Herman's party in the Queen of Spades. Queen of Spades

So, the action is transferred to the age of Catherine II. The main character is completely different from his prototype. This is an enthusiastic romantic, endowed with a sublime soul. He idolizes Lisa, his "beauty goddess", not daring to kiss her footprint. All his ariosos of the first act are passionate declarations of love. The desire to get rich is not a goal, but a means to overcome the social abyss separating them from Lisa (after all, Lisa in the opera is not a hanger-on, but the rich granddaughter of the Countess). "Three cards to know - and I'm rich," he exclaims, "and with her I can run away from people." This idea takes possession of him more and more, displacing love for Liza. The tragedy of Herman's spiritual struggle is exacerbated by his collision with the formidable power of fate. The embodiment of this power is the Countess. The hero dies, and yet love triumphs in Tchaikovsky's music: at the end of the opera, the bright theme of love sounds like a hymn to its beauty, to the mighty impulse of the human soul towards light, joy and happiness. Herman's dying appeal to Lisa, as it were, expiates his guilt and inspires hope for the salvation of his rebellious soul. The young German military engineer Hermann leads a modest life and accumulates a fortune, he does not even take cards and is limited only to watching the game. His friend Tomsky tells a story about how his grandmother, the countess, while in Paris, lost a large amount of cards on her word. She tried to borrow from the Comte Saint-Germain,
but instead of money, he revealed to her a secret about how to guess three cards at once in a game. The countess, thanks to the secret, fully recouped.

Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna - prototype of the Countess from The Queen of Spades

Hermann, having seduced her pupil, Lisa, enters the countess's bedroom and, with pleas and threats, tries to find out the cherished secret. Seeing an unloaded pistol in his hands, the Countess dies of a heart attack. At the funeral, Hermann imagines that the late countess opens her eyes and casts a glance at him. In the evening her ghost appears to Hermann and says, that three cards (“three, seven, ace”) will bring him a win, but he should not bet more than one card per day. Three cards become an obsession for Hermann:

The famous gambler, millionaire Chekalinsky, comes to Moscow. Hermann bets all his capital on a triple, wins and doubles it. The next day, he bets all his money on the seven, wins and again doubles the capital. On the third day, Hermann bets money (already about two hundred thousand) on an ace, but a queen falls out. Hermann sees on the map a grinning and winking Queen of Spades, who reminds him countess. Ruined Hermann ends up in a mental hospital, where he does not react to anything and every minute “mumbles unusually quickly: - Three, seven, ace! Three, seven, lady! .. "

Prince Yeletsky (from the opera The Queen of Spades)
I love you, I love you beyond measure,

I can't imagine living a day without you.

And a feat of unparalleled strength

Ready to do for you now

Ah, I am tormented by this distance,

I sympathize with you with all my heart,

I mourn your sadness

And I cry with your tears ...

I sympathize with you with all my heart!

The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: the drinking song of the guests, the frivolous song of Tomsky “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the advent of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited.
Anxiously alert septet "Something's wrong here" conveys the excitement that gripped the players. Rapture of victory and cruel joy are heard in Herman's aria “What is our life? The game!". In the dying moment, his thoughts are again turned to Liza - a quiveringly tender image of love appears in the orchestra.

German (from the opera The Queen of Spades)

That our life is a game

Good and evil, one dream.

Labor, honesty, fairy tales for women,

Who is right, who is happy here, friends,

Today you and tomorrow me.

So stop fighting

Seize the moment of good luck

Let the loser cry

Let the loser cry

Cursing, cursing your fate.

That's right - death is one,

Like the shore of the sea of ​​vanity.

She is a refuge for all of us,

Who is dearer to her from us, friends,

Today you and tomorrow me.

So stop fighting

Seize the moment of good luck

Let the loser cry

Let the loser cry

Cursing your fate.

Chorus of guests and players (from the opera The Queen of Spades)

Youth doesn't last forever

Let's drink and have fun!

Let's play with life!
Old age is not long to wait!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!

Not long to wait.
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!

They have one joy in the world,
Life will run like a dream!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!
Not long to wait.
Lisa and Polina (from the opera The Queen of Spades)

Lisa's room. Door to the balcony overlooking the garden.

The second picture is divided into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa "It's already evening" is covered with light sadness. Polina's romance "Dear Friends" sounds gloomy and doomed. The live dance song “Come on, Light-Mashenka” serves as a contrast to it. The second half of the picture opens with Lisa's arioso "Where do these tears come from" - a penetrating monologue full of deep feelings. Liza's melancholy is replaced by an enthusiastic confession "Oh, listen, night."

Liza at the harpsichord. Near her Polina; friends are here. Liza and Polina sing an idyllic duet to the words of Zhukovsky ("It's evening ... the edges of the clouds have faded"). Friends express their delight. Lisa asks Polina to sing one. Polina sings. Her romance "Dear Friends" sounds gloomy and doomed. It seems to resurrect the good old days - it is not for nothing that the accompaniment in it sounds on the harpsichord. Here the librettist used Batyushkov's poem. It formulates an idea that was first expressed in the 17th century in a Latin phrase that then became catchy: “Et in Arcadia ego”, meaning: “And in Arcadia (that is, in paradise) I (death) is”;

Clouds faded edge,

The last ray of dawn on the towers is dying;

The last shining stream in the river

With the extinct sky fading away,

Fading away.
Prilepa (from the opera The Queen of Spades)
My pretty little friend

Dear shepherd,

Who do I sigh

And I want to open the passion

Oh, I didn't come to dance.
Milovzor (from the opera The Queen of Spades)
I'm here, but boring, languid,

Look how thin you are!

I won't be humble anymore

I hid my passion for a long time.

No more humble

He hid his passion for a long time.

Herman's tenderly sad and passionate arioso "Forgive me, heavenly creature" is interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; there are sharp, nervous rhythms, ominous orchestral colors. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the light theme of love. In the third picture (second act), scenes of life in the capital become the background of the developing drama. The initial choir, in the spirit of the welcoming cantatas of the Catherine era, is a kind of screen saver for the picture. Prince Yeletsky's aria "I love you" describes his nobility and restraint. Pastoral "Sincerity
shepherdesses" - a stylization of music of the 18th century; elegant, graceful songs and dances frame the idyllic love duet of Prilepa and Milovzor.

Forgive heavenly creature

That I disturbed your peace.

Forgive me, but do not reject a passionate confession,

Do not reject with sadness ...

Oh sorry, I'm dying

I bring my prayer to you

Look from the heights of heavenly paradise

To the mortal fight

Soul tormented by torment

Love for you ... In the finale, at the moment of the meeting between Lisa and Herman, a distorted melody of love sounds in the orchestra: a turning point has come in Herman's mind, from now on he is guided not by love, but by the haunting thought of three cards. fourth picture,
central in the opera, full of anxiety and drama. It begins with an orchestral introduction, in which the intonations of Herman's love confessions are guessed. The choir of hangers-on (“Our Benefactor”) and the song of the Countess (a melody from Gretry's opera “Richard the Lionheart”) are replaced by music of an ominously hidden character. She is contrasted with Herman's passionate arioso "If you ever knew the feeling of love"

The action takes place in St. Petersburg at the end of the 18th century.

Created Jan. 1890, Florence - June 1890, Frolovskoe.

First performance 7 Dec. 1890, St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre. Conductor E.F. Napravnik. Directed by G.P.Kondratiev. Dances and interlude staged by M. Petipa. Artists: V.V.Vasiliev - d. I, kar. 1, A.S. Yanov - d. I, map. 2, G. Levot - d. II, map. 3 and d. III, map. 7, K.M. Ivanov - d. III, map. 4 and d. III, map. 6, I.P. Andreev - d. III, map. 5. Costumes according to the drawings of E.P. Ponomarev.

d. I, 1k.
Sunny Summer Garden. In an atmosphere of prosperity and joy, a crowd of townspeople, children, accompanied by nannies and governesses, walk around. Officers Surin and Chekalinsky share their impressions of the strange behavior of their friend Herman. He spends all night long in a gambling house, but does not even try to try his luck. Soon Herman himself appears, accompanied by Count Tomsky. Herman opens his soul to him: he is passionately, ardently in love, although he does not know the name of his chosen one. Prince Yeletsky, who has joined the company of officers, talks about his forthcoming marriage: "The bright angel agreed to combine his fate with mine!" Herman is horrified to learn that the prince's bride is the object of his passion, when the Countess passes by, accompanied by her granddaughter, Lisa.

Both women are seized with heavy premonitions, hypnotized by the burning gaze of the unfortunate Herman. Meanwhile, Tomsky tells the audience a secular anecdote about a countess who, being a young Moscow "lioness", lost her entire fortune and "at the cost of one rendezvous", having learned the fatal secret of three always winning cards, overcame fate: "Since she named those cards to her husband, in another once their young handsome man recognized them, but on the same night, only she was left alone, the ghost appeared to her and said menacingly: “You will receive a mortal blow from the third, who, passionately, passionately loving, will come to force you to learn three cards, three cards, three cards!" Herman listens to the story with particular tension. Surin and Chekalinsky make fun of him and offer to find out the secret of the cards from the old woman. no less force: "No, prince! As long as I'm alive, I won't give it to you, I don't know how, but I'll take it away!" he exclaims.

2 k.
At dusk, the girls play music in Lisa's room, trying to cheer up the saddened, despite the engagement with the prince, girl. Left alone, she confides her secret to the night: "And my whole soul is in his power!" - she confesses her love for a mysterious stranger, in whose eyes she read "the fire of scorching passion." Suddenly Herman appears on the balcony, who came to her before passing away. His ardent explanation captivates Lisa. The knock of the awakened Countess interrupts him. Hiding behind the curtain, Herman is excited by the very sight of the old woman, in whose face he sees a terrible ghost of death. Unable to hide her feelings any longer, Lisa surrenders to the power of Herman.

II d., 1 k.
There is a ball in the house of a rich metropolitan dignitary. Yeletsky, alarmed by Liza's coldness, assures her of the immensity of his love. Chekalinsky and Surin in masks mock Herman, whispering to him: "Are you the third one who, passionately loving, will come to learn from her three cards, three cards, three cards?" Herman is excited, their words excite his imagination. At the end of the Shepherd's Sincerity performance, he is confronted by the Countess. And when Lisa gives him the keys to the Countess's bedroom, which leads to her room, Herman takes it as an omen. Tonight he will learn the secret of the three cards - the way to take possession of Lisa's hand.

2 k.
Herman sneaks into the Countess's bedroom. With trepidation, he peers at the portrait of the Moscow beauty, with whom he is connected "by some kind of secret power." Here she is, accompanied by her companions. The Countess is dissatisfied, she does not like the current morals, customs, she longingly recalls the past and falls asleep in an armchair. Suddenly, Herman appears before her, begging to reveal the secret of the three cards: "You can make up the happiness of a lifetime, and it will cost you nothing!" But the Countess, numb with fright, is motionless. At gunpoint, she expires. “She is dead, but I didn’t find out the secret,” Herman, close to insanity, laments in response to the reproaches of Lisa who has entered.

III d. 1k.
German in the barracks. He reads a letter from Liza, who has forgiven him, where she makes an appointment with him on the embankment. In the imagination, pictures of the funeral of an old woman arise, funeral singing is heard. The emerging ghost of the Countess in a white funeral shroud broadcasts: "Save Lisa, marry her, and three cards will win in a row. Remember! Three! Seven! Ace!" "Three ... Seven ... Ace ..." - Herman repeats like a spell.

2 k.
Lisa is waiting for Herman on the embankment near Kanavka. She is torn by doubts: "Ah, I am exhausted, I have suffered," she exclaims in despair. At the moment when the clock strikes midnight, and Lisa finally lost faith in her lover, he appears. But German, at first repeating the words of love after Lisa, is already obsessed with another idea. Trying to captivate the girl to hurry after him to the gambling house, he runs away screaming. Realizing the inevitability of what happened, the girl rushes into the river.

3 k. Players have fun at the card table. Tomsky entertains them with a playful song. In the midst of the game, an agitated Herman appears. Twice in a row, offering large bets, he wins. "The devil himself is playing with you at the same time," those present proclaim. Game continues. This time against Herman, Prince Yeletsky. And instead of a win-win ace, the queen of spades turns out to be in his hands. Herman sees on the map the features of the dead old woman: "Damned! What do you need! My life? Take it, take it!" He's squirming. In the clarified consciousness, the image of Liza arises: "Beauty! Goddess! Angel!" With these words Herman dies.

The opera was commissioned by Tchaikovsky from the directorate of the imperial theatres. The plot was proposed by I.A. Vsevolozhsky. The beginning of negotiations with the directorate dates back to 1887/88. Initially Ch. refused and only in 1889 decided to write an opera based on this story. At a meeting in the directorate of the imperial theaters at the end of 1889, the script, the layout of the opera scenes, the staging moments, and the design elements of the performance were discussed. The opera was composed in sketches from 19/31 Jan. to March 3/15 in Florence. In July - Dec. 1890 C. made many changes to the score, literary text, recitatives, and vocal parts; at the request of N.N. Figner, two versions of Herman's aria from the 7th card were also created. (different tones). All these changes are fixed in the proof-readings of the transcription for singing with piano, marks, various inserts of the 1st and 2nd editions.

When creating sketches Ch. actively reworked the libretto. He significantly changed the text, introduced stage directions, made cuts, composed his own texts for Yeletsky's aria, Lisa's aria, and the choir "Come on, little Masha."

The libretto uses poems by Batyushkov (in the romance of Polina), V.A. Zhukovsky (in the duet of Polina and Lisa), G.R. Derzhavin (in the final scene), P.M.

The scene in the Countess's bedroom uses the old French song "Vive Henri IV". In the same scene, with minor changes, the beginning of Loretta's aria from A. Gretry's opera "Richard the Lionheart" is borrowed. In the final scene, the second half of the song (polonaise) "Thunder of victory, resound" by I.A. Kozlovsky was used.

Before starting work on the opera, Tchaikovsky was in a depressed state, which he admitted in a letter to A.K. Glazunov: “I am going through a very mysterious stage on the way to the grave. fatigue from life, some kind of disappointment: at times an insane longing, but not one in the depths of which there is a foreknowledge of a new surge of love for life, but something hopeless, final ... And at the same time, the desire to write is terrible ... On the one hand, I feel that it is as if my song has already been sung, and on the other hand, an irresistible desire to drag out either the same life, or even better a new song "...

Tchaikovsky loved and highly appreciated his opera The Queen of Spades, calling it a masterpiece. It was sketched in 44 days in Florence. The plot is borrowed from the story of the same name by Pushkin. The libretto was written by the composer's brother M.I. Tchaikovsky, although some texts were written by Tchaikovsky himself. The opera was composed quickly and with particular passion. After its completion, the composer wrote a string sextet "Memories of Florence", dedicating it to the city in which he created his favorite brainchild.

Ch. was well aware of the significance of the "Queen of Spades" even in the process of work. Here are the lines of his letter to Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich: "I wrote it with unprecedented fervor and enthusiasm, I vividly suffered and felt everything that was happening in it (even to the point that at one time I was afraid of the appearance of the ghost of the" Queen of Spades ") and I hope that all my author's enthusiasm , excitements and passions will resonate in the hearts of sympathetic listeners "(dated August 3, 1890). And one more eloquent self-assessment: "... either I am terribly mistaken, or The Queen of Spades is really a masterpiece ..." This self-assessment turned out to be prophetic. The composer's characterization of the idea of ​​the Fourth Symphony is the best answer to the main meaning of his operatic masterpiece: "This is fate, this is the fatal force that prevents the impulse to happiness from reaching its goal." "Everything is new, compared with Pushkin, in the plot ... - notes the librettist of the opera M.I. Tchaikovsky, - transferring the time of action to the era of Catherine and introducing a love-dramatic element." Let us add that Herman in the opera is not a prudent and ambitious player with the “soul of Mephistopheles”, but a poor officer, a “warm, lively attitude” to which the author himself gives rise to our response - more sympathy than condemnation. Liza is transformed from a poor pupil into the granddaughter of an old countess. In addition, she is the bride and, unlike the poor Herman, her fiance is the noble and wealthy Prince Yeletsky. All this reinforces the motive of social inequality that separates the characters. Interpreting Pushkin's story in his own way, Ch. simultaneously enlarged it.

A feature of the opera is the fact that its main character, Herman, is present on stage and sings in all seven scenes of the opera, which required high skill and endurance from the singer. The part of Herman was written for the remarkable Russian tenor N.N. Figner, who became its first performer.

The composer himself took part in the preparation of the St. Petersburg premiere, playing the roles of Herman and Lisa with the Figners. According to critics, "Figner's bright temperament gave each phrase a very high relief in the corresponding strong moments. In purely lyrical places ... Figner's singing was imbued with charming softness and sincerity." "Figner and the St. Petersburg orchestra ... performed true miracles," Tchaikovsky later wrote. The success of The Queen of Spades, as its author had foreseen, was amazing. With the same incredible success, "The Queen of Spades" was received in Kyiv 12 days after the St. Petersburg premiere in the performance of IP Pryanishnikov's opera entreprise under the direction of I.V. Pribik with the famous artist M.E. Medvedev in the role of Herman. November 4, 1891 "The Queen of Spades" was given in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater. The author was present at the performance, as well as at the first performances in St. Petersburg and Kyiv, and took part in the rehearsal work. Conducted by I.K.Altani. The main roles were played by outstanding artists: M.E. Medvedev (German), who moved from Kyiv to Moscow, M.A. Deisha-Sionitskaya (Lisa), P.A. Khokhlov (Eletsky), B.B. Korsov (Tomsky) and A.P. Krutikova (Countess). The production at the National Theater of Prague conducted by conductor A. Cech (October 12 - September 30, 1892) was very carefully prepared - the first performance of The Queen of Spades abroad.

P. E. Weidman

"THE LADY OF SPADES". Recording to mp3

Actors and performers:
Herman - Nikandr Khanaev (tenor), Lisa - Ksenia Derzhinskaya (soprano), Countess - Bronislava Zlatogorova (contralto), Count Tomsky - Alexander Baturin (baritone), Prince Yeletsky - Panteleimon Nortsov (baritone), Polina / Milovzor (Dafnis) - Maria Maksakova (mezzo-soprano), Prilepa/Chloe - Valeria Barsova (soprano), Zlatogor - Vladimir Politkovsky (baritone), Chekalinsky - Sergei Ostroumov (tenor), Surin - Ivan Manshavin (tenor), Chaplitsky - Mikhail Novozhenin (bass), Narumov - Konstantin Terekhin (bass), Masha - Nadezhda Chubienko (soprano), Governess - Margarita Shervinskaya (contralto), Master of Ceremonies - Pyotr Belinnik (tenor).

Opera in three acts and seven scenes; libretto by M. I. Tchaikovsky based on the story of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. First production: Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, December 19, 1890.

Characters:

Herman (tenor), Count Tomsky (baritone), Prince Yeletsky (baritone), Chekalinsky (tenor), Surin (bass), Chaplitsky (tenor), Narukov (bass), Countess (mezzo-soprano), Liza (soprano), Polina (contralto), governess (mezzo-soprano), Masha (soprano), boy commander (without singing). Actors in the interlude: Prilepa (soprano), Milovzor (Polina), Zlatogor (Count Tomsky). Nurses, governesses, nurses, walkers, guests, children, players.

The action takes place in St. Petersburg at the end of the 18th century.

Action one. Picture one

Summer garden in spring. Two officers, Chekalinsky and Surin, are concerned about the fate of their friend German, who visits gambling houses every evening, although he himself does not play, as he is very poor. Herman appears, accompanied by Count Tomsky, to whom he tells about the reason for his strange behavior: he is in love with a girl, a stranger, and wants to win a large sum of money in order to marry her (“I don’t know her name”). Chekalinsky and Surin congratulate Prince Yeletsky on their upcoming wedding. An old countess walks through the garden, accompanied by the same girl whom Herman loves. Upon learning that this is the prince's bride, Herman is deeply shocked. Women are frightened by his appearance (quintet "I'm scared"). Tomsky tells the story of an old countess who once lost her entire fortune in Paris. Then the Count of Saint-Germain opened her three win-win cards. The officers, laughing, advise Herman to try his luck. A thunderstorm starts. Herman vows to fight for his love.

Picture two

Lisa's room. She sings with her friend Polina ("It's Evening"). Left alone, Liza reveals her feelings: the prince loves her, but she cannot forget the fiery gaze of a stranger in the garden (“Where do these tears come from?”; “Oh, listen, night”). As if having heard her call, Herman appears on the balcony. He threatens to kill himself, because Lisa is promised to another, but only he loves her so dearly (“Forgive the heavenly creature”). The Countess enters, and the girl hides her lover. Herman, like an obsessive vision, begins to be haunted by three cards. But left alone with Lisa, he feels that he is happy only with her.

Action two. Picture one

A masquerade ball in the house of a wealthy dignitary. Yeletsky assures Lisa of his love ("I love you"). Herman is haunted by the thought of three cards. The musical interlude-pastoral begins (“My dear little friend”). At the end of it, Liza gives Herman the key to the secret door through which he can enter her room.

Picture two

Countess's bedroom. Night. Near the bed is a portrait of her as a young woman dressed as the Queen of Spades. Herman cautiously enters. He vows to wrest the secret from the old woman, even if hell threatens him. Footsteps are heard, and Herman hides. Servants enter, then the Countess, who is being prepared for bed. Having dispatched the servants, the Countess falls asleep in her armchair. Herman suddenly appears in front of her ("Don't be scared! For God's sake, don't be scared!"). He begs her on his knees to name three cards. The Countess, getting up from her chair, is silent. Then Herman points a gun at her. The old woman falls. Herman becomes convinced that she is dead.

Action three. Picture one

Herman's room in the barracks. Lisa wrote to him that she was ready to forgive him. But Herman's mind is busy with other things. He recalls the funeral of the Countess ("All the same thoughts, all the same terrible dream"). Her ghost appears before him: out of love for Lisa, she calls him three magic cards: three, seven, ace.

Picture two

On the bank of the Winter Canal, Lisa is waiting for Herman ("Ah, I'm tired, I'm tired"). From his words, she understands that he is guilty of the death of the countess, that he is insane. Lisa wants to take him away with her, but he pushes her away and runs away (duet "Oh yes, the suffering is over"). Lisa jumps into the river.

Picture three

Gambling house. Herman triumphs in victory (“What is our life? A game!”). The old woman was right: the cards are really magical. But happiness betrays Herman: Prince Yeletsky enters the game with him. Herman opens the card: the Queen of Spades. The game is over, the ghost of the countess is sitting at the table. Horrified, Herman stabs himself to death and dies, asking Lisa for forgiveness.

G. Marchesi (translated by E. Greceanii)

THE QUEEN OF SPADES - opera by P. Tchaikovsky in 3 acts (7 k.), libretto by M. Tchaikovsky based on the story of the same name by A. Pushkin. Premieres of the first productions: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, December 7, 1890, conducted by E. Napravnik; Kyiv, December 19, 1890, conducted by I. Pribik; Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, November 4, 1891, conducted by I. Altani.

The idea for The Queen of Spades came to Tchaikovsky in 1889 after becoming acquainted with the first scenes of the libretto written by his brother Modest for the composer N. Klenovsky, who began composing music, but for some reason did not finish the job. During a meeting with the director of the imperial theaters, I. Vsevolozhsky (December 1889), it was decided that instead of the Alexander era, the action would be transferred to Catherine's. At the same time, changes were made to the ball scene and a scene was planned at the Winter Canal. Work on the opera unfolded with such intensity that the librettist could not keep up with the composer, and in a number of cases Pyotr Ilyich created the text himself (dance song in the 2nd k., chorus in the 3rd, Yeletsky's aria "I love you", Lisa's aria in the 6th room and others). Tchaikovsky composed in Florence from January 19 to March 1890. The music was written in rough form in 44 days; by the beginning of June the score was also finished. The whole opera came into being in less than five months!

"The Queen of Spades" is the pinnacle of Tchaikovsky's operatic work, a work that, as it were, summarizes his highest achievements. It differs significantly from Pushkin's story, not only in plot, but also in the interpretation of the characters, the social status of the characters. In the story, both Lisa, the poor pupil of the Countess, and the engineering officer Hermann (Pushkin has this surname, and it is spelled that way) are on the same rung of the social ladder; in the opera, Lisa is the granddaughter and heiress of the Countess. Pushkin's Hermann is an ambitious man obsessed with wealth mania; for him, Lisa is only a means to wealth, an opportunity to master the secret of three cards. In the opera, mystery and wealth are not the goal, but the means by which the poor officer dreams of overcoming the social abyss that separates him from Lisa. During the struggle of the opera Herman for the secret of three cards, his consciousness is seized by a thirst for profit, a means replaces the goal, passion perverts his moral nature, and only when he dies, he is freed from madness. The connection has also been changed. In Pushkin, the hero, having failed, loses his mind - in the opera he commits suicide. Liza in the story gets married and acquires a pupil herself - in the opera she commits suicide. The librettist and composer introduced new characters (the governess, Prince Yeletsky), the character of some scenes and the atmosphere of the action were changed. Fantasy in the story is given somewhat ironically (the ghost of the Countess shuffles her shoes) - in the opera, fantasy is full of horror. There is no doubt that Pushkin's images have been transformed and acquired the features of an in-depth psychologism.

Repeated attempts were made to bring the music of The Queen of Spades closer to the spiritual atmosphere of Dostoevsky's novels. Approximation is not entirely accurate. The Queen of Spades is a psychological and social drama in which true love comes into conflict with social inequality. The happiness of Liza and Herman is unrealizable in the world in which they live - only in the pastoral the poor shepherd boy and shepherd boy unite against the will of Zlatogor. The Queen of Spades continues and enriches the principles of the lyrical drama created by Eugene Onegin, translating it into a tragic plane. One can notice the similarity of the images of Tatyana and Lisa, and to some extent Herman (1st k.) with Lensky, the proximity of the genre scenes of the 4th k. Onegin with some episodes of the 1st k. The Queen of Spades.

However, there are more differences between the two operas than similarities. "The Queen of Spades" is associated with the moods of the last three symphonies by Tchaikovsky (precedes the Sixth). It appears, although in a different guise, the theme of fate, an evil force that destroys a person, which plays an essential role in the musical dramaturgy of the Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. In the last years of Tchaikovsky's life, like Turgenev before, he was disturbed and frightened by the black abyss, non-existence, which meant the end of everything, including creativity. The thought of death and the fear of death haunt Herman, and there is no doubt that the composer here conveyed his own feelings to the hero. The theme of death is carried by the image of the Countess - it is not for nothing that Herman is engulfed in such horror when meeting with her. But he himself, connected with her by "secret power", is terrible for the Countess, for he brings her death. And although Herman commits suicide, he seems to obey someone else's will.

In the embodiment of dark and ominous images (their culmination in the 4th and 5th c.), Tchaikovsky reached heights that world music does not know. With the same power, the bright beginning of love is embodied in music. In terms of purity and penetration, spirituality of the lyrics, The Queen of Spades is unsurpassed. Despite the fact that Lisa's life has been ruined, just as the life of her unwitting killer has been ruined, death is powerless to destroy the love that triumphs at the last moment of Herman's life.

The brilliant opera, in which all the elements are merged into an inseparable vocal-symphonic whole, was not fully revealed in the first lifetime productions, although the Mariinsky Theater gave the Queen of Spades its best powers. The performers led by N. Figner had great success, who, in his characteristic brightly theatrical, emphatically expressive, dramatized manner, convincingly and impressively led the part of Herman, laying the foundations of its stage tradition. Equally expressive was the performance of this role by M. Medvedev (Kyiv, Moscow), although somewhat melodramatic (from Medvedev, in particular, Herman's hysterical laughter comes in the finale of the 4th quarter). In the first productions, in St. Petersburg and Moscow, A. Krutikova and M. Slavina achieved outstanding success as the Countess. However, the overall structure of the performances - elegant, lush - was far from the composer's intention. And success also seemed external. The grandeur, grandiosity of the tragic concept of the opera, its psychological depth were revealed later. The assessment of criticism (with some exceptions) testified to a misunderstanding of the music. But this could not affect the stage fate of the great work. It entered the repertoire of theaters more and more powerfully, becoming equal in this respect with Eugene Onegin. The glory of the "Queen of Spades" has crossed the line. In 1892, the opera was staged in Prague, in 1898 - in Zagreb, in 1900 - in Darmstadt, in 1902 - in Vienna under the direction of G. Mahler, in 1906 - in Milan, in 1907 - m - in Berlin, in 1909 - in Stockholm, in 1910 - in New York, in 1911 - in Paris (by Russian artists), in 1923 - in Helsinki, in 1926 - in Sofia , Tokyo, in 1927 - in Copenhagen, in 1928 - in Bucharest, in 1931 - in Brussels, in 1940 - in Zurich, Milan, etc. In the pre-revolutionary period and later in our country, there were no there was and is no opera house whose repertoire would not include The Queen of Spades. The last production abroad was performed in New York in 2004 (conductor V. Yurovsky; P. Domingo - German, N. Putilin - Tomsky, V. Chernov - Yeletsky).

In the first fifteen years of the XX century. first-class performers of the main parts of this opera came to the fore in Russia, and among them A. Davydov, A. Bonachich, I. Alchevsky (German), who abandoned the melodramatic exaggerations of their predecessors. S. Rachmaninov achieved outstanding results in his work on the score when he was a conductor at the Bolshoi Theatre. His successors in the interpretation of The Queen of Spades were V. Suk (who directed the performance of the opera until the 1920s), E. Cooper, A. Coates, V. Dranishnikov, and others. Of the foreign conductors, the best interpreters were G. Mahler and B. Walter. The staging was carried out by K. Stanislavsky, V. Meyerhold, N. Smolich and others.

Along with successes, there were controversial works. Among them is a performance in 1935 at the Leningrad Maly Opera Theater (directed by V. Meyerhold). The new libretto created for him was aimed at “approaching Pushkin” (an impossible task, since Tchaikovsky had a different concept), for which the score was reworked. In the previous production of the Bolshoi Theater (1927, directed by I. Lapitsky), all events turned out to be visions of Herman's crazy imagination.

The best productions of The Queen of Spades are imbued with respect for the brilliant opera and give a deep interpretation of it. Among them are performances performed by the Moscow Bolshoi Theater in 1944 (directed by L. Baratov) and 1964 (staged by L. Baratov in a new version by B. Pokrovsky; in the same year it was shown on tour at La Scala), Leningrad Theatre. Kirov in 1967 (under the direction of K. Simeonov; V. Atlantov - German, K. Slovtsova - Liza). Among the performers of the opera for its long life are the largest artists: F. Chaliapin, P. Andreev (Tomsky); K. Derzhinskaya, G. Vishnevskaya, T. Milashkina (Liza); P. Obukhova, I. Arkhipova (Polina); N. Ozerov, N. Khanaev, N. Pechkovsky, Yu. Kiporenko-Damansky, G. Nelepp, 3. Andzhaparidze, V. Atlantov, Yu. Marusin, V. Galuzin (German); S. Preobrazhenskaya, E. Obraztsova (Countess); P. Lisitsian, D. Hvorostovsky (Eletsky) and others.

The most interesting productions of recent years have been at the Glyndebourne Festival (1992, directed by G. Wieck; Y. Marusin - German), at the New Opera Theater in Moscow (1997, conductor E. Kolobov, directed by Y. Lyubimov), at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater ( 1998, conductor V. Gergiev, director A. Galibin, premiere - 22 August in Baden-Baden).

The opera was filmed in 1960 (directed by R. Tikhomirov).

On the plot of Pushkin's story, though very freely interpreted, an opera by F. Halevi was written.

It is amazing, but before P.I. Tchaikovsky created his tragic operatic masterpiece, Pushkin's The Queen of Spades inspired Franz Suppe to compose ... an operetta (1864); and even earlier, in 1850, the French composer Jacques Francois Fromental Halévy wrote the opera of the same name (however, there is little left of Pushkin here: the libretto was written by Scribe, using the translation of The Queen of Spades into French, made in 1843 by Prosper Mérimée; in this opera the hero's name is changed, the old countess is turned into a young Polish princess, and so on). These, of course, are curious circumstances, which can only be learned from musical encyclopedias - these works do not represent artistic value.

The plot of The Queen of Spades, proposed to the composer by his brother, Modest Ilyich, did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky (as did the plot of Eugene Onegin in his time), but when he nevertheless mastered his imagination, Tchaikovsky began to work on the opera "with self-forgetfulness and pleasure” (as well as over “Eugene Onegin”), and the opera (in the clavier) was written in an amazingly short time - in 44 days. In a letter to N.F. von Meck P.I. Tchaikovsky tells how he came up with the idea of ​​writing an opera based on this plot: “It happened in this way: my brother Modest three years ago began composing a libretto for the plot of The Queen of Spades at the request of a certain Klenovsky, but this latter gave up composing music in the end, for some reason unable to cope with his task. Meanwhile, the director of the theaters, Vsevolozhsky, was carried away by the idea that I should write an opera on this very plot, and, moreover, by all means for the next season. He expressed this desire to me, and since it coincided with my decision to flee Russia in January and take up writing, I agreed ... I really want to work, and if I manage to get a good job somewhere in a cozy corner abroad, it seems to me that I will master my task and submit the keyboardist to the directorate by May, and in the summer I will instrument it.

Tchaikovsky left for Florence and began work on The Queen of Spades on January 19, 1890. The surviving draft sketches give an idea of ​​how and in what sequence the work proceeded: this time the composer wrote almost “in a row”. The intensity of this work is amazing: from January 19 to 28, the first picture is composed, from January 29 to February 4, the second picture, from February 5 to 11, the fourth picture, from February 11 to 19, the third picture, etc.

Aria Yeletsky "I love you, I love you immensely ..." performed by Yuri Gulyaev

The libretto of the opera is very different from the original. Pushkin's work is prose, the libretto is poetic, and with verses not only by the librettist and the composer himself, but also by Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov. Pushkin's Liza is a poor pupil of a rich old countess; for Tchaikovsky, she is her granddaughter. In addition, there is no clarified question about her parents - who, where they are, what happened to them. Pushkin's Hermann is from the Germans, that's why this is the spelling of his surname, Tchaikovsky does not know anything about his German origin, and in the opera "Hermann" (with one "n") is perceived simply as a name. Prince Yeletsky, who appears in the opera, is absent from Pushkin

Tomsky's couplets to Derzhavin's words "If dear girls .." Please note: in these couplets the letter "r" is not found at all! Singing Sergey Leiferkus

Count Tomsky, whose relationship with the countess is not noted in the opera, and where he is introduced by an outsider (just an acquaintance of Herman, like other players), Pushkin is her grandson; this apparently explains his knowledge of the family secret. The action of Pushkin's drama takes place in the era of Alexander I, while the opera takes us - this was the idea of ​​the director of the imperial theaters I.A. Vsevolozhsky - into the era of Catherine. The finals of the drama in Pushkin and Tchaikovsky are also different: in Pushkin, Hermann, although he goes crazy (“He is in the Obukhov hospital in the 17th room”), still does not die, and Liza, moreover, relatively safely marries; in Tchaikovsky, both heroes die. Many more examples of differences, both external and internal, can be cited in the interpretation of events and characters by Pushkin and Tchaikovsky.

Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Modest Tchaikovsky, ten years younger than his brother Peter, is not known as a playwright outside of Russia, except for the libretto of The Queen of Spades after Pushkin, set to music in early 1890. The plot of the opera was proposed by the directorate of the imperial Petersburg theaters, who intended to present a grandiose performance from the era of Catherine II.

Aria of the Countess performed by Elena Obraztsova

When Tchaikovsky set to work, he made changes to the libretto and partially wrote the poetic text himself, introducing into it also the poems of poets - Pushkin's contemporaries. The text of the scene with Liza at the Winter Canal belongs entirely to the composer. The most spectacular scenes were shortened by him, but nevertheless they give effect to the opera and form the background for the development of the action.

Scene at the Canal. Singing Tamara Milashkina

Thus, he put a lot of effort into creating an authentic atmosphere of that time. In Florence, where the sketches of the opera were written and part of the orchestration was made, Tchaikovsky did not part with the music of the 18th century of the era of the Queen of Spades (Gretri, Monsigni, Piccinni, Salieri).

Perhaps, in the obsessed Herman, who demands from the countess to name three cards and dooms himself to death, he saw himself, and in the countess - his patroness Baroness von Meck. Their strange, one-of-a-kind relationship, maintained only in letters, a relationship like two incorporeal shadows, ended in a break just in 1890.

In the appearance of Herman in front of Lisa, the power of fate is felt; the countess introduces a grave cold, and the ominous thought of three cards poisons the mind of the young man.

In the scene of his meeting with the old woman, Herman's stormy, desperate recitative and aria, accompanied by angry, repetitive sounds of wood, signify the collapse of the unfortunate man, who loses his mind in the next scene with a ghost, truly expressionistic, with echoes of "Boris Godunov" (but with a richer orchestra) . Then follows the death of Liza: a very tender sympathetic melody sounds against a terrible funeral background. Herman's death is less majestic, but not without tragic dignity. As for the "Queen of Spades", she was immediately accepted by the public as a great success for the composer.

History of creation

The plot of Pushkin's The Queen of Spades did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky. However, over time, this short story increasingly took possession of his imagination. Tchaikovsky was especially excited by the scene of Herman's fatal meeting with the countess. Its deep drama captivated the composer, causing an ardent desire to write an opera. The composition was begun in Florence on February 19, 1890. The opera was created, according to the composer, "with self-forgetfulness and pleasure" and was completed in an extremely short time - forty-four days. The premiere took place in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater on December 7 (19), 1890 and was a huge success.

Shortly after the publication of his short story (1833), Pushkin wrote in his diary: “My Queen of Spades is in great fashion. Players ponting for three, seven, ace. The popularity of the story was explained not only by the amusing plot, but also by the realistic reproduction of the types and customs of St. Petersburg society at the beginning of the 19th century. In the libretto of the opera, written by the composer's brother M. I. Tchaikovsky (1850-1916), the content of Pushkin's story is largely rethought. Lisa from a poor pupil turned into a rich granddaughter of the countess. Pushkin's Herman, a cold, prudent egoist, possessed only by a thirst for enrichment, appears in Tchaikovsky's music as a man with a fiery imagination and strong passions. The difference in the social status of the characters introduced the theme of social inequality into the opera. With high tragic pathos, it reflects the fate of people in a society subject to the merciless power of money. Herman is a victim of this society; the desire for wealth imperceptibly becomes his obsession, obscuring his love for Lisa and leading him to death.

Music

The Queen of Spades opera is one of the greatest works of world realistic art. This musical tragedy amazes with the psychological veracity of the reproduction of the thoughts and feelings of the heroes, their hopes, suffering and death, the brightness of the pictures of the era, the intensity of the musical and dramatic development. The characteristic features of Tchaikovsky's style received here their most complete and perfect expression.

The orchestral introduction is based on three contrasting musical images: narrative, connected with Tomsky's ballad, ominous, depicting the image of the old Countess, and passionately lyrical, characterizing Herman's love for Lisa.

The first act opens with a light everyday scene. The choirs of nannies, governesses, the fervent march of the boys convexly set off the drama of subsequent events. In Herman's arioso “I don't know her name”, sometimes elegiacly tender, sometimes impetuously excited, the purity and strength of his feelings are captured.

The second picture is divided into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa "It's already evening" is covered with light sadness. Polina's romance "Dear Friends" sounds gloomy and doomed. The second half of the picture opens with Lisa's arioso "Where do these tears come from" - a penetrating monologue full of deep feelings.

Singing Galina Vishnevskaya. "Where do these tears come from..."

Liza's melancholy is replaced by an enthusiastic confession "Oh, listen, night." Gently sad and passionate Herman's arioso "Forgive me, heavenly creature"

Georgy Nelepp - the best German, sings "Forgive me, heavenly creature"

interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; there are sharp, nervous rhythms, ominous orchestral colors. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the light theme of love. Prince Yeletsky's aria "I love you" describes his nobility and restraint. The fourth picture, the central one in the opera, is full of anxiety and drama.

At the beginning of the fifth picture (the third act), against the background of funeral singing and the howling of a storm, Herman's excited monologue "All the same thoughts, all the same terrible dream" arises. The music that accompanies the appearance of the ghost of the Countess fascinates with dead stillness.

The orchestral introduction of the sixth picture is painted in gloomy tones of doom. The wide, freely flowing melody of Lisa's aria "Ah, I'm tired, I'm tired" is close to Russian lingering songs; the second part of the aria "So it's true, with a villain" is full of despair and anger. The lyrical duet of Herman and Lisa “Oh yes, the suffering has passed” is the only bright episode of the picture.

The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: the drinking song of the guests, the frivolous song of Tomsky “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the advent of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited. Anxiously alert septet "Something's wrong here" conveys the excitement that gripped the players. Rapture of victory and cruel joy are heard in Herman's aria “What is our life? The game!". In the dying moment, his thoughts are again turned to Liza - a quiveringly tender image of love appears in the orchestra.

Herman's aria "That our life is a game" performed by Vladimir Atlantov

Tchaikovsky was so deeply captured by the whole atmosphere of the action and the images of the characters in The Queen of Spades that he perceived them as real living people. Having finished sketching the opera with feverish speed(The whole work was completed in 44 days - from January 19 to March 3, 1890. The orchestration was completed in June of that year.), he wrote to his brother Modest Ilyich, the author of the libretto: “... when I got to the death of Herman and the final choir, I felt so sorry for Herman that I suddenly began to cry a lot<...>It turns out that Herman was not only a pretext for me to write this or that music, but all the time a living person ... ".

In Pushkin, Herman is a man of one passion, straightforward, prudent and tough, ready to put his own and other people's lives at stake in order to achieve his goal. In Tchaikovsky, he is internally broken, is in the grip of conflicting feelings and drives, the tragic irreconcilability of which leads him to inevitable death. The image of Liza was subjected to a radical rethinking: the ordinary colorless Pushkin Lizaveta Ivanovna became a strong and passionate nature, selflessly devoted to her feelings, continuing the gallery of pure poetically sublime female images in Tchaikovsky's operas from Oprichnik to The Enchantress. At the request of the director of the imperial theaters, I. A. Vsevolozhsky, the action of the opera was transferred from the 30s of the 19th century to the second half of the 18th century, which gave rise to the inclusion of a picture of a magnificent ball in the palace of Catherine's nobleman with an interlude stylized in the spirit of the "gallant age" , but did not affect the overall color of the action and the characters of its main participants. In terms of the richness and complexity of their spiritual world, the sharpness and intensity of their experience, these are the composer's contemporaries, in many respects related to the heroes of Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's psychological novels.

And one more performance of Herman's aria "What is our life? A game!" Zurab Anjaparidze sings. Recorded in 1965, Bolshoi Theatre.

In the film-opera "The Queen of Spades" the main parts were performed by Oleg Strizhenov - German, Olga-Krasina - Lisa. The vocal parts were performed by Zurab Anjaparidze and Tamara Milashkina.

It is amazing, but before P.I. Tchaikovsky created his tragic operatic masterpiece, Pushkin's The Queen of Spades inspired Franz Suppe to compose ... an operetta (1864); and even earlier, in 1850, the French composer Jacques Francois Fromental Halévy wrote the opera of the same name (however, there is little left of Pushkin here: the libretto was written by Scribe, using the translation of The Queen of Spades into French, made in 1843 by Prosper Mérimée; in this opera the hero's name is changed, the old countess is turned into a young Polish princess, and so on). These, of course, are curious circumstances, which can only be learned from musical encyclopedias - these works do not represent artistic value.

The plot of The Queen of Spades, proposed to the composer by his brother, Modest Ilyich, did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky (as did the plot of Eugene Onegin in his time), but when he nevertheless mastered his imagination, Tchaikovsky began to work on the opera "with self-forgetfulness and pleasure” (as well as over “Eugene Onegin”), and the opera (in the clavier) was written in an amazingly short time - in 44 days. In a letter to N.F. von Meck P.I. Tchaikovsky tells how he came up with the idea of ​​writing an opera based on this plot: “It happened in this way: my brother Modest three years ago began composing a libretto for the plot of The Queen of Spades at the request of a certain Klenovsky, but this latter gave up composing music in the end, for some reason unable to cope with his task. Meanwhile, the director of the theaters, Vsevolozhsky, was carried away by the idea that I should write an opera on this very plot, and, moreover, by all means for the next season. He expressed this desire to me, and since it coincided with my decision to flee Russia in January and take up writing, I agreed ... I really want to work, and if I manage to get a good job somewhere in a cozy corner abroad, it seems to me that I will master my task and submit the keyboardist to the directorate by May, and in the summer I will instrument it.

Tchaikovsky left for Florence and began work on The Queen of Spades on January 19, 1890. The surviving draft sketches give an idea of ​​how and in what sequence the work proceeded: this time the composer wrote almost “in a row”. The intensity of this work is amazing: from January 19 to 28, the first picture is composed, from January 29 to February 4, the second picture, from February 5 to 11, the fourth picture, from February 11 to 19, the third picture, etc.

Aria Yeletsky "I love you, I love you immensely ..." performed by Yuri Gulyaev

The libretto of the opera is very different from the original. Pushkin's work is prose, the libretto is poetic, and with verses not only by the librettist and the composer himself, but also by Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov. Pushkin's Liza is a poor pupil of a rich old countess; for Tchaikovsky, she is her granddaughter. In addition, there is no clarified question about her parents - who, where they are, what happened to them. Pushkin's Hermann is from the Germans, that's why this is the spelling of his surname, Tchaikovsky does not know anything about his German origin, and in the opera "Hermann" (with one "n") is perceived simply as a name. Prince Yeletsky, who appears in the opera, is absent from Pushkin

Tomsky's couplets to Derzhavin's words "If dear girls .." Please note: in these couplets the letter "r" is not found at all! Singing Sergey Leiferkus

Count Tomsky, whose relationship with the countess is not noted in the opera, and where he is introduced by an outsider (just an acquaintance of Herman, like other players), Pushkin is her grandson; this apparently explains his knowledge of the family secret. The action of Pushkin's drama takes place in the era of Alexander I, while the opera takes us - this was the idea of ​​the director of the imperial theaters I.A. Vsevolozhsky - into the era of Catherine. The finals of the drama in Pushkin and Tchaikovsky are also different: in Pushkin, Hermann, although he goes crazy (“He is in the Obukhov hospital in the 17th room”), still does not die, and Liza, moreover, relatively safely marries; in Tchaikovsky, both heroes die. Many more examples of differences, both external and internal, can be cited in the interpretation of events and characters by Pushkin and Tchaikovsky.

Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Modest Tchaikovsky, ten years younger than his brother Peter, is not known as a playwright outside of Russia, except for the libretto of The Queen of Spades after Pushkin, set to music in early 1890. The plot of the opera was proposed by the directorate of the imperial Petersburg theaters, who intended to present a grandiose performance from the era of Catherine II.

Aria of the Countess performed by Elena Obraztsova

When Tchaikovsky set to work, he made changes to the libretto and partially wrote the poetic text himself, introducing into it also the poems of poets - Pushkin's contemporaries. The text of the scene with Liza at the Winter Canal belongs entirely to the composer. The most spectacular scenes were shortened by him, but nevertheless they give effect to the opera and form the background for the development of the action.

Scene at the Canal. Singing Tamara Milashkina

Thus, he put a lot of effort into creating an authentic atmosphere of that time. In Florence, where the sketches of the opera were written and part of the orchestration was made, Tchaikovsky did not part with the music of the 18th century of the era of the Queen of Spades (Gretri, Monsigni, Piccinni, Salieri).

Perhaps, in the obsessed Herman, who demands from the countess to name three cards and dooms himself to death, he saw himself, and in the countess - his patroness Baroness von Meck. Their strange, one-of-a-kind relationship, maintained only in letters, a relationship like two incorporeal shadows, ended in a break just in 1890.

In the appearance of Herman in front of Lisa, the power of fate is felt; the countess introduces a grave cold, and the ominous thought of three cards poisons the mind of the young man.

In the scene of his meeting with the old woman, Herman's stormy, desperate recitative and aria, accompanied by angry, repetitive sounds of wood, signify the collapse of the unfortunate man, who loses his mind in the next scene with a ghost, truly expressionistic, with echoes of "Boris Godunov" (but with a richer orchestra) . Then follows the death of Liza: a very tender sympathetic melody sounds against a terrible funeral background. Herman's death is less majestic, but not without tragic dignity. As for the "Queen of Spades", she was immediately accepted by the public as a great success for the composer.

History of creation

The plot of Pushkin's The Queen of Spades did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky. However, over time, this short story increasingly took possession of his imagination. Tchaikovsky was especially excited by the scene of Herman's fatal meeting with the countess. Its deep drama captivated the composer, causing an ardent desire to write an opera. The composition was begun in Florence on February 19, 1890. The opera was created, according to the composer, "with self-forgetfulness and pleasure" and was completed in an extremely short time - forty-four days. The premiere took place in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater on December 7 (19), 1890 and was a huge success.

Shortly after the publication of his short story (1833), Pushkin wrote in his diary: “My Queen of Spades is in great fashion. Players ponting for three, seven, ace. The popularity of the story was explained not only by the amusing plot, but also by the realistic reproduction of the types and customs of St. Petersburg society at the beginning of the 19th century. In the libretto of the opera, written by the composer's brother M. I. Tchaikovsky (1850-1916), the content of Pushkin's story is largely rethought. Lisa from a poor pupil turned into a rich granddaughter of the countess. Pushkin's Herman, a cold, prudent egoist, possessed only by a thirst for enrichment, appears in Tchaikovsky's music as a man with a fiery imagination and strong passions. The difference in the social status of the characters introduced the theme of social inequality into the opera. With high tragic pathos, it reflects the fate of people in a society subject to the merciless power of money. Herman is a victim of this society; the desire for wealth imperceptibly becomes his obsession, obscuring his love for Lisa and leading him to death.

Music

The Queen of Spades opera is one of the greatest works of world realistic art. This musical tragedy amazes with the psychological veracity of the reproduction of the thoughts and feelings of the heroes, their hopes, suffering and death, the brightness of the pictures of the era, the intensity of the musical and dramatic development. The characteristic features of Tchaikovsky's style received here their most complete and perfect expression.

The orchestral introduction is based on three contrasting musical images: narrative, connected with Tomsky's ballad, ominous, depicting the image of the old Countess, and passionately lyrical, characterizing Herman's love for Lisa.

The first act opens with a light everyday scene. The choirs of nannies, governesses, the fervent march of the boys convexly set off the drama of subsequent events. In Herman's arioso “I don't know her name”, sometimes elegiacly tender, sometimes impetuously excited, the purity and strength of his feelings are captured.

The second picture is divided into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa "It's already evening" is covered with light sadness. Polina's romance "Dear Friends" sounds gloomy and doomed. The second half of the picture opens with Lisa's arioso "Where do these tears come from" - a penetrating monologue full of deep feelings.

Singing Galina Vishnevskaya. "Where do these tears come from..."

Liza's melancholy is replaced by an enthusiastic confession "Oh, listen, night." Gently sad and passionate Herman's arioso "Forgive me, heavenly creature"

Georgy Nelepp - the best German, sings "Forgive me, heavenly creature"

interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; there are sharp, nervous rhythms, ominous orchestral colors. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the light theme of love. Prince Yeletsky's aria "I love you" describes his nobility and restraint. The fourth picture, the central one in the opera, is full of anxiety and drama.

At the beginning of the fifth picture (the third act), against the background of funeral singing and the howling of a storm, Herman's excited monologue "All the same thoughts, all the same terrible dream" arises. The music that accompanies the appearance of the ghost of the Countess fascinates with dead stillness.

The orchestral introduction of the sixth picture is painted in gloomy tones of doom. The wide, freely flowing melody of Lisa's aria "Ah, I'm tired, I'm tired" is close to Russian lingering songs; the second part of the aria "So it's true, with a villain" is full of despair and anger. The lyrical duet of Herman and Lisa “Oh yes, the suffering has passed” is the only bright episode of the picture.

The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: the drinking song of the guests, the frivolous song of Tomsky “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the advent of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited. Anxiously alert septet "Something's wrong here" conveys the excitement that gripped the players. Rapture of victory and cruel joy are heard in Herman's aria “What is our life? The game!". In the dying moment, his thoughts are again turned to Liza - a quiveringly tender image of love appears in the orchestra.

Herman's aria "That our life is a game" performed by Vladimir Atlantov

Tchaikovsky was so deeply captured by the whole atmosphere of the action and the images of the characters in The Queen of Spades that he perceived them as real living people. Having finished sketching the opera with feverish speed(The whole work was completed in 44 days - from January 19 to March 3, 1890. The orchestration was completed in June of that year.), he wrote to his brother Modest Ilyich, the author of the libretto: “... when I got to the death of Herman and the final choir, I felt so sorry for Herman that I suddenly began to cry a lot<...>It turns out that Herman was not only a pretext for me to write this or that music, but all the time a living person ... ".

In Pushkin, Herman is a man of one passion, straightforward, prudent and tough, ready to put his own and other people's lives at stake in order to achieve his goal. In Tchaikovsky, he is internally broken, is in the grip of conflicting feelings and drives, the tragic irreconcilability of which leads him to inevitable death. The image of Liza was subjected to a radical rethinking: the ordinary colorless Pushkin Lizaveta Ivanovna became a strong and passionate nature, selflessly devoted to her feelings, continuing the gallery of pure poetically sublime female images in Tchaikovsky's operas from Oprichnik to The Enchantress. At the request of the director of the imperial theaters, I. A. Vsevolozhsky, the action of the opera was transferred from the 30s of the 19th century to the second half of the 18th century, which gave rise to the inclusion of a picture of a magnificent ball in the palace of Catherine's nobleman with an interlude stylized in the spirit of the "gallant age" , but did not affect the overall color of the action and the characters of its main participants. In terms of the richness and complexity of their spiritual world, the sharpness and intensity of their experience, these are the composer's contemporaries, in many respects related to the heroes of Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's psychological novels.

And one more performance of Herman's aria "What is our life? A game!" Zurab Anjaparidze sings. Recorded in 1965, Bolshoi Theatre.

In the film-opera "The Queen of Spades" the main parts were performed by Oleg Strizhenov - German, Olga-Krasina - Lisa. The vocal parts were performed by Zurab Anjaparidze and Tamara Milashkina.