's play The Enchantress was first produced in 1884 at the Maly Theatre in Moscow, and soon it had seen more performances than any other play being staged in Moscow or Saint Petersburg. The actresses Maria Yermolova and Maria Savina were prominent in the title role of Nastasya. Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky admired The Enchantress and one scene in particular. He pointed it out to his brother the composer, who proceeded to write a duet based on that scene. Pyotr saw the play himself in January 1885, after which he wrote to Shpazhinsky, asking him to convert the drama to an opera libretto. Shpazhinsky agreed, and the two men met that month to discuss the project, but the librettist's work was delayed by his divorce proceedings. When the libretto was finally completed in August, it was far too long and Tchaikovsky had to radically cut it. Even so, this opera was still the longest work he ever wrote.
Performance history
The world premiere was given on 1 November 1887 at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg conducted by the composer and with stage direction by Osip Palechek, set designs by Mikhail Bocharov; and costume designs by E. Ponomaryov. After one season it was dropped from the repertoire. The sets and costumes were sent to Moscow where the opera received a single performance on 2 February 1890 . There was a second production at the Bolshoi Theatre on 25 January 1916 , but this remained in the repertoire only until the end of the year. A third production at the Bolshoi in 1958 received 49 performances and remained in the repertoire until 1965. The British premiere was given by New Sussex Opera in May 1996 as part of the Brighton Festival. The latest production at the Bolshoi was premiered in 2012 A new production of Charodeyka directed by Christof Loy opened the 2014/2015 season of Theater an der Wien on 14 September 2014 with Mikhail Tatarnikov conducting the ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien. The French premiere was given in March 2019 at the Opera de Lyon conducted by Daniele Rustioni with Elena Guseva in the title role.
Roles
Instrumentation
Source:
Strings: Violins I, Violins II, Violas, Cellos, Double Basses
Percussion: Timpani, Triangle, Tambourine, Military Drum, Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tam-tam
Other: Harp
On/Offstage: 4 Horns
Synopsis
Time: The last quarter of the 15th century Place: Nizhny Novgorod and its vicinity The action takes place at the last quarter of the 15th century at a tavern and brothel near Nizhny Novgorod. Nastasya, the charming owner of the inn, has made herself an enemy in rejecting the devious Mamïrov, the right-hand man of the local governor Nikita Danilovich Kurlyatev. He spreads the gossip that Nastasya is an enchantress, and every man whom she meets falls for her. Yuriy, Nikita's son, begins to frequent the inn, as does his father, who falls madly in love with Nastasya, who threatens her that he will reach his goal by whatever means. Mamïrov confronts Nikita's wife, Yevpraksiya, with the truth, while her son – not yet personally involved with Nastasya – swears to avenge his mother. While confronting Nastasya he learns that it is he whom she loves. They both plan to flee during the night not knowing that, by now, Mamïrov has worked out an elaborate plot to wreak his revenge on Nastasya as well as on Nikita and his family with devastating effect. , seen beyond the Oka River.
1954, Natalya Sokolova, Mikhail Kiselyov, Vera Borisenko, Georgiy Nelepp, Aleksey Korolyov, Anna Matyushina, Mikhail Skazin, Anatoly Tikhonov, Vera Gradova, Sergey Sladkopevtsev, Leonid Khachaturov, Aleksey Usmanov, Gennady Troitsky, Pavel Pontryagin, Pavel Korobkov, Moscow Philharmonia State Orchestra, Radio USSR chorus, Samuil Samosud
VHS 1984, Larissa Zyryanova,Vladimir Stepanov, Lyudmila Korzhakova, Vadim Valyuta, Alexander Pravilov, A. Perfilova, E. Sedov, Dimitri Sukhanov, L. Lebedovskaya, N. Bogutsky, A. Burlatsky, M. Sanotsky, Mikhail Larin, A. Perfilov Nizhegorodsky State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Pavel Reznikov.
