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The Queen of Spades composer who wrote. Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades composer who wrote. Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of Spades

01.04.2019

P.I. Tchaikovsky opera "The Queen of Spades"

The basis for the "Queen of Spades" P.I. Tchaikovsky was served by the story of the same name by A.S. Pushkin. This exciting and tragic story love of an innocent girl and a passionate officer who became a victim of card gambling, was written by the composer in just 44 days. The work is considered the pinnacle of the composer's operatic drama, because in terms of the depth and strength of the experiences of the main characters, the intensity of passions and the irresistible power of dramatic impact, he has no equal in his work.

Summary of Tchaikovsky's opera "The Queen of Spades" and many interesting facts read about this work on our page.

Characters		Description
Hermann	tenor	officer, protagonist
Lisa	soprano	granddaughter of the Countess
Tomsk	baritone	count, friend of Herman, grandson of the Countess
Yeletsky	baritone	prince, fiancé of Liza
Countess	mezzo-soprano	octogenarian old woman
Pauline	contralto	Lisa's friend
Chekalinsky	tenor	Officer
Surin	bass	Officer
Masha	soprano	housemaid

Summary

Petersburg late XVIII century. Poor young officer Herman is madly in love with a beautiful stranger and longs to know who she is. Soon he is told that his heart was won by the granddaughter of the rich old Countess - Lisa, who will very soon become the lawful wife of Prince Yeletsky. Herman's friend, Count Tomsky, informs him that the old woman has unique information - she knows the secret of "three cards", thanks to which she was once able to win back and return the card loss.

Lisa was inflamed with mutual feelings for the officer. Herman vows that they will be together, or he will be forced to die. He dreams of getting rich as soon as possible in order to marry his beloved, and only the secret of the Countess's card winnings can help him. At night, he sneaks into her bedroom and begs her to reveal the secret of the "three cards", but the "old witch", frightened by an intruder with a gun, dies and takes the secret with her.

Lisa makes an appointment with Herman on the embankment, but he is delayed. And all because at this time the ghost of the Countess appears in his room. The old woman voices the secret of "three cards" - this is a three, seven and ace, and asks the officer to take Liza as his wife. The ghost disappears into the air, and Herman, like a madman, tirelessly repeats this combination. He runs to meet Lisa, but pushes her away - he is already obsessed not with love, but with excitement. In desperation, the girl throws herself into the river.

Meanwhile, Herman hurriedly heads to the gambling house and bets on the cards named by the ghost. Twice luck was on his side, but when he bets on the "ace", instead of him, the queen of spades appears in his hand. He showers curses on the Countess and plunges the dagger into his heart.

Photo

Interesting Facts

P.I. Chaikovsky wrote an opera in Florence in just 44 days.
In order to flawlessly perform the part of Herman in all seven scenes, the author needed a truly skillful and hardy performer. The choice of P.I. Tchaikovsky fell on the famous tenor Nikolai Figner, whose ability the author was guided by while writing music. The success of the "Queen of Spades" was truly stunning. After a successful premiere at the Mariinsky Theatre, an enthusiastic Tchaikovsky wrote: “Figner and the St. Petersburg Orchestra have performed real miracles!” Twelve days later, the "Queen of Spades" was greeted with no less enthusiasm in Kyiv.
The first foreign premiere of The Queen of Spades was a performance in Prague in 1892. The conductor was Adolf Cech. This was followed by the following premieres: conducted by Gustav Mahler in Vienna in 1902 and New York (in German) in the same year. The first performance of the opera in Great Britain took place in 1915 in London.
The events of Pushkin's "Queen of Spades", as you know, are based on real events- the story of Natalya Petrovna Golitsina, one of the most influential and richest princesses 19th century. Her grandson lost a lot of cards, and turned to her for help - to borrow money. But the grandmother instead revealed to her grandson a secret that allowed him to recoup.
This mystical story about three cards - a three of a seven and an ace - somehow miraculously affected everyone who touched it in any way. Witnesses last days The princesses claimed that shortly before her death they saw the ghost of a lone officer near the mansion. It was 1837.
In this combination of numbers - 1837, which make up the year of the death of the princess and Pushkin himself, all the same mysterious numbers - 3, 7, 1 - were combined in the most incomprehensible way. And in last hour Tchaikovsky's life, as his doctor claimed, the same ghost of the "lone officer" seemed to the composer. Mystic, and only.
Take a closer look at the structure of the opera and its title: 3 acts, 7 scenes, The Queen of Spades. Doesn't it remind you of anything?
This opera is considered one of the most mystical in the world musical theater. Many are convinced that it is she who is to blame for the many failures of her creators, as well as those who performed her.
In this work, great importance is attached to the number "three", it seems to be endowed with a magical meaning and is found literally everywhere. First of all, these are the same three cards. On Herman's heart, according to Chekalinsky, there are three sins. Herman himself is guilty of just three deaths - the Countess, Lisa and his own. IN musical fabric the whole work is dominated by three themes - rock, love and three cards.
Some biographers tend to believe that Tchaikovsky's refusal to work on this order was due to the fact that he was simply frightened of the plot. According to some reports, he agreed to compose the opera on only one condition - if the libretto differed significantly from the original. That is why he made such active changes to all the dramatic components of the work.
Directors who wanted to bring the libretto closer to Pushkin's text got into serious trouble. The most striking example is Vsevolod Meyerhold. As mentioned earlier, he commissioned a new libretto and even staged this opera at the Kirov Theatre. However, after that he did not live long - the director was arrested and sent to be shot.
Several more compositions for the musical theater were written to Pushkin's work, but they are not at all popular - these are the operetta by Franz Suppe (1864) and the opera by J. Halevi (1850).
Choreographers, for example, Roland Petit, also turned to this plot. He created a ballet for N. Tsiskaridze at the request of the management Bolshoi Theater, however, he was afraid to take music from the opera and preferred it 6th symphony. But the unexpected happened - all the ballerinas refused to dance the Old Countess, only Ielze Liepa agreed. The premiere of the ballet took place in 2001.
The original score of the opera is stored at the Mariinsky Theater in encapsulated form.

Popular arias from the opera

Herman's aria “What is our life? A game!" - listen

Tomsky's song "If only lovely girls" - listen

Arioso Lisa "Where do these tears come from" - listen

Arioso Herman "I don't know her name" - listen

History of creation

The idea of staging an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's mysterious story first arose with the director of the imperial theaters, I. A. Vsevolozhsky. For several years he was inspired by this idea and even independently outlined the script and thought over the stage effects. In 1885, he began to actively look for a composer who could bring this idea to life. Among the candidates were A. A. Villamov and N. S. Klenovsky. Two years later, Vsevolozhsky turned to P.I. Tchaikovsky, but was refused - the composer was not at all attracted to this plot. In 1888, his younger brother, Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky, began working on the libretto, moreover, he created it for Klenovsky. However, the maestro eventually refused to work, and Vsevolozhsky again turned to Pyotr Ilyich. This time he was more insistent, and asked not only to write an opera, but to finish it by the new season. At this time, Tchaikovsky just decided to leave Russia and plunge headlong into work. That is why he agreed, and went to Florence to work.

The first fragments of The Queen of Spades appeared on January 19, 1890. The work was written very quickly - the clavier of the opera was released on April 6, and the score - already on June 8. Creating his masterpiece, the composer actively changed the storylines of the libretto and composed words for some scenes. As a result, the plot of the opera acquired a number of differences from its original source. Pushkin's story was transformed into a poetic canvas, which very organically absorbed the poems of other poets - G.R. Derzhavin, P.M. Karabanova, K.N. Batyushkov and V.A. Zhukovsky. The main characters have also changed. So, Lisa from a poor pupil of a wealthy Countess turned into her granddaughter. Pushkin's Hermann was a native of Germans, but Tchaikovsky does not mention a word about this. In addition, his surname becomes a given name and loses one letter "n" - his name is Herman. future husband Liza, Prince Yeletsky, is absent from Alexander Sergeevich. Count Tomsky in the story of the Russian literary genius is the grandson of the Countess, but in the opera he is a completely stranger to her. The life of the main characters develops differently - according to the plot of the book, Herman loses his mind and goes to the hospital, Lisa forgets about him and marries another. In opera, lovers die. And finally, the duration of this tragic history also changed - in the original source, the events unfold during the time of Alexander I, but in its musical version - during the reign of Empress Catherine II.

The first performance of the opera took place at the Mariinsky Theater on December 19, 1890, E. Napravnik was conducting that evening. Tchaikovsky actively participated in the preparation of the premiere. Pyotr Ilyich assumed that the success would be incredible, and he was not mistaken. The audience demanded repetition of individual encores, and the composer was called to the stage countless times. And even the fact that Pushkin's work was so much rethought did not at all embarrass even the zealous "Pushkinists" - they gave the Russian genius a standing ovation.

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

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 seems to explain his knowledge 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

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

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 brings in the grave cold, and the ominous thought of three cards poisons the mind 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 amusement of the plot, but also by the realistic reproduction of the types and customs of St. Petersburg society. early XIX centuries. 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 heroes brought the theme to the opera social inequality. 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 light domestic 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 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? A game!". In the dying moment, his thoughts are again turned to Lisa - a quiveringly tender image of love arises 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 images actors"Queen of Spades", which 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.

Subject: music history

The work was completed by: Shvaova D.K.

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
"The Queen of Spades"

opera in 3 acts (7 scenes)

Libretto Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on the story of the same name by A. S. Pushkin.

Time of action: end of the 18th century, but no later than 1796.

Scene: Petersburg.

History of creation

Amazingly, 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: Scribe wrote the libretto, using the translation of The Queen of Spades into French, made in 1843 by Prosper Mérimée; in In this opera, the name of the hero 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.

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” (in contrast to “Eugene Onegin”, whose composition began with the scene of Tatiana's letter). The intensity of this work is amazing: from January 19 - 28, the first picture is composed, from January 29 - February 4 - the second picture, from February 5 - 11 - the fourth picture, from February 11 - 19 - the third picture, etc.

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. Lisa from a poor pupil turned into a rich granddaughter of the countess. Pushkin's Herman - a cold, prudent egoist, overcome by only one 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 introduces the theme of social inequality into the opera. With high tragic pathos, it reflects the fate of people in a society subordinate to the merciless power of money. Herman is a victim: the desire for wealth invariably becomes his obsession, obscuring his love for Lisa and leading to death. As a result, he begins to draw from her vitality. This opera is about death. She is full of fear and evil. Here there is doom, a kind of curiosity about death. The gloomy meaning is accompanied by the setting of the scene of its action - Peter. The Queen of Spades acts as a symbol of infernal evil.

Introduction. The opera begins with an orchestral introduction based on three contrasting musical images. The first theme is the theme of Tomsky's story about the old Countess. The second theme describes the Countess herself (a whole-tone scale and sequentions), and the third is passionately lyrical (the image of Herman's love for Liza).

I action opens with a light domestic scene. The choirs of nannies, governesses, the fervent march of the boys convexly set off the drama of subsequent events. Herman's arioso "I don't know her name", sometimes elegiacly tender, sometimes impetuously excited, captures the purity and strength of his feelings. Moreover, the theme “I don’t know her name” is connected with the theme of 3 cards. Here there is a stop of action, which is not typical for development. The duet of Herman and Yeletsky confronts the sharply contrasting states of the heroes: Herman's passionate complaints “Unhappy day, I curse you” are intertwined with the calm, measured speech of the prince “Happy day, I bless you.” The central episode of the picture is the quintet "I'm scared!" - conveys the gloomy forebodings of the participants. In Tomsky's ballad, the refrain about three mysterious cards sounds ominously, the intonation of a sigh is heard. The stormy scene of a thunderstorm, against which Herman's oath sounds, ends the 1st picture. The 2nd picture is in contrast to the first and 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. It has pastoral features. 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. From this moment begins the development of the picture. Longing is replaced by an enthusiastic confession “Oh, listen to the night”, this is a lyrical confession in a romantic spirit. Gently sad and passionate Herman's arioso "Forgive me, heavenly creature." Here he appears as a romantic knight, a groom. But such an idyllic scene is interrupted by the appearance of the Countess; the bassoon sounds, the music acquires a tragic tone; there are sharp, nervous rhythms, ominous orchestral colors. "Oh terrible ghost of death, I do not want you." An image of death is created. One has only to hear her call as Herman begins to draw vitality from Lisa in order to delay his end. Everyday life is ingeniously combined with the mystical.

II action. The second act contains the contrast of two scenes, of which the first (in order in the opera - the third) takes place at the ball, and the second (fourth) - in the bedroom of the Countess. With the introduction of the empress in the opera, Tchaikovsky had difficulties - the same that N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov had previously encountered when staging The Maid of Pskov. The fact is that back in the 40s, Nicholas I, by his highest command, forbade displaying on opera stage the reigning persons of the Romanov dynasty (moreover, it was allowed to do this in dramas and tragedies); this was explained by the fact that it would not be good if the king or queen suddenly sang a song. A letter from P. I. Tchaikovsky to the director of the imperial theaters I. A. Vsevolozhsky is known, in which he, in particular, writes: “I caress myself with the hope that Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich will settle the issue of Catherine's appearance by the end of the 3rd picture.”) Strictly speaking, this picture ends only with preparations for the meeting of the empress: “The men stand in a pose of a low court bow. The ladies take a deep squat. Pages appear" - this is the author's last remark in this picture. The choir praises Catherine and exclaims: “Vivat! Vivat!

In the 3rd picture, scenes of life in the capital become the background of the developing drama. The initial choir in the spirit of the salutatory chants of the Catherine era is a kind of screensaver of the picture. Prince Yeletsky's aria "I love you" describes his nobility and restraint. The pastoral "The Sincerity of the Shepherdess" is a stylization of the music of the 18th century: elegant, graceful choirs and dances frame the idyllic love duet of Prilepa and Milovzor. 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 occurred in Herman's mind, from now on he is guided not by love, but by the haunting thought of three cards. The 4th scene, the central one in the opera, is full of anxiety and drama. It begins with an orchestral introduction, in which the intonations of Herman's love confessions are guessed. But the opening is dark and edgy. The choir of hangers-on ("Our benefactor"). Scolding modern manners, the countess indulges in memories of her french life while she sings (in French) an aria from Gretry's Richard the Lionheart. And here the author makes a chronological error, which Tchaikovsky could not be unaware of - he simply did not attach importance to historical authenticity in this case (although, as far as Russian life is concerned, he tried to preserve it). So, this opera was written by Grétry in 1784, and if the action of the opera The Queen of Spades dates back to the end of the 18th century, and the Countess is now an eighty-year-old old woman, then in the year of the creation of Richard she was at least seventy "and the French king ("King heard me," the Countess recalled), would hardly have listened to her singing; thus, if the Countess ever sang for the king, then much earlier, long before the creation of "Richard".) Performing her aria, the Countess gradually falls asleep. The song is replaced by music of an ominously hidden character. It is contrasted by Herman's passionate arioso "If you ever knew the feeling of love." Herman appears from behind a hiding place and confronts the Countess. Closing scene: "Don't be scared!" She wakes up and moves her lips silently in horror. Herman asks, begs her to reveal to him the secret of the three cards. He beckons her. " Old witch! So I'll make you answer!" he exclaims, and draws his pistol. The countess nods her head, raises her arms to shield herself from the shot, and falls dead. Herman approaches the corpse, takes his hand. Only now does he realize what has happened - the Countess is dead, and he has not learned the secret. She is dead! It came true!

Liza enters. She sees Herman here, in the Countess's room. Herman points to the corpse of the Countess and exclaims in despair, that did not know the secret. Liza rushes to the corpse, sobs - she is killed by what happened and, most importantly, that Herman needed not her, but the secret of the cards. The pace is accelerating. "Monster! Murderer! Fiend,” she exclaims (previously Herman called her: “Beauty! Goddess! Angel!”). Herman runs away. Liza sobs down on the corpse. This is a turning point in the development of action and imagery. The pinnacle of symphonic development.

III action. Barracks. Herman's room. Late evening, scene: "I don't believe." He reads Lisa's letter: she sees that he did not want the death of the Countess, and will be waiting for him on the embankment. If he did not come before midnight, she would have to admit a terrible thought. Herman sinks into a chair in deep thought. He dreams that he hears a choir of singers who are funerals for the Countess. Against the backdrop of funeral singing and the howling of the storm, Herman's excited monologue arises "All the same thoughts, all the same nightmare." He is terrified. He sees steps. He runs to the door, but is stopped by the ghost of the Countess. The music that accompanies the appearance of the ghost of the Countess fascinates with dead immobility, the theme of the ghost originates from the theme of 3 cards. He addresses Herman with the words that he came against his will. I'm scared! Scary! I came to you. He orders Herman to save Lisa, marry her and reveals the secret of three cards: three, seven, ace. Having said this, the ghost immediately disappears. Distraught Herman repeats these cards.

The orchestral introduction to the 6th scene is painted in gloomy tones of doom. Night Winter Ditch, Liza is standing. She is waiting for Herman and sings her aria. The wide, freely flowing melody of Liza's arioso "Ah, I'm tired, I'm tired" is close to Russian lingering songs; the second part of "So it's true, with a villain" is full of despair and anger. The clock strikes midnight. Lisa desperately calls on Herman - he is still gone. Now she is sure that he is a killer. Lisa wants to run, but Herman enters. The lyrical duet of Herman and Lisa "Oh yes, the suffering has passed" is the only bright moment. It is replaced by an episode of Herman's delirium about gold, remarkable in psychological depth. "There are piles of gold and me, it belongs to me alone!" he assures Lisa. Now Lisa finally understands that Herman is insane. Herman confesses that he raised the gun on the "old witch". Now for Lisa, he is a killer. Herman repeats three cards in ecstasy, laughs and pushes Liza away. She, unable to bear it, runs to the embankment and throws herself into the river.

The 7th picture begins with household numbers: a gambling house, the guests sing: "We will drink and have fun." Prince Yeletsky is here for the first time. He is no longer a fiance, and hopes that he will be lucky in the cards, since he was not lucky in love. Tomsky is asked to sing something. He sings a rather ambiguous song "If only lovely girls" (her words belong to G. R. Derzhavin) Everyone picks up her last words. In the midst (So in rainy days) of play and fun, Herman enters. With the advent of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited. Yeletsky asks Tomsky to be his second if necessary. Everyone is struck by the strangeness of Herman's appearance. He asks permission to take part in the game. Herman bets on three - wins. Now it's seven. And win again. Herman laughs hysterically. With a glass in hand, he sings his famous aria. The ecstasy of victory and cruel joy are heard in his “What is our life? A game!". Prince Yeletsky enters the game. This round is really like a duel: Herman announces an ace, but instead of an ace, he has the queen of spades in his hands. At this moment, the ghost of the Countess appears. Everyone retreats from Herman. He is horrified. He curses the old woman. In a fit of madness, he is stabbed to death. The ghost disappears. German is still alive. Coming to his senses and seeing the prince, he tries to get up. He asks for forgiveness from the prince. At the last minute, a bright image of Lisa appears in his mind. The choir of those present sings: “Lord! Forgive him! And rest his rebellious and tormented soul." The opera ends with a quiet prayer and a quiveringly tender theme of love in the orchestra.

Conclusion

Opera is the composer's favorite genre, he loved it more than symphonies, more romances and sonatas, loved it for its democracy, for the freedom in expressing feelings that he could afford in it. For his works in this genre, he most often chose free, simple plots, without detective elements, without massive choral scenes, without a huge number of characters, which, for example, Wagner or Verdi loved so much. No, he valued something else - the opportunity to reveal a person's soul, to look into his inner world. Already in "Eugene Onegin" the most successful place is Tatyana's letter, where nothing happens on the stage, but the whole rainbow of experiences and feelings that a young girl experiences when she writes her first love confession in her life is so clearly revealed in the music that it keeps attention the audience is better than the gigantic folk scenes of other composers.

The Queen of Spades is undoubtedly the best achievement of Pyotr Ilyich in the genre of psychological drama, perhaps this was helped by a talented plot - Pushkin's story of the same name. It should be noted that Tchaikovsky completely rethinks the concept, even changes the characteristics of the characters (Lisa has become her rich heiress from an ordinary host in the countess's house, Herman is greatly ennobled) and the duration of the action for several decades.

This musical tragedy amazes with the psychological veracity of the reproduction of the thoughts and feelings of the heroes, their hopes and sufferings, the brightness of the pictures of the era, the intensity of the musical and dramatic development. The characteristic features of Tchaikovsky's style are here most fully and perfectly expressed. The orchestral introduction is based on three contrasting images: a narrative image associated with Tomsky's ballad; sinister, depicting the image of the old Countess; passionately lyrical, characterizing Herman's love for Lisa.

There are mystical moments in the opera, they also give it a unique atmosphere. The mystery of the three cards keeps you in suspense until the very end, the tragedy and death of Lisa resonates deep in the soul, and when the ghost of the Countess appears, goosebumps begin to run down her back. And it doesn't matter that you're only in auditorium and around a hundred people: it becomes uncomfortable. Tchaikovsky uses various musical techniques for mystification: whole-tone scale, which reflects evil, dry low sounds generate fear.

The idea of the opera is the clash of light and darkness, love and death, as well as the presence of some niferal evil, evil fate, against which you are powerless.

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1 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky () THE QUEEN OF SPADES Opera in three acts, seven scenes Libretto by M. TCHAIKOVSKY Based on the plot of the story of the same name by A. S. PUSHKIN, using poems by K. Batyushkov, G. Derzhavin, V. Zhukovsky, P. Karabanov, K. Ryleev The idea of the opera arose in 1889, after P. Tchaikovsky's acquaintance with the libretto, originally intended for another composer. The opera, composed in Florence, was completed in rough form in 44 days. The premiere took place on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater in 1890. The Queen of Spades is perhaps the most repertoire opera of Russian classics and (along with Boris Godunov) the most frequently performed Russian opera outside of Russia. (In 1902, G. Mahler conducted the Viennese performance of The Queen of Spades.) An event on the domestic stage, and still causing controversy, was the brightest performance of MALEGOT in 1935, staged by V. Meyerhold, where both the text of the libretto and the score of the opera were revised . Among the productions recent years performance of the Mariinsky Theater in 1992. Conductor V. Gergiev.

2 Characters: 2 GERMAN tenor TOMSKY, baritone count ELETSKY, prince baritone CHEKALINSKY tenor SURIN bass CHAPLITSKY tenor NARUMOV bass Countess mezzo-soprano LISA soprano POLINA contralto GOVERNANT mezzo-soprano MASHA soprano MANAGER tenor BOY-COM ANDIR not singing Characters in the interlude: PRILEPA soprano MILOVZOR (Polina) contralto ZLATOGOR (Count Tomsky) baritone Nurses, governesses, nurses, walkers, guests, children, players, etc. The action takes place in St. Petersburg at the end of the 18th century.

3 ACT ONE 3 PICTURE ONE summer garden. Nurses, governesses and nurses walking or sitting on benches. Children play burners, jump ropes, throw balls. SCENE I. VOICES OF LITTLE GIRLS. Burn, burn bright, So that it does not go out, One, two, three! (Laughter, exclamations, running around.) CHOIR OF NANIES Have fun, dear children! Rarely the sun of you, darlings, Amuses with joy! If, dear, you are on the loose of the Game, you are up to mischief, Then, by a little, you bring peace to your nannies. Warm up, run, dear children, And have fun in the sun! CHOIR OF GOVERNESSES Thank God, At least you can rest a little, Breathe the spring air, See something! Do not shout, spend time without remarks, About suggestions, punishments, forget about the lesson. CHOIR OF NUNNIES Warm up! Run, dear children, And have fun in the sun! CHOIR OF NURSES Bye, bye, bye! Bye, bye, bye! Sleep, dear, rest! Do not open your clear eyes! (Drumbeats and children's trumpets are heard off stage.) CHOIR OF NUNSENSES, NURSES AND GOVERNANTS. Here are our soldiers coming, soldiers. How slim! Step aside! Places! Places! One, two, one, two, One, two, one, two!

4 4 Boys in toy armor pretending to be soldiers enter; in front of the boycommander. CHORUS OF BOYS One, two, one, two! Left, right, left, right! Friendly, brothers! Don't stumble! BOY COMMANDER Right shoulder forward! One, two, stop! (The boys stop.) Listen! Musket in front of you! Take it for granted! Musket to the leg! (The boys perform the command.) CHORUS OF BOYS We are all gathered here To fear the Russian enemies. Evil enemy, beware And with a villainous thought Run or submit! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! It fell to our lot to save the Fatherland, We will fight And take enemies into captivity Without an account! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! Long live the wife, Wise queen, She is the mother of all of us, Empress of these countries And pride and beauty! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! BOY COMMANDER. Well done boys! BOYS. We are glad to try, your honor! BOY COMMANDER Listen! Musket in front of you! Right! On guard! March! (The boys leave, drumming and trumpeting.) CHOIR OF NUNSENSES, NURSES AND GOVERNESSES Well, well done our soldiers! And indeed let fear into the enemy. Well, well done! How slim! Well, well done! The boys are followed by other children. The nannies and governesses disperse, giving way to other walkers. Chekalinsky and Surin enter.

5 5 SCENE II. CHEKALINSKY. How did the game end yesterday? SURIN. Of course, I blew terribly! I'm out of luck. CHEKALINSKY. Did you play again until morning? SURIN. Yes, I'm terribly tired ... Damn it, I wish I could win at least once! CHEKALINSKY. Was Herman there? SURIN. Was. And, as always, from eight to eight in the morning, Chained to the gambling table, he sat and silently blew wine. CHEKALINSKY. But only? SURIN. Yes, I watched the game of others. CHEKALINSKY. What a strange man he is! SURIN. As if he had at least three villains in his heart. CHEKALINSKY. I heard that he is very poor.. SURIN. Yes, not rich. SCENE III. Herman enters, thoughtful and gloomy; Count Tomsky is with him. SURIN. Here he is, look. Like a demon of hell, gloomy... pale... Surin and Chekalinsky pass by. TOMSKY. Tell me, Herman, what's the matter with you? With me?.. Nothing... TOMSKY. You are sick? No, I'm healthy. TOMSKY. You became some other... Something dissatisfied... It used to be: restrained, thrifty, You were cheerful, at least; Now you're gloomy, silent And I can't believe my ears: You, a new passion of grief, As they say, until the morning You spend your nights playing. Yes! To the goal with a firm foot

6 I can't go on as before, I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm lost, indignant at weakness, But I can't control myself anymore... I love! I love! 6 TOMSKY. How! Are you in love? in whom? I don’t know her name And I don’t want to know, I don’t want to call her by an earthly name ... (With enthusiasm.) Going through all the comparisons, I don’t know with whom to compare ... My love, the bliss of paradise, I would like to keep forever! But the jealous thought that another to possess it, When I dare not kiss her footprint, Torments me; and earthly passion In vain I want to appease And then I want to hug everything, And then I want to hug my saint ... I don’t know her name And I don’t want to know! TOMSKY. And if so, get down to business! We find out who she is, and there And make a bold offer, And deal with it ... Oh no, alas! She is noble and cannot belong to me! That's what torments and gnaws me! TOMSKY. Let's find another... Not alone in the world... You don't know me! No, I can't stop loving her! Ah, Tomsky! You do not understand! I could only live in peace, While passions dozed in me ... Then I could control myself, Now, when the soul is in the power of One dream, goodbye peace, Goodbye peace! Poisoned like I'm drunk, I'm sick, sick

7 I'm in love! 7 TOMSKY. Is that you, Herman? I confess, I would not have believed anyone that you are capable of loving like that! German and Tomsky pass. Walkers fill the stage. SCENE IV. THE GENERAL CHOIR OF ALL WALKING. Finally, God sent us a Sunny day! What an air! What a sky! May is right here! Oh, what a charm, right, All day long to walk! We can't wait for such a day. Long time for us again. OLD MEN. For many years we do not see such days, And, it happened, we often saw them. In the days of Elizabeth, it was a wonderful time. Summer, autumn and spring were better! OLD WOMEN (simultaneously with the old men). Before, life was better, and such days came every year in early spring. Yes, every year! And now they have a rare Sunshine in the morning, It got worse, right, it got worse, Right, it's time to die! LADIES. What a joy! What happiness! How gratifying, how gratifying to live! How pleasant it is to walk in the Summer Garden, How delightful it is to walk in the Summer Garden! Look, look, How many young people, both military and civilian, Wander a lot along the alleys, Look, look, How many people wander around here, Both military and civilian, How graceful, how beautiful, how beautiful! Look, look! YOUNG PEOPLE (simultaneously with young ladies). The sun, the sky, the air, the nightingale's song And the bright blush on the cheeks of the maidens That spring bestows, with it love Sweetly excites young blood!

8 8 The sky, the sun, the clean air, The sweet nightingale's melody, The joy of life and the scarlet blush on the cheeks of the maidens Now the gifts of a beautiful spring, now the gifts of spring! Happy day, beautiful day, how good, Oh joy, spring brings love and happiness to us! THE GENERAL CHOIR OF ALL WALKING. Finally, God sent us a Sunny day! What an air! What a sky! May is right here! Oh, what a charm, right, All day long to walk! We can't wait for such a day. Long time for us again! SCENE V. Herman and Tomsky enter. TOMSKY. Are you sure she doesn't notice you? I bet that I'm in love and miss you.. If I had lost my gratifying doubt, Would my soul have endured the torment? You see, I live, I suffer, But at a terrible moment, when I find out That I am not destined to master it, Then only one thing will remain ... TOMSKY. What? Die! .. Enter Prince Yeletsky. Chekalinsky and Surin approach him. CHEKALINSKY (to Yeletsky). Can I congratulate you? SURIN. Are you the groom? ELETSKY. Yes, gentlemen, I'm getting married; The bright angel consented to combine His fate with mine forever! CHEKALINSKY. Well, goodbye! SURIN. I am glad with all my heart. Be happy, prince! TOMSKY. Yeletsky, congratulations!

9 ELETSKY. Thanks, friends! 9 Duet. Yeletsky (with feeling) Happy day, I bless you! How everything came together, To rejoice with me together! The bliss of unearthly life is reflected everywhere ... Everything smiles, everything shines, As in my heart, Everything trembles cheerfully, Beckoning to heavenly bliss! What a happy day, I bless you! HERMANN (to himself, simultaneously with Yeletsky). Unhappy day, I curse you! As if everything was connected, To join the fight with me! Joy was reflected everywhere, But not in my sick soul. Everything smiles, everything shines, When in my heart Annoyance infernal trembles. Annoyance hellish trembles, Some torment promises. Oh yes, only torment, torment I promise! TOMSKY. Tell me who will you marry? Prince, who is your bride? The Countess and Lisa enter. Yeletsky (pointing to Liza). Here she is. She?! She is his fiancee! Oh my God! Oh my God! LISA, Countess. He's here again! TOMSKY (to German). So who is your nameless beauty! Quintet LISA. I'm scared! He is again before me, Mysterious and gloomy stranger! In his eyes, a mute reproach Replaced the fire of insane, burning passion... Who is he? Why is he following me? I'm scared, scared, as if I'm in the power of His eyes of sinister fire! I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared! Countess (at the same time). I'm scared! He is again in front of me, Mysterious and terrible stranger! He is a fatal ghost, Embraced all over by some kind of wild passion. What does he want by following me? Why is he in front of me again? I'm scared like I'm in control

10 His eyes of sinister fire! I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared! 10 GERMAN (at the same time). I'm scared! Here again in front of me, Like a fatal ghost, A gloomy old woman appeared ... In her terrible eyes I read my mute sentence! What does she need? What does she need, what does she want from me? As if I am in the power of Her eyes of sinister fire! Who, who is she! I'm scared! I'm scared! I'm scared! Yeletsky (at the same time). I'm scared! My God, how embarrassed she is! Where does this strange excitement come from? There is languor in her soul, In her eyes there is some dumb fear! In them, a clear day for some reason suddenly came to change the bad weather. What with her? She doesn't look at me! Oh, I'm scared, as if close Some unexpected misfortune threatens, I'm scared, scared! TOMSKY (at the same time). That's what he was talking about! How embarrassed he is by the unexpected news! In his eyes I see fear, Silent fear replaced the fire of insane passion! What about her, what about her? How pale! How pale! Oh, I'm scared for her, I'm scared! I'm scared for her! SCENE VI. Tomsky approaches the Countess, Yeletsky approaches Lisa. The Countess looks at Herman intently. TOMSKY. Countess! Allow me to congratulate you... Countess. Tell me who is this officer? TOMSKY. Which? This? Herman, my friend. Countess. Where did he come from? How terrible he is! Tomsky sees her off and returns. ELETSKY (offering his hand to Liza).

11 Heaven's bewitching charm, Spring, light rustle of marshmallows, Joy of the crowd, hello friends Promise us many years of happiness in the future! 11 Lisa and Yeletsky leave. Rejoice, friend! You forgot, That there is a thunderstorm after a quiet day, That the Creator gave tears to happiness, a bucket of thunder! A distant thunderclap is heard. Herman, in gloomy thought, sinks onto the bench. SURIN. What a witch is this Countess! CHEKALINSKY. Scarecrow! TOMSKY. No wonder they called her the Queen of Spades! I can't figure out why she doesn't ponte. SURIN. How! Is it an old woman? What are you?! CHEKALINSKY. An octogenarian hag! Ha ha ha! TOMSKY. So you don't know anything about her? SURIN. No, really, nothing! CHEKALINSKY. Nothing! TOMSKY. Oh, so listen! The Countess many years ago in Paris was known as a beauty. All the youth went crazy for her, Calling the Venus of Moscow. Count Saint-Germain, among others, At that time still handsome, was captivated by her, But he sighed in vain for the countess: All night long the beauty played And alas! preferred Pharaoh 1 love. Ballad Once Upon a Time at Versailles Ai jeu de la Reine 2 Venus moskovite 3 was played to the ground. Among those invited was the Comte Saint-Germain; Watching the game, he heard her Whisper in the midst of excitement: Oh my God! Oh my God! 1 Pharaoh card game, which was in vogue at the court of the French queen. 2 V royal game(fr.) 3 Venus of Moscow (fr.)

12 Oh my God, I could win back everything, When it would be enough to bet again Three cards, three cards, three cards! 12 Count, having chosen a good moment, when Furtively leaving the full hall of the guests, Beauty sat alone silently, Lovingly whispered over her ear Words, sweeter than the sounds of Mozart: Countess, Countess! Countess, at the price of one rundez-vous 4 Would you like me to call you Three cards, three cards, three cards? The Countess flared up: How dare you?! But the count was not a coward. And when, a day later, Beauty appeared again, alas, Without a penny in her pocket, Ai jeu de la Reine She already knew three cards ... Having boldly put them one after another, She returned her ... but at what cost! Oh cards, oh cards, oh cards! Once she called those cards to her husband, Another time the handsome young man recognized them. But on the same night, only one was left, The ghost appeared to her and said menacingly: You will receive a mortal blow, From the third, who, passionately, passionately loving, Will come to learn from you by force Three cards, three cards, three cards, Three cards! CHEKALINSKY. Se non e ver`e ben trovato 5. Lightning flashes, approaching thunder is heard. A thunderstorm starts. SURIN. It's funny! .. But the Countess can sleep peacefully: It is difficult for her to find an ardent lover! CHEKALINSKY. Listen, Herman! Here's a great opportunity for you to play without money. (Everyone laughs.) Think, think! CHEKALINSKY, SURIN. From the third, who, ardently, passionately loving, Will come to learn from you by force Three cards, three cards, three cards! Chekalichsky, Surin and Tomsky leave. There is a strong thunderclap. The storm is playing out. Walkers rush in different directions. 1 CHORUS OF WALKERS. How quickly the storm came, 4 Date (fr.) 5 If not true, then well said. Latin proverb.

13 Who would have expected, what passions! Blow after blow louder, more terrible! Run quickly! Hurry up to the gate! Hurry home! 13 Everyone scatters. The storm is getting stronger. The voices of the walkers are heard from afar. Hurry home! Oh my god! Trouble! Hurry to the gate! Run here! Hurry! Strong thunderbolt. HERMANN (thoughtfully). You will receive a mortal blow From the third, who, ardently, passionately loving, Will come to learn from you by force Three cards, three cards, three cards! Ah, what do I have in them Even if I possessed them! Everything is now dead... I am the only one left. I'm not afraid of the storm! In myself all the passions have awakened With such deadly force That this thunder is nothing in comparison! 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! Thunder, lightning, wind! Before you, I solemnly swear: She will be mine, She will be mine, mine, Mine or die! (Runs away.)

14 PICTURE TWO 14 Liza's room. Liza is sitting at the harpsichord. Around her friends, among them Polina. SCENE I. LISA, POLINA. It's already evening... Clouds have faded edges 6, The last ray of dawn on the towers is dying; The last jet flying in the river With an extinct sky is fading away. Everything is quiet... The groves are sleeping, peace reigns around, Stretched out on the grass under the leaning willow, I listen to how the Stream, merging with the river, murmurs, overshadowed by bushes. How the aroma is merged with the coolness of plants, How sweet is the splashing in the silence at the shore of the jets, How quiet is the breeze of the ether over the waters And the trembling of the flexible willow. CHORUS OF FRIENDS. Charming! Charming! Wonderful! Pretty! Ah, wonderfully good! Also, mesdames. Also, mesdames. More more! LISA. Sing, Fields, we have one! PAULINE. One? but what to sing? CHORUS OF FRIENDS. Please, what do you know, Ma shere 7, dove, sing something to us: POLINA. I'll sing Lisa's favorite romance for you. (Sits down at the harpsichord.) Wait... How is it? (Preludes.) Yes! remembered. (Sings with deep feeling.) Dear girlfriends, dear girlfriends 8, In playful carelessness, To the tune of a dance, you frolic in the meadows. And I, like you, lived in happy Arcadia, And in the morning of days in these groves and fields I tasted a moment of joy, I tasted a moment of joy. Love in golden dreams promised me happiness; But what did I get in these joyful places, 6 Zhukovsky's poems 7 My dear (fr.). 8 Batyushkov's poems.

15 In these happy places? A grave, a grave, a grave! Well, why? And without that you are sad something, Liza, On such and such a day, think about it! After all, you are engaged, ah-ah-ah! (To girlfriends.) Well, why are you hanging your noses? Let's have fun, but Russian, In honor of the bride and groom! Well, I'll start, And you sing along to me! CHORUS OF FRIENDS. And really, let's have a fun, Russian! Girlfriends clap their hands. Lisa, not taking part in the fun, stands thoughtfully by the balcony. PAULINE. Come on, little Mashenka, you sweat, dance! POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS. Ay, lyuli, lyuli, lyuli, You sweat, dance! PAULINE. Pick up your white hands Under your sides! POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS Ay, lyuli, lyuli, lyuli, Pick up your sides! PAULINE. Your quick little legs Do not be sorry, please! POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS Ay, lyuli, lyuli, lyuli, Do not be sorry, please! (Polina and her friends start dancing.) If Mommy Vesela asks! speak. POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS Ay, lyuli, lyuli, lyuli Vesela! speak. PAULINE. And to the answer, tyatenko Like, drank until dawn! POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS. Ay, lyuli, lyuli, people Like, drank until dawn! PAULINE. Go away, go away!

16 16 POLINA AND THE CHOIR OF FRIENDS. Ay, lyuli, lyuli, lyuli, Go away, go away! The Governess enters. GOVERNESS. Mesdemoiselles, what's all the fuss about here? The Countess is angry... Ai-ai-ai! Aren't you ashamed to dance in Russian? Fi, quel genre, mesdames * 9 Young ladies of your circle Must know decency! You should have taught each other the Rules of Light. In girls only to rage It is possible, not here, mes mignones 10, Is it not possible to have fun Without forgetting the bonton? Young ladies of your circle It is necessary to know decency, You should inspire each other The rules of the world! It's time to disperse. They sent me to call you to say goodbye. The ladies disperse. POLINA (going up to Lisa). Lisa, why are you so boring? LISA. I am boring? Not at all! Look, what a night, Like after a terrible storm Everything was suddenly renewed. PAULINE. Look, I'll complain about you to the prince, I'll tell him that on the day of your engagement you were sad., LISA. No, for God's sake, don't speak! PAULINE. Then please smile now. Like this! Now goodbye! (They kiss.) LISA. I'll see you off... Polina and Lisa leave. Masha enters and puts out the candles, leaving only one. As she approaches the balcony to close it, Liza returns. 9 Fi, what genre, ladies. (fr) 10 My darlings (fr.).

17 SCENE III. 17 LISA. No need to close, leave. MASHA. Wouldn't catch a cold, young lady! LISA. No, Masha, the night is so warm, so good! MASHA. Can you help me get undressed? LISA. No I myself. Go to sleep! MASHA. It's too late, young lady... LISA. Leave me, go! Masha leaves. Liza stands in deep thought then softly cries. Where do these tears come from, why are they? My girlish dreams You cheated on me My girlish dreams You cheated on me! This is how you justified yourself in reality! I have now handed my life over to the prince, Chosen by heart, being, Mind, beauty, nobility, wealth Worthy of a friend not like me. Who is noble, who is handsome, who is stately, like him? Nobody! And what? I am full of longing and fear, Trembling and crying! Where do these tears come from, why are they? My girlish dreams You cheated on me My girlish dreams You cheated on me! You changed me! (Cries.) And it's hard and scary! But why deceive yourself? I'm alone here, everything is sleeping quietly around ... (Passionately, enthusiastically.) Oh, listen, night! You alone can believe the secret of my soul. She is gloomy, like you, she is sad, Like the gaze of the eyes, Who has taken peace and happiness from me... Queen of the night! Like you, beauty, like a fallen angel, he is beautiful,

18 In his eyes the fire of scorching passion, How wonderful dream It beckons me, and my whole soul is in its power! O night! O night!.. 18 SCENE IV. Herman appears at the door of the balcony. Liza retreats in mute horror. They silently look at each other. Lisa makes a move to leave. Stop, I beg you! LISA. Why are you here, crazy man? What do you need? Say goodbye! (Liza wants to leave.) Don't go away! Stay! I myself will leave now And I will not return here again ... One minute! .. What is it worth to you? The dying man is calling to you. LISA. Why, why are you here? Get away!. No! LISA. I will scream! Shout! Call everyone! (Pulls out a pistol.) I'm going to die anyway, alone or with others. (Liza lowers her head and is silent.) But if there is, beauty, in you At least a spark of compassion, Then wait, don't go! LISA. Oh god, god! After all, this is my last, death hour! Today I learned my sentence: You, cruel, give your heart to another! (Passionately.) Let me die, blessing you, And not cursing, Can I live a day when You are a stranger to me! I lived by you; only one feeling And one stubborn thought owned me! I will die. But before you say goodbye to life, Give me just a moment to be with you, Together in the wonderful silence of the night, Let me get drunk on your beauty! Then let death and peace with it!

19 (Lisa stands, looking sadly at Herman.) Stop like that! Oh how good you are! 19 LISA (weakening voice). Get away! go away! Gorgeous! Goddess! Angel! Forgive me, lovely creature, That I disturbed your peace, Forgive me, but do not reject a passionate confession, Do not reject it with anguish! Oh sorry! I, dying, carry my prayer to you; Look from the heights of heavenly paradise At the mortal struggle of the Soul, tormented by the torment of Love for you, oh, take pity And my spirit with caress, regret, Warm your tears! (Liza is crying.) You are crying! You! What do these tears mean? Do not drive and regret? He takes her by the hand, which she does not take away. Thank you! Gorgeous! Goddess! Angel! He leans on Lisa's hand and kisses her. At this time, the sound of footsteps and a knock on the door are heard. COUNTESS (behind the door). Lisa, open up! LISA (confused). Countess! Good God! I'm dead, run! .. Too late! Here! There is a stronger knock on the door. Lisa points Herman to the curtain, goes to the door and opens it. Enter the Countess in a dressing gown, surrounded by maids with candles. Countess. What are you not sleeping? Why are you dressed? What is this noise? LIZA (bewildered) I, grandmother, walked around the room... I can't sleep... COUNTESS (gestures to close the balcony) Look! Don't be stupid! Now go to bed! (He taps with a stick.) Do you hear? LIZA. Me, grandma, now! Countess. Can't sleep!.. Have you heard this! Well times! Can't sleep!.. Now lie down! LISA. I obey! .. Forgive me! Countess (leaving). And I hear noise;

20 You're disturbing your grandmother! (To the maids.) Let's go! (to Lize) And don't you dare do anything stupid here! (Exit with the maids.) 20 HERMANN (to himself). Who, passionately loving, Will come, to surely learn from you Three cards, three cards, three cards! Grave cold blew around! Oh terrible ghost, Death, I don't want you! Lisa, having closed the door behind the Countess, goes to the balcony, opens it, and gestures for Herman to leave. Oh spare me! Death a few minutes ago seemed to me a salvation, almost happiness! Now it's not the same: she's scary to me, she's scary to me! You opened the dawn of happiness to me, I want to live and die with you! LISA. Crazy man, What do you want from me, What can I do?.. Decide my fate! LISA. Take pity, you are ruining me! Leave, I beg you, I command you! So, it means that you pronounce the sentence of death! LISA. Oh God, I'm getting weaker... Go away, please! Say then: die! LISA. Good God! Goodbye! LISA. Heavenly Creator! (Herman makes a motion to leave.) No! Live! Herman hugs Liza; she rests her head on his shoulder. Love you! LISA. I'm yours! Gorgeous! Goddess! Angel!

21 ACT TWO 21 PICTURE THREE SCENE I. Masquerade ball at a rich dignitary. Big hall. On the sides, between the columns, lodges are arranged. Boys and girls in fancy dress dancing country dance. Singers sing in the choirs. CHORUS OF SINGERS. 11 Joyfully, cheerfully on this day Gather together, friends! Throw away your idleness, Jump, dance boldly! Jump, dance boldly, Drop you, drop your idleness, Jump, dance, dance more cheerfully! Beat your hands with your hands, Click loudly with your fingers! Move your black eyes, You all say camp! With a fertik of your hand to your sides, Do light jumps, Chobot on chobot knock, With a bold step, whistle! The Steward enters. MANAGER. The owner asks dear guests to come Look at the sparkle of entertainment lights! All guests are directed to the garden terrace. CHEKALINSKY. Our Herman hung his nose again, I guarantee you that he is in love, That was gloomy, then he became cheerful. SURIN. No, gentlemen, he is passionate, What do you think, what? How? Hope to learn three cards. CHEKALINSKY. Here's the weirdo! TOMSKY. I do not believe you have to be ignorant For this. He's not stupid! SURIN. He told me himself... TOMSKY. Laughing! CHEKALINSKY. (Surina). 11 Poems by Derzhavin

22 Come on, let's go tease him! (They pass.) 22 TOMSKY. And by the way, he is one of those Who, having once thought, Must accomplish everything! Poor fellow! Poor fellow! (Tomsky passes. Servants prepare the middle of the hall for an interlude. Prince Yeletsky and Liza enter.) SCENE II. ELETSKY. You are so sad, dear, As if you have grief ... Trust me! LISA. No, later, prince, another time ... I beg you! (Wants to leave.) Yeletsky. Hold on, for a moment! I must, I must tell you! I love you, I love you beyond measure, I can't imagine living a day without you. And a feat of unparalleled strength I'm ready to accomplish for you now, But know: I don't want to constrain your hearts with anything, I'm ready to hide in order to please you And to calm the ardor of jealous feelings, I'm ready for everything, for everything! Not only a loving spouse, A useful servant sometimes, I would like to be your friend And your comforter always. But I clearly see, now I feel, Where I have lured myself in my dreams, How little trust you have in me, How alien and how far I am to you! Ah, I am tormented by this distance, I sympathize with you with all my soul, I grieve with your sadness And weep with your tears... Ah, I am tormented by this distance, I sympathize with you with all my soul! I love you, I love you immensely, I can’t imagine living a day without you, I am a feat of unparalleled strength Ready to accomplish for you now! Oh honey, trust me! Prince Yeletsky and Liza are passing by. Herman enters without a mask, in a suit, holding a note in

23 hand. 23 SCENE III. HERMANN (reading). "After the performance, wait for me in the hall. I must see you..." I would rather see her and give up this thought... (Sits down.) Three cards!.. Know three cards and I'm rich!.. run away from people ... Damn it! .. This thought will drive me crazy! Several guests return to the hall; among them Chekalinsky and Surin. They point to Herman, creep up and lean over him, whispering. SURIN, CHEKALINSKY. Are you not the third one Who, loving passionately, Will come to learn from her Three cards, three cards, three cards? Hiding. Herman gets up frightened, as if not realizing what is happening. When he looks back, Chekalinsky and Surin have already disappeared into the crowd of young people. CHEKALINSKY, SURIN AND SEVERAL GUESTS. Three cards, three cards, three cards! They laugh and mingle with the crowd of guests, which little by little enters the hall. What is this? Brad or mockery? No! What if?! (He covers his face with his hands.) I'm crazy, I'm crazy! (Thinking.) SCENE IV. MANAGER. The owner asks dear guests to listen to the pastoral under the title: The sincerity of the shepherdess! 12 The guests are seated in the prepared seats. Boys and girls, dressed in the costumes of shepherds and shepherdesses, go out into the meadow. They dance, dance and sing. Prilepa alone does not take part in the dances and weaves a wreath in sad thoughtfulness. CHOIR OF SHEPHERDS AND SHEPHERDS. Under a dense shade, Near a quiet stream, Today we came in a crowd To please ourselves, To sing, have fun And the news of round dances, To enjoy nature, Weave flower wreaths. The shepherds and shepherds retire to the back of the stage. 12 The plot and most of the verses of this pastoral are borrowed from the poem of the same name by P. Karabanov.

24 24 CLIPS. My dear little friend, Dear shepherd boy, About whom I sigh And I wish to reveal my passion, Ah, I didn’t come to dance, MILOVZOR (entering). I'm here, but boring, tomen, Look how thin I've lost! I won't be modest anymore, I hid my passion for a long time, I won't be modest anymore, I hid my passion for a long time. I will not be modest, I hid my passion for a long time! PRILEPA. My dear little friend, Dear shepherd boy, How I miss you, How I suffer for you, Oh, I can't say! Ah, I can't tell! I don't know, I don't know why! MILOVZOR. Loving you for a long time, I missed you, But you don't know it And here you hide yourself From my gaze, from my gaze. I don't know, I don't know why, I don't know, I don't know why! The retinue of Zlatogor brings precious gifts by dancing. Zlatogor enters. ZLATOGOR. How cute, how beautiful you are! Tell me: which of us, Me or him, do you agree to love forever? MILOVZOR. I agreed with my heart, I bowed down to love, Whom it commands, To whom it burns. ZLATOGOR. I have mountains of gold And precious stones I have in my own place. I promise to decorate them all over you, I possess darkness

25 And gold, and silver, And all good things! 25 MILOVZOR. My only property of Love is unflattering heat. And in eternal possession Take it as a gift, And birds, and branches, And ribbons, and wreaths In place of the spotted Precious Clothes I will bring And give them to you! PRILEPA. I don’t need estates, Nor rare stones, I’m happy to live in a hut with a sweetheart, And I’m glad to live in a hut! (to Zlatogor.) Well, sir, good luck... (to Milovzor.) And you be calm! Here in solitude Hurry to reward Such pleasant words Bring me a bunch of flowers! PRILEPA AND MILOVZOR. The end of torment has come, Love delights The hour will come soon, Love, harness us! CHOIR OF SHEPHERDS AND SHEPHERDS The end of torment has come, The bride and groom Worthy of admiration, Love, harness them! Cupid and Hymen with retinue enter to marry young lovers. Prilepa and Milovzor are dancing hand in hand. Shepherds and shepherds imitate them, make round dances, and then they all leave in pairs. CHOIR OF SHEPHERDS AND SHEPHERDS. The sun is shining red, The marshmallows have swept by, You and the beautiful young man, Prilepa, have fun! The end of torment has come, The bride and groom Worthy of admiration, Love, hide them! They all leave in pairs. At the end of the interlude, some of the guests get up, others are talking animatedly, remaining in their places. Herman comes to the forefront.

26 26 HERMANN (thoughtfully). Who passionately and passionately loving! Well? don't I love? Of course yes! He turns around and sees the Countess in front of him. Both shudder, staring at each other intently. SURIN (in mask). Look, your mistress! (Laughs and hides.) Again... again! I'm scared! The same voice... Who is it?.. Demon or people? Why are they following me? Damn! Oh, how pathetic and ridiculous I am! Lisa enters wearing a mask. LISA. Listen, Herman! You, finally! How happy I am that you came! I love you!.. I love you!.. LIZA. This is not the place... I didn't call you for that! Listen... Here's the key to the secret door in the garden... There's a staircase... You'll go up it to your grandmother's bedroom... How? to her bedroom?.. LIZA. She won't be there... There is a door to me in the bedroom near the portrait. I'll be waiting! You, I want to belong to you alone! We need to decide everything! See you tomorrow, my dear, desired! No, not tomorrow, No, I'll be there today!.. LIZA (frightened). But, honey... I want to! LISA. Let it be! After all, I am your slave! Forgive me ... (Hides.) Now it's not me, fate itself wants it that way, And I will know three cards! (Runs away.)

27 27 MANAGER (excited and in a hurry). Her Majesty now deigns to welcome ... There is great animation among the guests. The steward separates those present so that a passage for the queen is formed in the middle. CHORUS OF GUESTS. Queen! Her Majesty! Queen! She will arrive herself ... What an honor for the owner, what happiness! .. Everyone is happy to look at our mother. And what a joy for us! The French ambassador will be with her! The Most Serene One also honors! Well, it's a real holiday! What delight, what joy! Well, the holiday came out, that's for the glory. MANAGER (singer). You be glorified by this now shout- CHORUS OF GUESTS. This is how the holiday turned out to be famous! Shout Hail sim! Here, here, it’s coming, it’s coming, now our mother is coming! Everyone turns towards the middle doors. The manager makes a sign. sing to get started. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND SINGERS Hail to this, Ekaterina, Hail to us, mother tender to us! Vivat, Vivat! Men become in a pose of a low courtly inclination. The ladies take a deep squat. Pages enter in pairs, behind them Catherine appears surrounded by a retinue. 13 PICTURE FOUR The bedroom of the Countess, illuminated by lamps. Herman quietly enters through a secret door. He looks around the room. Everything is as she told me... So what? I'm afraid, right? No! So it's decided, I'll find out the secret from the old woman! (Thinks.) And if there is no secret? And all this is just empty nonsense of my sick soul! Goes to Liza's door. Passing, he stops at the portrait of the Countess. Midnight strikes. And, here she is, the Venus of Moscow! By some secret force I am connected with her by fate! 13 In pre-revolutionary productions of the opera, this action ended with the exit of the pages preceding the appearance of Catherine II. This was due to the prohibition to depict persons of the royal family on the stage.

28 Is it for me from you, is it for you from me, But I feel that one of us Will perish from the other! I look at you and hate, But I can’t see enough! I would like to run away, but there is no strength... An inquisitive gaze cannot tear itself away from the terrible and wonderful face! No, we can't part without a fatal meeting! Steps! They're coming here!.. Yes!.. Oh, come what may! 28 Herman hides behind a boudoir curtain. The maid runs in and hastily lights the candles. Other maids and hangers-on come running after her. The Countess enters, surrounded by bustling maids and hangers-on. CHORUS OF HOUSEHOLDERS AND MAIDS. Our benefactor, How did you deign to walk? Light, our lady Wants, right, to rest! (They escort the Countess into the boudoir.) Are you tired, tea? Well, and what, Was there anyone better there? Were, perhaps, younger, But none more beautiful! (Behind the stage.) Our benefactress... Our light, lady... Tired, tea, Wants, right, to rest! Liza enters, followed by Masha. SCENE III. LISA. No, Masha, follow me! MASHA. What is the matter with you, young lady, you are pale! LISA. No, nothing... MASHA (having guessed). Oh my god! Really?.. LISA. Yes, He will come... Be quiet! He, perhaps, is already there ... And he is waiting ... Watch out for us, Masha, be my friend! MASHA. Oh, how could we not get it! LISA. He said so. I chose him as my husband... And as a slave to the obedient, faithful flock of the One Who was sent to me by fate!

29 Lisa. and Masha leave. Hangers and maids introduce the Countess. She is in a dressing gown and a night cap. They put her to bed. 29 CHORUS OF HOUSEHOLDERS AND MAIDS Benefactor, Light of our lady, Tired, tea, Wants, right, to rest! Benefactor, Beauty! Lie down in bed, tomorrow you will be more beautiful again morning dawn! Lie down in bed, tomorrow you will get up more beautiful than the morning dawn! Benefactress! Lie down in bed, Rest, rest, Rest... Countess. It's enough to lie to you! .. Tired! .. I'm tired ... no urine ... I don't want to sleep in bed! (She is seated in an armchair and covered with pillows) Oh, this world is disgusting to me! Well times! They don't know how to have fun. What manners! What a tone! And I wouldn’t look ... They don’t know how to dance or sing! Who are the dancers? Who sings? Girls! And it happened: who danced? who sang? Le duc d`orlean, la duc d`ayen, de Coigni,.. la comtesse d`estrades, La duchnesse de Brancas * What names! sang... Le duc de la Valliere 15 praised me! Once, I remember, at Chantili 16, at Pripse de Conde 17, the King heard me! I see everything now... (Sings.) Je crains de lui parler la nuit J'ecoute trop tout ce qu'il dit, Il me dit: je vois fime Et je sens malgre moi Mon Coeur qui bat... Je ne sais pas porqoui Duke of Orleans, Duke d'ayen, Duke de Coigny, Countess d'Estrade, Duchess de Branca. (fr.). 15 Duke de la Valliere (FR) 16 Chantilly, royal castle near Paris (FR) 17 Prince de Condé (FR) 18 I'm afraid to talk to him at night, I listen too much to everything he says. He tells me: I love you, And I feel, against my will, I feel my heart, Which beats, which beats, I don't know why! (from French)

30 (As if waking up, looks around.) 30 Why are you standing here? Get on up! The maids and hangers-on, stepping carefully, disperse. The Countess is dozing and humming as if through a dream. Je crains de lui parler la nuit J`ecoute trop tout ce qu`il dit, Il me dit: je vois fime Et je sens malgre moi Mon Coeur qui bat... Je ne sais pas porqoui... Countess. She wakes up and silently moves her lips in mute horror. Don't be scared! For God's sake, don't be afraid!.. I won't harm you! I have come to beg you for mercy alone! The countess silently looks at him as before. You can make up the happiness of life's goals! And it won't cost you anything! You know three cards... (The Countess rises.) For whom do you keep your secret? Herman gets on his knees. If you have ever known the feeling of love, If you remember the ardor and delight of young blood, If at least once you smiled at the caress of a child, If your heart ever beat in your chest, Then I implore you with the feeling of a wife, mistress, mother, Everyone, What is sacred to you in life, Tell me, tell me, tell me your secret! What do you need it for?! Perhaps She is associated with a terrible sin, With the destruction of bliss, With a diabolical condition? Think, you are old, you will not live long, And I am ready to take your sin upon myself!.. Open up to me! Tell me! .. The Countess, straightening up, looks menacingly at Herman. Old witch! So I'll make you answer! Herman takes out a gun. The countess nods her head, raises her arms to shield herself from the shot, and falls dead. Full of childishness!

31 Would you like to assign me three cards? Yes or no? 31 Approaches the Countess, takes her hand. He sees with horror that the Countess has died. She is dead! It came true!.. But I did not know the secret! (Stands as if petrified.) Dead!.. But I didn't know the secret... Dead! Dead! Liza enters with a candle. LISA. What's the noise here? (Seeing Herman.) Are you, are you here? HERMANN (rushing towards her, fearfully). Be quiet! Be quiet! She's dead, but I haven't learned the secret! .. LIZA. Who is dead? What are you talking about? HERMANN (pointing to the corpse). It came true! She's dead, But I didn't find out the secret!.. LIZA (rushes to the corpse of the Countess) Yes! died! Oh my God! And did you do it? (Sobbing.) I didn't want her to die, I only wanted to know three cards! LISA. So that's why you're here! Not for me! You wanted to know three cards! You didn't need me, but the cards! Oh my god, my god! And I loved him, I died because of him!.. A monster! Murderer! Monster! Herman wants to speak, but she points to a secret door with an imperious gesture. Away! Away! The villain! Away! She is dead! LISA. Away! Herman runs away. Liza sobs down on the corpse of the Countess. ACT THREE SCENE FIVE

32 32 Barracks. Herman's room. Winter. Late evening. Moonlight either illuminates the room through the window, or disappears. The howling of the wind is heard. The room is dimly lit by a candle on the table. Offstage, a military signal is heard. Herman is sitting at the table. SCENE I. HERMAN (reading a letter). "... I do not believe that you wanted the death of the countess ... I am exhausted by the consciousness of my guilt before you! Calm me down! Today I am waiting for you on the embankment, when no one can see us there. If you do not come before midnight, I must I will allow a terrible thought, which I drive away from myself. Forgive me, forgive me, but I suffer so much! .. "Poor thing! Into what abyss did I drag her with me! Ah, if only I could forget and fall asleep! He sinks into a chair in deep thought and, as it were. dozing. It seems to him that he hears again church choir, funeral of the deceased countess. CHORUS OF SINGERS (off stage). I pray to the Lord, That he will heed my sorrow, For my soul is filled with evil And I am afraid of the captivity of hell, Oh, look, O God, on the suffering of Your servant! HERMANN (getting up in fear). All the same thoughts, All the same terrible dream and gloomy pictures of the funeral, They rise as if alive before me... (Listens.) What is this?! Singing or howling wind? I can't make it out... (Distant funerary singing is heard.) Just like there... yes, yes, they sing! And here is the church, and the crowd, and the candles, And the censer, and the weeping... (Singing is more distinct.) Here is the hearse, here is the coffin... And in that coffin the old woman, motionless, breathless, Drawn by some force, I enter black steps! It's scary, but I don't have the strength to go back!.. I look at the dead face... And suddenly, squinting mockingly, It blinked at me! Away, terrible vision! Away! (He sinks into an armchair, covering his face with his hands.) CHOIR OF SINGERS. Give her endless life! For a moment, the howling storms subside and in the silence there is a short knock on the window. Herman raises his head and listens. The wind blows again. There is a shadow in the window. The knock on the window is repeated. A new gust of wind opens the window

33 and extinguishes the candle, and again a shadow appears in the window. Herman stands like a stone. 33 I'm scared! Scary! There... there... steps... They open the door... No, no, I can't stand it! He runs to the door, but at that moment the ghost of the Countess in a white shroud appears in the doorway. Herman retreats, the ghost approaches him. GHOST OF THE Countess. I came to you against my will, But I was ordered to fulfill your request. Save Lisa, marry her, And three cards, three cards, Three cards win in a row. Remember! Troika! Seven! Ace! Three, seven, ace! (Disappears.) HERMANN (with an air of madness). Three, seven, ace! Three... Seven... Ace... PICTURE SIX Night. Winter Ditch. At the back of the stage, the embankment and the Peter and Paul Fortress, illuminated by the moon. Under the arch, in a dark corner, all in black, stands Lisa. SCENE I. LISA. Already midnight is approaching, But Herman is still absent, still absent. I know he will come, dispel suspicion. He is a victim of chance And he cannot, cannot commit a crime! Ah, I am weary, I have suffered!.. Ah, I am weary of grief... Was it at night, during the day, that I tormented myself thinking only of him... Where are you, experienced joy? Oh, I'm tired, I'm tired! Life only promised me joy, The cloud found it, brought thunder, Everything that I loved in the world, Happiness, hopes smashed! Oh, I'm tired, I'm tired! At night, during the day, only about him, Oh, I tormented myself with thought ... Where are you, experienced joy? A cloud came and brought a thunderstorm, Happiness, hopes broke! I'm tired! I suffered! Longing gnaws at me and gnaws...

34 And if the clock strikes me in response, That he is a murderer, a seducer? Oh, I'm scared, scared! .. 34 The clock strikes on the fortress tower. O time! Wait, he will be here now... (Desperately.) Ah, dear, come, have pity, Have pity on me, My husband, my lord! So it's true! I tied my fate with the villain! My soul belongs to the murderer, the monster forever!.. By his criminal hand Both my life and my honor have been taken, I am cursed by the fateful will of heaven With the murderer! Liza wants to run away, but at this time Herman appears. You are here, you are here! You are not a villain! Are you here! The end of the torment has come, And again I became yours! Away with tears, torment and doubt! You are mine again and I am yours! Falls into his arms. Yes, here I am, my dear! (Kisses her.) LISA. Oh yes, suffering has passed, I am with you again, my friend! I'm with you again my friend! LISA. The bliss of goodbye has come! The bliss of goodbye has come! LISA. The end of our painful torments! The end of our painful torments! LISA. Oh yes, suffering has passed, I'm with you again! Those were heavy dreams, the deception of an empty dream. LISA. The illusion of a dream is empty. Forgotten moans and tears! I'm with you again, Yes, I'm with you again! Our torments and sufferings have passed, The blessed hour of goodbye has come,

35 Oh my angel, I'm with you again! 35 LIZA (simultaneously with Herman) Forgotten moans and tears! Oh, my dear, desired, I am again, again with you, Our sufferings have passed forever, The torment is over, My dear, desired, I am with you again! But, honey, we can't delay, The clock is running... Are you ready? Let's run! LISA. Where to run? With you to the end of the world! Where to run? .. Where? .. To the gambling house! LISA. Oh my God! What's wrong with you, Herman? There heaps of gold lie And they belong to me, to me alone! LISA. Oh grief! Herman, what are you talking about? Come to your senses! Oh, I forgot, you don't know yet! Three cards, remember, What else did I want to find out from the old witch! LISA. Oh my God! He is insane! Stubborn! I didn't want to tell! After all, today I had her And she called me three cards herself. LISA. So, did you kill her? Oh no! For what? I just raised the gun, And the old witch suddenly fell! (Laughs.) LISA. So it's true! Is it true! Yes! Yes! It's true, I know three cards! Three cards for her killer, She named three cards! So it was destined by fate

36 I had to commit villainy, Three cards at this price Only I could buy! I had to commit villainy, So that at this terrible price I could recognize My three cards. 36 LIZA (simultaneously with Herman). So it's true! I tied my fate with the villain! To the murderer, to the fiend forever My soul belongs! By his criminal hand Both my life and my honor have been taken, By the will of heaven I am cursed with the murderer, I am cursed with the murderer! But no, it can't be! Watch out, Herman! HERMANN (in ecstasy). Yes! I am the third one who, loving passionately, Came to learn from you by force About the three, seven, ace! LISA. Whoever you are, I'm still yours! Run, come with me, I'll save you! Yes! I learned, I learned from you About three, seven, ace! (Laughs and pushes Liza away.) Leave me alone! Who are you? I don't know you! Away! Away! (Runs away.) LISA. He died, he died! And me with him! Runs to the embankment and rushes into the river. PICTURE SEVEN The gambling house. SCENE I. Supper. Some people play cards. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Let's drink and have fun! Let's play with life! Youth does not last forever, Old age is not long to wait! We don't have to wait long.

37 Let our youth drown In bliss, cards and wine! They have one joy in the world, Life will rush like a dream! Let's drink and have fun! Let's play with life! Youth does not last forever, Old age is not long to wait! We don't have to wait long. 37 SURIN (behind the cards). Dana!.. CHAPLITSKY. Gnu passwords! NARUMOV. Killed! CHAPLITSKY. No passwords! CHEKALINSKY (mosque). Is it okay to put? NARUMOV. Atanda! CHEKALINSKY. Ace! Prince Yeletsky enters. SURIN. I am a mirandole... TOMSKY (to Yeletsky). How did you get here? I haven't seen you at the players before. ELETSKY. Yes! Here I am for the first time. You know, they say: Unhappy in love in the game are happy. TOMSKY. What do you want to say? ELETSKY. I am no longer a fiancé. Do not ask me - It hurts me too much, friend - I'm here to take revenge - After all, happiness in love Leads misfortune in the game. TOMSKY. Explain what it means. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Let's drink and have fun! ELETSKY. You'll see! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Let's play with life! Youth does not last forever, Old age is not long to wait!

38 We don't have to wait long. 38 Players, join the diners. CHEKALINSKY. Hey gentlemen! Let Tomsky sing something to us! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Sing, Tomsky, sing, yes, something merry, funny! TOMSKY. I can't sing something... CHEKALINSKY. Oh, come on, what nonsense! Drink and sleep! Tomsky's health, friends! Hooray! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Tomsky's health, friends! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! TOMSKY (sings). If dear girls 19 So could fly like birds, And sit on knots, I would like to be a knot, So that thousands of girls On my branches to sit, On my branches to sit! CHOIR OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS Bravo! Bravo! Ah, sing another verse! TOMSKY. Let them sit and sing, Make nests and whistle, Bring out the chicks! I would never bend, I would always admire them, I would be happier than all knots, I would be happier than all knots! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Bravo! Bravo! That's the song! It's nice! Bravo! Well done! I would never bend, I would always admire them, I would be happier than all the knots! CHEKALINSKY. Now, as usual, friends, Igretskaya! CHEKALINSKY. CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV AND SURIN. Ah, where are those islands, 20 Where tryn-grass grows, Brothers! So in rainy days They Gathered Often. 19 Poems by Derzhavin. 20 Ryleev's poems

39 39 CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. So in rainy days They Gathered Often. CHEKALINSKY, CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV AND SURIN. Bent, God forgive them, From fifty to a hundred. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Bent, God forgive them, From fifty to a hundred. CHEKALINSKY, CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV AND SURIN. And they won, And they wrote with Chalk. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. And they won, And they wrote with Chalk. CHEKALINSKY, CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV AND SURIN. Thus, in rainy days, they engaged in business. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Thus, in rainy days, they engaged in business. CHEKALINSKY, CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV AND SURIN. Bent, God forgive them, From fifty to a hundred. CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Bent, God forgive them, From fifty to a hundred. CHEKALINSKY., CHAPLITSKY, NARUMOV, SURIN AND THE CHOIR OF GUESTS. And they won, And they wrote with Chalk. Thus, in rainy days, they engaged in business. Bent, God forgive them, From fifty to a hundred. (Whistling, shouting and dancing.) One hundred, one hundred, one hundred, one hundred! CHEKALINSKY. For the cause, gentlemen, for the cards! Wine, wine! (Sit down to play.)

40 40 CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Wine, wine! CHAPLITSKY. Nine! NARUMOV Passwords... CHAPLITSKY. Down the drain! SURIN. I bet on the rue... CHAPLITSKY. Dana! NARUMOV. From transport to ten! SCENE II. Herman enters. Yeletsky (seeing him). My premonition did not deceive me. (To Tomsky) I may need a second. Will you refuse? TOMSKY. Rely on me! Chorus of guests and playing A! Hermann! Friend! Buddy! So late? Where? CHEKALINSKY. Sit down with me, you bring happiness. SURIN. Where are you from? Where was? Isn't it in hell? Look what it looks like! CHEKALINSKY. It can't be scarier! Are you healthy? Let me put up a card. (Chekalinsky silently bows in agreement.) SURIN. Miracles, he began to play! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Here are miracles, he began to ponte, our Herman! Herman puts down the card and covers it with a bank note. NARUMOV. Buddy, congratulations on allowing such a long post! HERMAN (putting down a card). Is it coming? CHEKALINSKY. And how much? Forty thousand!

41 CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. Forty thousand! Yes, you're crazy! That's so kush! 41 SURIN. Have you learned three cards from the Countess? HERMAN (irritated). Well, do you hit or not? CHEKALINSKY. Goes! Which card? Troika. (Chekalinsky mosque.) Won! CHORUS OF GUESTS AND PLAYERS. He won! Here's the lucky one! CHEKALINSKY. There's something wrong here! His wandering eyes promises evil, He seems to be unconscious! No, there's something wrong here! His wandering eyes Promises evil! SURIN (simultaneously with Chekalinsky). There's something wrong here! His wandering eyes promises evil, He seems to be delirious, without consciousness! No, there's something wrong here! No, his wandering eyes promise evil! Yeletsky (simultaneously with Chekalinsky). There's something wrong here! But near, near punishment! I will take revenge on you, I will take revenge on you, villain, my suffering, I will take revenge on you! NARUMOV (simultaneously with Chekalinsky). There's something wrong here! His wandering eyes promises evil, Promises evil! No, there's something wrong here! His wandering eyes promise evil! CHAPLITSKY (simultaneously with Chekalinsky). There's something wrong here! His wandering eyes promise evil! It's like he's unconscious! No, something is wrong here, His wandering eyes promises evil! TOMSKY (simultaneously with Chekalinsky). There's something wrong here, something wrong! His wandering eyes, His wandering eyes promises evil!

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To the libretto by Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky based on the story of the same name by A.S. Pushkin.

Characters:

HERMAN (tenor)
COUNT TOMSKY (baritone)
PRINCE ELETSKY (baritone)
CHEKALINSKY (tenor)
SURIN (tenor)
CHAPLITSKY (bass)
NARUMOV (bass)
MANAGER (tenor)
Countess (mezzo-soprano)
LISA (soprano)
POLINA (contralto)
GOVERNESS (mezzo-soprano)
MASHA (soprano)
BOY COMMANDER (without singing)

actors in the interlude:
PRILEPA (soprano)
MILOVZOR (POLINA) (contralto)
ZLATOGOR (COUNT TOMSKY) (baritone)
NUNSENSES, GOVERNESSES, NURSES, WALKERS, GUESTS, CHILDREN, PLAYERS, AND OTHER.

Action time: the end of the 18th century, but no later than 1796.
Location: Petersburg.
First performance: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, December 7 (19), 1890.

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 François Fromental Halévy wrote the opera of the same name (however, there is little left of Pushkin here: Scribe wrote the libretto, 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” (in contrast to “Eugene Onegin”, the composition of which began with the scene of Tatyana's letter). 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.

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 Lisa is a poor pupil of a rich old countess; in Tchaikovsky, she is her granddaughter, “in order, as the librettist explains, “to make Herman’s love for her more natural”; it is not clear, however, why his love would be less "natural" for the poor girl. In addition, there is no clarified question about her parents - who, where they are, what happened to them. Pushkin's Hermann (sic!) is from the Germans, that's why this is the spelling of his last name, 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. 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. One can give many more examples of differences - both external and internal - in the interpretation of events and characters by Pushkin and Tchaikovsky.

INTRODUCTION

The opera begins with an orchestral introduction based on three contrasting musical images. The first theme is the theme of Tomsky's story (from his ballad) about the old countess. The second theme describes the countess herself, and the third is passionately lyrical (the image of Herman's love for Liza).

ACT I

Picture 1."Spring. Summer garden. Area. Nurses, governesses and wet nurses sit on benches and walk around the garden. Children play with burners, others jump over ropes, throw balls.” This is the composer's first remark in the score. In this everyday scene, there are both choirs of nannies and governesses, and a fervent march of boys: a boy commander walks ahead, he gives commands (“Musket ahead of you! Take the muzzle! Musket to your foot!”), The rest perform his commands, then, drumming and trumpeting, they leave. Other children follow the boys. The nannies and governesses disperse, giving way to other walkers.

Enter Chekalinsky and Surin, two officers. Chekalinsky asks how the game (of cards) in which Surin took part ended the day before. Too bad, he, Surin, lost. The conversation turns to Herman, who also comes, but does not play, but only watches. In general, his behavior is rather strange, “as if he has at least three villains in his heart,” says Surin. Herman himself enters, thoughtful and gloomy. Count Tomsky is with him. They are talking to each other. Tomsky asks Herman what is happening to him, why he has become so gloomy. Herman reveals a secret to him: he is passionately in love with a beautiful stranger. He talks about it in the arioso "I don't know her name." Tomsky is surprised by such passion of Herman (“Is that you, Herman? I confess, I would not believe anyone that you are capable of loving like that!”). They pass, and the stage is again filled with walkers. Their choir sounds “Finally, God sent a sunny day!” - a sharp contrast to Herman's gloomy mood (critics who considered these and similar episodes in the opera superfluous, for example, V. Baskin, author of the first critical essay The life and work of Tchaikovsky (1895) seem to have underestimated the expressive power of these mood contrasts. Old women, and old men, and young ladies, and young people walk in the garden and talk about the weather. They all sing at the same time.

Herman and Tomsky reappear. They continue the conversation, which was interrupted for the viewer with their previous departure (“Are you sure that she does not notice you?” Tomsky asks Herman). Prince Yeletsky enters. Chekalinsky and Surin go to him. They congratulate the prince on the fact that he is now the groom. Herman is interested in who the bride is. At this moment, the Countess enters with Liza. The prince points to Liza - here is his bride. Herman is desperate. The Countess and Lisa notice Herman and both of them are seized with an ominous premonition. "I'm scared," they sing together. The same phrase - a wonderful dramatic find by the composer - begins the poems of Herman, Tomsky and Yeletsky, which they sing simultaneously with the Countess and Liza, expressing further each of their feelings and forming a wonderful quintet - the central episode of the scene.

With the end of the quintet, Count Tomsky approaches the countess, Prince Yeletsky approaches Lisa. Herman stays away, and the Countess looks at him intently. Tomsky turns to the countess and congratulates her. She, as if not hearing his congratulations, asks him about the officer, who is he? Tomsky explains that this is German, his friend. He and the Countess retreat to the back of the stage. Prince Yeletsky offers his hand to Liza; it radiates joy and delight. Herman sees this with undisguised jealousy and sings, as if talking to himself: “Rejoice, friend! You forgot that after a quiet day there is a thunderstorm! With these words of his, a distant rumble of thunder is indeed heard.

The men (here Herman, Tomsky, Surin and Chekalinsky; Prince Yeletsky had left with Lisa earlier) start talking about the countess. Everyone agrees that she is a "witch", "a monster", "an eighty-year-old hag." Tomsky (according to Pushkin, her grandson), however, knows something about her that no one knows. “Many years ago the Countess was known as a beauty in Paris” - this is how he begins his ballad and talks about how the Countess once lost her entire fortune. Then the Count of Saint-Germain offered her - at the price of a mere "rendez-vous" - to show her three cards, which, if she bet on them, would return her to her fortune. The Countess got her revenge... but what a price! Twice she revealed the secret of these cards: the first time to her husband, the second - to a young handsome man. But a ghost that appeared to her that night warned her that she would receive a mortal blow from a third, who, passionately loving, would come to recognize the three cards by force. Everyone perceives this story as a funny story and even, laughing, advise Herman to take advantage of the opportunity. There is a strong thunderclap. A thunderstorm is playing out. Walkers rush in different directions. Herman, before he himself escapes from the storm, swears that Lisa will be his or he will die. So, in the first picture, Herman's dominant feeling is love for Lisa. Something will come next...

Picture 2. Lisa's room. Door to the balcony overlooking the garden. 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 (even) in Arcadia (that is, in paradise) I (that is, death) (is) »; in the 18th century, that is, at the time that is remembered in the opera, this phrase was rethought, and now it meant: “And I once lived in Arcadia” (which is a violation of the grammar of the Latin original), and this is exactly what Polina sings about : "And I, like you, lived in Arcadia happy." This Latin phrase could often be found on tombstones (N. Poussin depicted such a scene twice); Polina, like Liza, accompanying herself on the harpsichord, ends her romance with the words: “But what happened to me in these joyful places? Grave!”) Everyone is touched and excited. But now Polina herself wants to bring in a more cheerful note and offers to sing “Russian in honor of the bride and groom!” (that is, Lisa and Prince Yeletsky). Girlfriends clap their hands. Liza, not taking part in the fun, is standing by the balcony. Polina and her friends sing, then start dancing. The governess enters and puts an end to the merriment of the girls, reporting that the countess, having heard the noise, was angry. The ladies disperse. Lisa accompanies Polina. The maid enters (Masha); she extinguishes the candles, leaving only one, and wants to close the balcony, but Lisa stops her.

Left alone, Liza indulges in thoughts, she quietly cries. Her arioso “Where do these tears come from” sounds. Liza turns to the night and confides to her the secret of her soul: “She is gloomy, like you, she is like a look of sad eyes, who took peace and happiness from me ...”

Herman appears at the door of the balcony. Lisa retreats in horror. They silently look at each other. Lisa makes a move to leave. Herman begs her not to leave. Lisa is confused, she is ready to scream. Herman takes out a pistol, threatening that he will kill himself - "one or with others." The big duet of Lisa and Herman is full of passionate impulse. Herman exclaims: “Beauty! Goddess! Angel!" He kneels before Lisa. Gently and sadly, his arioso “Forgive me, heavenly creature, that I disturbed your peace” sounds - one of Tchaikovsky's best tenor arias.

Footsteps are heard behind the door. The Countess, alarmed by the noise, heads towards Lisa's room. She knocks on the door, demands that Liza open it (she opens it), enters; with her maids with candles. Liza manages to hide Herman behind the curtain. The countess angrily reprimands her granddaughter for not sleeping, for the door to the balcony is open, which worries her grandmother - and in general that she should not dare to start stupid things. The Countess leaves.

Herman recalls the fateful words: “Who, passionately loving, will come to surely learn from you three cards, three cards, three cards!” Lisa shuts the door behind the countess, goes to the balcony, opens it and gestures for Herman to leave. Herman begs her not to send him away. To leave means to die for him. "No! Live!” exclaims Lisa. Herman impulsively embraces her; she rests her head on his shoulder. "Gorgeous! Goddess! Angel! Love you!" Herman sings ecstatically.

ACT II

The second act contains the contrast of two scenes, of which the first (in order in the opera - the third) takes place at the ball, and the second (fourth) - in the bedroom of the countess.

Picture 3. A masquerade ball in the home of a wealthy metropolitan (naturally, St. Petersburg) nobleman. Big hall. On the sides, between the columns, lodges are arranged. The guests are dancing contradans. Singers sing in the choirs. Their singing reproduces the style of greeting chants of the Catherine era. Herman's old acquaintances - Chekalinsky, Surin, Tomsky - gossip about the state of mind of our hero: one believes that his mood is so changeable - "He was gloomy, then he became cheerful" - because he is in love (Chekalinsky thinks so), the other (Surin ) already says with confidence that Herman is obsessed with the desire to learn three cards. Deciding to tease him, they leave.

The hall is empty. Servants enter to prepare the middle of the stage for a sideshow performance, a traditional entertainment at balls. Pass Prince Yeletsky and Liza. The prince is puzzled by Lisa's coldness towards him. He sings about his feelings for her in famous aria"I love you, I love you beyond measure." We do not hear Lisa's answer - they leave. Herman enters. He has a note in his hand, and he reads it: “After the performance, wait for me in the hall. I must see you...” Chekalinsky and Surin reappear, with several more people; they tease Herman.

The manager appears and, on behalf of the host, invites guests to the sideshow performance. It's called "The Sincerity of the Shepherdess". (From the above list of actors and performers of this performance in the performance, the reader already knows which of the guests at the ball is participating in it). This pastoral stylization of music of the 18th century (even the genuine motifs of Mozart and Bortnyansky slip through). The pastoral is over. Herman notices Lisa; she is wearing a mask. Lisa turns to him (a distorted melody of love sounds in the orchestra: a turning point has occurred in Herman's mind, now he is led not by love for Lisa, but by the haunting thought of three cards). She gives him the key to a secret door in the garden so that he can get into her house. Lisa is expecting him tomorrow, but Herman intends to be with her today.

An agitated manager appears. He reports that the Empress, of course, Catherine, is about to appear at the ball. (It is her appearance that makes it possible to clarify the time of the opera: “not later than 1796,” since Catherine II died that year. In general, Tchaikovsky had difficulties with the introduction of the Empress in the opera - the same that N.A. Rimsky had previously encountered -Korsakov when staging The Pskovite Woman.The fact is that even in the 40s, Nicholas I, by his highest command, forbade the appearance of the reigning persons of the Romanov dynasty on the opera stage (and this was allowed in dramas and tragedies); this was explained by the fact that not it will be good if the tsar or tsarina suddenly sings a song.P.I.Tchaikovsky's letter to the director of the imperial theaters I.A.Vsevolozhsky is known, in which he, in particular, writes: Catherine by the end of the 3rd picture.”) Strictly speaking, this picture ends only with preparations for the meeting of the empress: “The men stand in a pose of a low court bow. The ladies take a deep squat. Pages appear" - this is the author's last remark in this picture. The choir praises Catherine and exclaims: “Vivat! Vivat!

Picture 4. Bedroom of the Countess, illuminated by lamps. Herman enters through a hidden door. He looks around the room: "Everything is as she told me." Herman is determined to find out the secret from the old woman. He goes to Liza's door, but his attention is drawn to the portrait of the Countess; he stops to examine it. Midnight strikes. “Ah, here she is, “Venus of Moscow”!” - he argues, looking at the portrait of the countess (obviously depicted in her youth; Pushkin describes two portraits: one depicted a man of about forty, the other - "a young beauty with an aquiline nose, with combed temples and with a rose in powdered hair"). The resounding steps frighten Herman, he hides behind the curtain of the boudoir. The maid runs in and hastily lights the candles. Other maids and hangers-on come running after her. The Countess enters, surrounded by bustling maids and hangers-on; their choir sounds ("Our Benefactor").

Enter Liza and Masha. Lisa releases Masha, and she realizes that Lisa is waiting for Herman. Now Masha knows everything: “I chose him as my husband,” Lisa opens up to her. They are going away.

Dwellers and maids introduce the countess. She is in a dressing gown and a night cap. They put her to bed. But she, speaking rather strangely ("I'm tired ... No urine ... I don't want to sleep in bed"), sits down in an armchair; she is covered with pillows. Scolding modern manners, she reminisces about her French life while she sings (in French) an aria from Gretry's "Richard the Lionheart". (A funny anachronism, which Tchaikovsky could not be unaware of - he simply did not attach importance to historical authenticity in this case; although, as far as Russian life was concerned, he tried to preserve it. So, this opera was written by Grétry in 1784, and if the action of the opera " The Queen of Spades "refers to the end of the 18th century and the countess is now an eighty-year-old old woman, then in the year of the creation of" Richard "she was at least seventy" and the French king ("The King heard me," the countess recalled) would hardly have listened to her singing; such Thus, if the countess ever sang for the king, it was much earlier, long before the creation of "Richard".)

As she sings her aria, the Countess gradually falls asleep. Herman appears from behind a hiding place and confronts the Countess. She wakes up and moves her lips silently in horror. He begs her not to be frightened (the countess silently, as if in a daze, continues to look at him). Herman asks, begs her to reveal to him the secret of the three cards. He kneels before her. The Countess, straightening up, looks menacingly at Herman. He beckons her. "Old witch! So I'll make you answer!" he exclaims, and draws his pistol. The countess nods her head, raises her arms to shield herself from the shot, and falls dead. Herman approaches the corpse, takes his hand. Only now does he realize what happened - the countess is dead, and he did not know the secret.

Liza enters. She sees Herman here, in the Countess's room. She is surprised: what is he doing here? Herman points to the corpse of the countess and exclaims in despair that he has not learned the secret. Lisa rushes to the corpse, sobs - she is killed by what happened and, most importantly, that Herman needed not her, but the secret of the cards. "Monster! Murderer! Monster!" - she exclaims (cf. with him, Herman: "Beauty! Goddess! Angel!"). Herman runs away. Liza sobs down on the lifeless body of the Countess.

ACT III

Picture 5. Barracks. Herman's room. Late evening. Moonlight now illuminates the room through the window, then disappears. Howl of the wind. Herman is sitting at the table near the candle. He reads Lisa's letter: she sees that he did not want the death of the countess, and will be waiting for him on the embankment. If he does not come before midnight, she will have to admit a terrible thought ... Herman sinks into an armchair in deep thought. He dreams that he hears a choir of singers who are funerals for the countess. He is terrified. He sees steps. He runs to the door, but there he is stopped by the ghost of the Countess. Herman retreats. The ghost is coming. The ghost turns to Herman with the words that he came against his will. He orders Herman to save Liza, marry her and reveals the secret of three cards: three, seven, ace. Having said this, the ghost immediately disappears. Distraught Herman repeats these cards.

Picture 6. Night. Winter Ditch. In the depths of the stage - the embankment and the Peter and Paul Church, illuminated by the moon. Under the arch, all in black, stands Lisa. She is waiting for Herman and sings her aria, one of the most famous in the opera - "Ah, I'm tired, I'm tired!". The clock strikes midnight. Lisa desperately calls on Herman - he is still gone. Now she is sure that he is a killer. Lisa wants to run, but Herman enters. Lisa is happy: Herman is here, he is not a villain. The end of the torment has come! Herman kisses her. “The end of our painful torment,” they echo each other. But you can't delay. The clock is running. And Herman urges Lisa to run away with him. But where? Of course, to the gambling house - “There are piles of gold for me too, they belong to me alone!” he assures Lisa. Now Lisa finally understands that Herman is insane. Herman confesses that he raised the gun on the "old witch". Now for Lisa, he is a killer. Herman repeats three cards in ecstasy, laughs and pushes Liza away. She, unable to bear it, runs to the embankment and throws herself into the river.

Picture 7. Gambling house. Dinner. Some players play cards. The guests sing: "Let's drink and be merry." Surin, Chaplitsky, Chekalinsky, Arumov, Tomsky, Yeletsky exchange remarks about the game. Prince Yeletsky is here for the first time. He is no longer a fiance and hopes that he will be lucky in the cards, since he was not lucky in love. Tomsky is asked to sing something. He sings a rather ambiguous song "If only lovely girls" (her words belong to G.R. Derzhavin). Everyone picks up her last words. In the midst of the game and fun enters Herman. Yeletsky asks Tomsky to be his second if necessary. He agrees. Everyone is struck by the strangeness of Herman's appearance. He asks permission to take part in the game. The game starts. Herman bets on three - wins. He continues the game. Now it's seven. And win again. Herman laughs hysterically. Requires wine. With a glass in hand, he sings his famous aria “What is our life? - A game!" Prince Yeletsky enters the game. This round is really like a duel: Herman announces an ace, but instead of an ace, he has the queen of spades in his hands. At this moment, the ghost of the Countess appears. Everyone retreats from Herman. He is horrified. He curses the old woman. In a fit of madness, he is stabbed to death. The ghost disappears. Several people rush to the fallen Herman. He is still alive. Coming to his senses and seeing the prince, he tries to get up. He asks for forgiveness from the prince. At the last minute, a bright image of Lisa appears in his mind. The choir of those present sings: “Lord! Forgive him! And rest his rebellious and tormented soul."

A. Maykapar

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. When Tchaikovsky set to work, he made changes to the libretto and partially wrote the poetic text himself, introducing into it also poems by 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. And even these scenes Tchaikovsky masterfully processed, an example of which is the text introducing the choir of praise to the tsarina, the final chorus of the first scene of the second act.

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) and wrote in his diary: “At times it seemed that I live in the 18th century and that there was nothing further than Mozart. Of course, Mozart in his music is no longer so young. But besides imitating - with an inevitable degree of dryness - rococo patterns and resurrecting expensive gallant neoclassical forms, the composer relied primarily on his heightened susceptibility. His feverish state during the creation of the opera went beyond the usual tension. Perhaps, in the obsessed Herman, who demanded from the countess to name three cards and doomed 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.

The unfolding of the action, which is increasingly frightening, is distinguished by the ingenious technique of Tchaikovsky, who connects complete, independent, but closely related scenes: secondary events (outwardly leading away, but in fact necessary for the whole) alternate with the key events that make up the main intrigue. One can distinguish five core themes that the composer uses as Wagnerian leitmotifs. Four are closely related: Hermann's theme (descending, gloomy), the theme of the three cards (anticipating the Sixth Symphony), the theme of Lisa's love ("Tristanian", according to Hoffmann), and the theme of fate. The theme of the countess stands apart, based on the repetition of three notes of equal duration.

The score is distinguished by a number of features. The coloring of the first act is close to that of Carmen (especially the march of the boys), here Herman's heartfelt arioso, recalling Lisa, stands out. Then the action is suddenly transferred to the living room of the late 18th - early 19th century, in which a pathetic duet sounds, oscillating between major and minor, accompanied by obligatory flutes. In the appearance of German in front of Lisa, one feels the power of fate (and his melody is somewhat reminiscent of Verdi's "Force of Destiny"); 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. This double suicide once again testifies to the composer's decadent romanticism, which made so many hearts tremble and still constitutes the most popular side of his music. However, behind this passionate and tragic picture hides a formal construction inherited from neoclassicism. Tchaikovsky wrote well about this in 1890: "Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann composed their immortal creations in exactly the same way as a shoemaker sews boots." Thus, in the first place is the skill of the craftsman, and only then - inspiration. As for The Queen of Spades, she was immediately accepted by the public as a great success for the composer.

G. Marchesi (translated by E. Greceanii)

History of creation

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 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 duet of Herman and Yeletsky confronts the sharply contrasting states of the characters: Herman’s passionate complaints “Unhappy day, I curse you” are intertwined with the prince’s calm, measured speech “Happy day, I bless you.” The central episode of the picture is the quintet "I'm scared!" - conveys the gloomy forebodings of the participants. In Tomsky's ballad, the refrain about three mysterious cards sounds ominously. A stormy scene of a thunderstorm, against which Herman's oath sounds, ends the first picture.

The second picture breaks up 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." 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 opening choir, in the spirit of the welcoming cantatas of the Catherine era, is a kind of screensaver for the picture. Prince Yeletsky's aria "I love you" describes his nobility and restraint. Pastoral "The sincerity of the shepherdess" - a stylization of the music of the XVIII century; elegant, graceful songs and dances frame the idyllic love duet of Prilepa and Milovzor. 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 occurred in Herman's mind, from now on he is guided not by love, but by the haunting thought of three cards. The fourth picture, the central one in the opera, is 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. Herman's passionate arioso "If you ever knew the feeling of love" contrasts with her.

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 German and Lisa "Oh yes, the suffering has passed" is the only bright episode of the picture. It is replaced by a scene of Herman's delirium about gold, remarkable in its psychological depth. The return of the intro music, which sounds menacing and inexorable, speaks of the collapse of hopes.

M. Druskin

After more than ten years of complex, often contradictory searches, along the way of which there were both bright interesting discoveries and unfortunate miscalculations, Tchaikovsky comes to the greatest of his achievements in opera, creating The Queen of Spades, which in terms of strength and depth of expression is not inferior to such of his symphonic masterpieces as Manfred, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. On none of his operas, with the exception of Eugene Onegin, did he work with such ardent enthusiasm, which, by the composer's own admission, reached "self-forgetfulness". 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 another letter to the same addressee, Tchaikovsky admits: “In other places, for example, in the fourth picture, which I arranged today, I feel such fear, horror and shock that it cannot be that the listener does not experience at least part of it.”

Written based on Pushkin's story of the same name, Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades deviates in many respects from the literary source: some plot moves have been changed, the characters and actions of the characters received different coverage. In Pushkin, German 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.

The compositional, dramatic and intonational analysis of The Queen of Spades is given in a number of works, dedicated to creativity Tchaikovsky as a whole or its individual types. Therefore, we will focus only on some of its most important, most characteristic features. The Queen of Spades is the most symphonic of Tchaikovsky's operas: its basis dramatic composition constitutes a consistent cross-cutting development and interweaving of three constant themes, which are the carriers of the main driving forces of action. The semantic aspect of these themes is similar to the relationship between the three main thematic sections of the Fourth and Fifth symphonies. The first of them, the dry and hard theme of the Countess, which is based on brief motive of three sounds, easily amenable to various changes, can be compared in meaning with the themes of rock in symphonic works composer. In the course of development, this motif undergoes rhythmic compression and expansion, its interval composition and modal coloring change, but with all these transformations, the formidable “knocking” rhythm that constitutes its main characteristic is preserved.

Using the words of Tchaikovsky, uttered in another connection, we can say that this is a “grain”, “certainly the main idea» of the whole work. This theme serves not so much as an individual characteristic of the image, but as the embodiment of a mysterious, inexorably fatal beginning, gravitating over the fate of the central characters of the opera - Herman and Lisa. She is ubiquitous, weaving both into the orchestral fabric and into the vocal parts of the characters (for example, Herman's arioso "If you ever knew" from the painting in the Countess's bedroom). Sometimes it takes on a delusional, fantastically distorted appearance as a reflection of the haunting thought about three cards that has settled in Herman's sick brain: at the moment when the ghost of the dead Countess appears to him and calls them, only three slowly descending sounds in whole tones remain from the theme. The sequence of three such segments forms a complete whole-tone scale, which has served in Russian music since Glinka as a means of depicting the inanimate, mysterious and terrible. A special flavor is given to this theme by its characteristic timbre coloring: as a rule, it sounds in the deaf low register of a clarinet, bass clarinet or bassoon, and only in the final scene, before Herman's fatal loss, it is gloomy and menacingly intoned by brass together with string basses as an inevitable judgment of fate.

Closely connected with the theme of the Countess is another important theme - the three cards. The similarity is manifested both in the motive structure, consisting of three links of three sounds each, and in the immediate intonational proximity of individual melodic turns.

Even before its appearance in Tomsky's ballad, the theme of the three cards in a slightly modified form sounds in the mouth of Herman ("weekend" arioso "I don't know her name"), from the very beginning emphasizing his doom.

In progress further development the theme takes on a different form and sounds either tragic or mournfully lyrical, and some of its turns are heard even in recitative cues.

The third, broadly chanted lyrical theme of love with an excited sequential rise to the melodic peak and a smoothly, undulating second half contrasts with both previous ones. It develops especially widely in the scene of Herman and Lisa, which completes the second picture, reaching an enthusiastic, intoxicatingly passionate sound. In the future, as Herman becomes more and more insane with the thought of three cards, the theme of love recedes into the background, only occasionally appearing in the form of brief fragments, and only in the final scene of the death of Herman, dying with the name of Lisa on his lips, again sounds clear and uncomplicated. There comes a moment of catharsis, purification - terrible delusional visions dissipate, and a bright feeling of love triumphs over all horrors and nightmares.

A high degree of symphonic generalization is combined in The Queen of Spades with a bright and colorful stage action, replete with sharp contrasts, changes of light and shadow. The most acute conflict situations alternate with distracting background episodes of a domestic nature, and the development goes in the direction of increasing psychological concentration and thickening of gloomy, ominous tones. Genre elements are concentrated mainly in the first three scenes of the opera. A kind of screensaver for the main action is the scene of festivities in the Summer Garden, children's games and careless chatter of nannies, nurses and governesses, against which the gloomy figure of Herman stands out, completely absorbed in thoughts of his hopeless love. The idyllic scene of entertainment of secular young ladies at the beginning of the second picture helps set off the sad thoughtfulness and hidden spiritual anxiety of Lisa, who does not leave the thought of mysterious stranger, and Polina's romance, which contrasts with the pastoral duet of two friends with its gloomy color, is perceived as a direct premonition of the heroine waiting for the heroine tragic end (As is known, original intention this romance was supposed to be sung by Liza herself, and the composer then gave it to Polina for purely practical theatrical reasons, in order to provide the performer of this part with an independent solo number.).

The third scene of the ball is distinguished by a special decorative splendor, a number of episodes of which are deliberately stylized by the composer in the spirit of music of the 18th century. It is known that when composing the interlude "The Sincerity of the Shepherdess" and the final welcoming chorus, Tchaikovsky resorted to direct borrowings from the works of composers of that time. This brilliant picture of the ceremonial celebration is contrasted by two short scenes of Herman pursued by Surin and Chekalinsky, and his meeting with Lisa, where fragments of the themes of three cards and love sound disturbing and disconcerting. Moving the action forward, they directly prepare the painting, central in its dramatic meaning, in the bedroom of the Countess.

In this scene, remarkable in terms of dramatic integrity and steadily increasing strength of emotional tension, all the lines of action are tied into one tight knot and the protagonist faces his fate face to face, personified in the image of the old Countess. Sensitively responding to the slightest shifts in everything that happens on the stage, the music develops at the same time as a single continuous stream in close interaction of vocal and orchestral-symphonic elements. Except for the song from Gretry's opera "Richard the Lionheart", put by the composer into the mouth of the sleeping Countess (Many times attention was drawn to the anachronism allowed by Tchaikovsky in this case: the opera Richard the Lionheart was written in 1784, that is, approximately at the same time when the action of The Queen of Spades takes place and therefore could not be connected with memories of the youth of the Countess. But against the general background of the music of the opera, it is perceived as something distant, forgotten, and in this sense it meets the artistic task set, but as for historical authenticity, it apparently did not bother the composer very much.), then in this picture there are no completed solo vocal episodes. Flexible using different kinds musical recitation from monotonous recitation on one sound or brief excited cries to more melodic constructions approaching ariose singing, the composer very subtly and expressively conveys the spiritual movements of the characters.

The dramatic climax of the fourth picture is the tragically ending "duel" of Herman and the Countess (In this scene, the original Pushkin text was preserved by the librettist almost unchanged, which Tchaikovsky noted with particular satisfaction. L. V. Karagicheva, expressing a number interesting observations over the relationship between word and music in Herman's monologue, states that "Tchaikovsky translated into the language of music not only the meaningful meaning, but also many of the structural and expressive means of Pushkin's text." This episode can serve as one of the most remarkable examples of the sensitive implementation of speech intonation in Tchaikovsky's vocal melody.). This scene cannot be called a dialogue in the true sense, since one of its participants does not utter a single word - the Countess remains silent to all the pleas and threats of Herman, but the orchestra speaks for her. The anger and indignation of the old aristocrat are replaced by a stupor of horror, and the “gurgling” passages of the clarinet and bassoon (which are then joined by the flute) convey the death shudders of a lifeless body with almost naturalistic imagery.

The feverish excitement of the emotional atmosphere is combined in this picture with a great internal completeness of form, achieved both by the consistent symphonic development of the main themes of the opera, and by elements of thematic and tonal reprise. The extended predicate is a large fifty-measure construction at the beginning of the picture with uneasily soaring, and then mournfully drooping phrases of muted violins against the background of a dull vibrating dominant organ point at the violas. Long-term harmonic instability conveys Herman's feelings of anxiety and involuntary fear of what awaits him. Dominant harmony does not get resolved within this section, being replaced by a series of modulating moves (B minor, A minor, C sharp minor). Only in the stormy impetuous Vivace, which completes the fourth picture, does the steady-sounding tonic triad of its main key in F-sharp minor appear and the same disturbing melodic phrase is heard again in combination with the theme of three cards, expressing Herman's despair and Lisa's horror before what happened.

The following picture, imbued with a gloomy atmosphere of insane delirium and terrible, chilling visions, is distinguished by the same symphonic integrity and tension of development: night, barracks, Herman alone on duty. The leading role belongs to the orchestra, Herman's part is limited to individual remarks of a recitative nature. Singing for the dead from afar church choir, the sounds of a signal military fanfare, the “whistling” passages of high wooden and stringed strings, conveying the howling of the wind outside the window - all this merges into one ominous picture, evoking disturbing forebodings. Horror gripping Herman reaches its climax with the appearance of the ghost of the dead Countess, accompanied by her leitmotif, first muffled, secretly, and then sounding with increasing force in conjunction with the theme of three cards. In the final section of this picture, an explosion of panic horror is replaced by a sudden stupor, and the distraught Herman automatically, as if hypnotized, repeats the words of the Countess "Three, seven, ace!" at one sound, while in the orchestra the transformed theme of three cards with elements of the increased fret.

Following this, the action quickly and steadily moves towards a catastrophic denouement. Some delay is caused by the scene at the Winter Canal, which contains vulnerable moments not only from a dramatic, but also from a musical point of view. (Not without reason, it was noted by various authors that Lisa's aria in this picture does not quite correspond stylistically to the general melodic and intonational structure of her part.). But the composer needed her in order “to let the viewer know what happened to Lisa”, whose fate would have remained unclear without this. That is why he so stubbornly defended this picture in spite of the objections of Modest Ilyich and Laroche.

After three gloomy "night" scenes, the last, the seventh, takes place in bright light, the source of which, however, is not the daytime sun, but the restless flickering of the candles of the gambling house. The choir of the players “Let's sing and have fun”, interrupted by brief jerky remarks of the participants in the game, then the reckless “gamer's” song “So they gathered on rainy days” pump up the atmosphere of carbon monoxide excitement, in which Herman's last desperate game takes place, ending in loss and suicide. The theme of the Countess, which arises in the orchestra, reaches here a powerful menacing sound: only with the death of Herman does the terrible obsession disappear and the opera ends with the theme of love softly and gently sounding in the orchestra.

The great creation of Tchaikovsky became a new word not only in the work of the composer himself, but also in the development of the entire Russian opera of the last century. None of the Russian composers, except Mussorgsky, managed to achieve such irresistible force dramatic impact and depth of penetration into the most hidden corners of the human soul, to reveal the complex world of the subconscious, unconsciously driving our actions and deeds. It is no coincidence that this opera aroused such keen interest among a number of representatives of the new young artistic movements emerging at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Twenty-year-old Alexandre Benois, after the premiere of The Queen of Spades, was seized, as he later recalled, by "some kind of frenzy of delight." “Undoubtedly,” he wrote, “that the author himself knew that he had managed to create something beautiful and unique, something that expressed his whole soul, his whole worldview.<...>He had the right to expect that the Russian people would thank him for this.<...>As for me, my delight in The Queen of Spades included just such a feeling thanks. Through these sounds, I really somehow revealed a lot of the mysterious that I saw around me. It is known that A. A. Blok, M. A. Kuzmin and other poets of the early 20th century were interested in The Queen of Spades. The impact of this opera by Tchaikovsky on the development of Russian art was strong and profound; a number of literary and pictorial (to a lesser extent musical) works directly reflected the impressions of acquaintance with it. And until now, The Queen of Spades remains one of the unsurpassed pinnacles of the classical opera heritage.

Y. Keldysh

Discography: CD-Dante. Dir. Lynching, German (Khanaev), Lisa (Derzhinskaya), Countess (Petrova), Tomsky (Baturin), Yeletsky (Selivanov), Polina (Obukhova) - Philips. Dir. Gergiev, German (Grigoryan), Lisa (Gulegina), Countess (Arkhipova), Tomsky (Putilin), Yeletsky (Chernov), Polina (Borodina) - RCA Victor. Dir. Ozawa, German (Atlantov), Liza (Freni), Countess (Forrester), Tomsky (Leiferkus), Yeletsky (Hvorostovsky), Polina (Katherine Chesinsky).