed so far apart that the performance had to be stopped.'. In any case the political situation meant that once again the performances had to be curtailed. Since then the opera has only been revived on Russian provincial stages, although in 1902 it was performed at the Private Opera

Private Opera

The Private Opera , also known as:*The Russian Private Opera ;*Moscow Private Russian Opera, ;*Mamontov's Private Russian Opera in Moscow ;*Korotkov's Theatre ;*Vinter's Theatre ;*Private Opera Society ; and...

 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...

.

The opera has been criticised for the relatively low level of Rubinstein's musical and dramatic inspiration. The only significant female role, the merchant's wife Alyona, has no major part to play. Abraham writes:

A good deal [of the music] is mediocre [and] colourless [...] the more definitely Russian melody sometimes tends to watery lyricism or else is weakened by conventional harmonization

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

.[...] But mixed in with this is much beautiful, colourful and expressive music.

Taruskin, however, notes that the music closely follows the rhythms of the ancient Russian epics

Bylina

Bylina or Bylyna is a traditional Russian oral epic narrative poem. Byliny singers loosely utilize historical fact greatly embellished with fantasy or hyperbole to create their songs...

.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, 5 March 1880 (Conductor:Karel Kucera)
Stepan Paramonovich Kalashnikov, a merchant	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...
Sergey Kiribeyevich, an oprichnik Oprichnik An oprichnik was a member of an organization established by Tsar Ivan the Terrible to govern the division of Russia known as the Oprichnina ....	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...	Josef Paleček Josef Palecek Josef Palecek is a Czech former ice hockey player who is known as a head coach in the Czech Extraliga, and as an assistant coach for the Czech Republic men's national ice hockey teams at the 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011 IIHF World Championships.- International career :Palecek played with the Czech...
Tsar Ivan IV	bass	Fyodor Stravinsky Fyodor Stravinsky Fyodor Ignatievich Stravinsky ) was a Russian bass opera singer and actor. He was the father of Igor Stravinsky and the grandfather of Soulima Stravinsky....
Alyona Dmitriyevna, Kalashnikov's wife	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...	Wilhelmina Raab
Chorus: citizens, oprichniki, boyar Boyar A boyar, or bolyar , was a member of the highest rank of the feudal Moscovian, Kievan Rus'ian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian aristocracies, second only to the ruling princes , from the 10th century through the 17th century.... s, heralds, neighbours, etc.

Synopsis

Kiribeyevich, a member of the Tsar's guard (oprichnik) has made off with Alyona, the wife of Kalashnikov. Kalashnikov challenges him, and in a bare-fist fight kills him. Despite the pleas of Kalashnikov's wife, the Tsar condemns the merchant to death.

Sources

• Gerald Abraham, Anton Rubinstein: Russian Composer, Musical Times, Vol. 86 no. 1234, December 1945, pp. 361–365
• Aline Delano, The Compositions of Anton Rubinstein, in The Autobiography of Anton Rubinstein, 1890 (Google Books, accessed 1 April 2010)
• Richard Taruskin, Kupets Kalashnikov in Oxford Music Online (by subscription), accessed 1 April 2010.
• Victor Waldon and D.A.Modell, Reminiscences of Anton Rubinstein,Musical Quarterly, vol 5 no. 1, January 1919.