Sergei Prokofiev: Semyon Kotko (3 CDs). Sergei Sergeevich Prokofiev. Opera “Semyon Kotko Semyon Kotko Prokofiev

Opera in 5 acts, 7 scenes. Libretto by V. Kataev and composer based on the story by V. Kataev “I am the son of the working people.”
Premiere: Moscow, Opera House them. Stanislavsky, June 23, 1940

Characters:

Semyon Kotko, demobilized soldier (tenor)
Semyon's mother (mezzo-soprano)
Frosya, sister of Semyon (mezzo-soprano)
Remenyuk, chairman of the village council and commander of the partisan detachment (bass)
Tkachenko, former sergeant major (bass)
Xivrya, his wife (mezzo-soprano)
Sophia, their daughter (soprano)
Vasily Tsarev, sailor (baritone)
Lyubka, Tsarev's bride (soprano)
Ivasenko, old man (bass)
Mikola, his son (tenor)
Worker, aka landowner Klembovsky (tenor)
Von Virchow, German lieutenant (tenor)
Translator (tenor)
Guy (bass)
Bandura player (baritone)
Peasants and peasant women, partisans, Haidamaks, Red Army soldiers, White Guards

The action takes place in Ukraine in 1918.

History of creation

From the moment he arrived in the USSR, Prokofiev wanted to write an opera based on a Soviet plot. “There are new people here, new feelings, a new way of life, and therefore many techniques characteristic, for example, of classical opera, may turn out to be alien and unsuitable,” the composer believed. He sought to find a new melody, and at the same time looked for a suitable plot. His attention was attracted by the story of the famous Soviet writer V. Kataeva (1897-1986) “I am the son of the working people” (1937), telling about the events civil war in Ukraine, told, of course, in the spirit of official ideology. In 1938, the author’s adaptation of the story entitled “A Soldier Walked from the Front” was performed on theater stages. Prokofiev turned to the writer, who began working with him on the libretto. Probably, among other things, the composer was also attracted by the opportunity to use the memories of his childhood spent in a Ukrainian estate; in particular, the peculiarities of the Ukrainian dialect emerged in his memory.

The basis of the libretto new opera The prose dialogues of Kataev’s story were based, and “Zapovit” by Taras Shevchenko and poems of some folk songs were used as poetic texts. The music was created in 1939. “His work fascinates him very much, he writes with the greatest enthusiasm,” Meyerhold told the theater troupe. Stanislavsky, where he was going to stage this play.

The first three acts were composed in less than two months: on March 26, Prokofiev completed the scene of Semyon’s meeting with his fellow villagers, on April 8, Act II was ready, on the 15th - the 1st scene of Act I, on May 5 - all III act, June 16 - Act IV and, finally, June 28, the opera in the clavier was completely finished. All work took place in close communication with the librettist and director. True, between Prokofiev and Kataev, who wanted to see in the opera folk dances, songs in the Ukrainian spirit and simple small arias, conflicts arose more than once, but the composer firmly followed his plan, and the writer had to submit. Prokofiev indicated which parts of the story should be included in the text of the opera without changes, some dramatic solutions were also proposed by Prokofiev. Therefore, in the final version of the opera, two librettists are indicated - both Kataev and Prokofiev. On June 20, a few days before the end of the opera’s score, Meyerhold became another victim of the “Great Terror.” After the shock caused by this, Prokofiev rushed to Eisenstein with a request to stage the opera, but he was busy far from Moscow, and the production of the opera, after much deliberation, was entrusted to the outstanding actress Serafima Birman.

The composer orchestrated the opera in the summer of 1939 in Kislovodsk. This work lasted two months and was completed by September 10. The premiere took place on June 23, 1940 at the Moscow Theater. Stanislavsky.

Plot

The street in front of Kotko's poor house. Soldier Semyon Kotko returns from the front after a four-year absence. His mother greets him joyfully.

Having heard about the return of a fellow countryman, fellow villagers gather in his hut and start a conversation. Semyon's fiancée Sophia also comes, although her kulak father forbade his daughter to even think about the poor guy. Frosya advises sending the chairman of the village council Remenyuk and the sailor Tsarev to Tkachenko as matchmakers: he will not dare refuse such respected people.

At home, Tkachenko, upset by Semyon’s arrival and the fact that his daughter has not forgotten him, wants to hide from the approaching matchmakers. However, they catch him, and he has to accept uninvited guests. Those who come greet the bride and groom, but the fun is suddenly interrupted: German spies appear. They are soldered and disarmed. The situation is serious, and Remenyuk orders the communists to leave the village. Tkachenko is triumphant: he was looking forward to the Germans, hiding in the house former landowner.

At night, couples in love walk on a rural street - Semyon and Sophia, Lyubka and Tsarev, Frosya and Mikola. Tkachenko calls out to Sophia and tells her to return home. Now he can call off the engagement! Suddenly the village is surrounded by Germans and Haidamaks. They capture and execute Tsarev and Ivasenko; Only Semyon and Mikola manage to escape. Tkachenko, who helped the invaders, is furious that Semyon managed to escape. A fire breaks out in the village. The peasants are trying to save their belongings from the fire, Lyubka, seeing her loved one on the gallows, loses her mind.

In the forest, Semyon and Mikola come to a meeting with Remenyuk, who has become the commander of the partisans. The partisans vow to fight to the end for the people's happiness and to avenge the terrible death of their comrades.

In the partisan camp, Semyon teaches peasants the soldier's craft. Frosya comes running and tells how outrageous the Germans are in the village, and also that Sophia is being married off to Klembovsky, who was hiding with Tkachenko. The detachment receives an order to join forces with Red Army units, and first to conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines. Semyon and Mikola leave first.

Village square in front of the church. Sophia and Klembovsky are supposed to get married now, but Semyon and Mikola make it in time and free the girl. The Gaidamaks grab them and lead them to execution. Breaks into the village partisan detachment and frees his comrades. The people are celebrating.

Music

Prokofiev in “Semyon Kotko” followed the path that he had mastered in his early opera “The Gambler” and which goes back to the tradition of Mussorgsky’s “The Marriage” - the musicalization of live speech, the use of musical declamation. He dynamized the operatic form, bringing it closer to dramatic play, retaining, however, the leading, determining role of music. The composer widely used nationally characteristic song intonations. The two-dimensionality of the action is used, for example, in the matchmaking scene, when the ceremonial approaches of the matchmakers and, in another part of the hut, Sophia’s feverish preparations unfold simultaneously, or at the end of Act II, when, against the backdrop of a joyful wedding choir, the villagers disarm the German detachment. Colorful everyday sketches are combined in the opera with tragic moments that reach enormous intensity, but sometimes, unfortunately, lead to melodrama.

Arioso Frosi from the 2nd scene of Act I “And it makes noise and buzzes” is based on the authentic folk melody of the lyrical song “Oh, don’t scare, little scary one.” Act II alternates between ditties, cheerful exclamations, patter, sing-song intonations, and Tkachenko’s angry shouts. The wedding choir “What are you, elders” is replaced by the choir “Rano-Ranenko”, which is similar in mood to Ukrainian folk themes, the melody of which was heard in the overture. Act III begins with lyrical scenes, after which harshly expressive scenes emerge, with emphatically dissonant sounds and sharp rhythms. The repeatedly repeated monotonous phrases of Lyubka, who has lost her mind, “No, no, that’s not Cornflower, no, that’s not Cornflower,” ends with their repetition in the full sound of the choir and orchestra. A menacing alarm ends the action.

L. Mikheeva

History of creation

The plot of the opera is borrowed from V. Kataev’s story “I am the son of the working people” (1937), which tells about the events of the civil war in Ukraine, about the fate of the poor peasant Semyon Kotko, who, defending his share, went to fight for the power of the Soviets. Prokofiev wrote the libretto together with Kataev. It was based on the prose dialogues of the story. Among the few poetic texts is “Zapovit” by T. Shevchenko, a comic folk song“It makes noise and buzzes,” ritual wedding choirs.

The Ukrainian flavor of Kataev’s prose revived in Prokofiev’s memory the unforgettable impressions of his childhood spent in Sontsovka (Donbass). It is no coincidence that he began composing the opera with the second scene of the first act - Semyon’s meeting with his fellow villagers. Subsequently, Prokofiev expanded the scope of the historical and everyday story, saturating it with lyrical and psychological content. Scenes of love dates were created anew; the events associated with the destruction of the village by the Germans and the Haidamaks became the dramatic climax of the opera.

Work on her clavier continued from March to June 1939. In the summer of the same year, negotiations were held about staging the opera at the Theater. K. S. Stanislavsky in Moscow. The score was completed in the fall. The premiere took place on June 23, 1940.

Music

“Semyon Kotko” is a lyrical and everyday opera. But its content is multifaceted. Lively sketches of the colorful life of the Ukrainian village, the bright nationality of images that seem to be snatched from life are combined with deep psychologism, which sometimes takes on a tragic sound. The first half of the opera is dominated by chamber genre scenes. However, starting from the third act, the scale of action expands, events are shown close up, their coverage takes on the features of folk drama.

The orchestral introduction is based on the contrast of two themes: a carefree pipe tune depicts the bright landscape of the Ukrainian village, and a wide song melody recreates the image of folk freedom, foreshadowing the dramatic events of the opera.

The first picture opens with the thoughtful, deeply moody music of Semyon's return. His aria is perceived as a confession about what he has experienced and vague thoughts about the future. The music of the aria is concentrated and unhurried, close to peasant tunes; in its marching rhythm one can hear a firm soldier’s step. The echoes of marching songs and military commands flash by.

The second scene of the first act gives a colorful sketch of rural life. The lively patter of Ukrainian women and the ceremonial greetings of old men can be heard. Light, lively dance themes characterize Frosya and Mikolka, and slyly shy, languid phrases characterize Sophia. Frosya’s poetic arioso “It makes noise and buzzes” uses the popular melody of the folk lyrical song “Oh, don’t scare, little scare.”

The sanctimoniously beautiful chant at the beginning of the second act depicts the appearance of Tkachenko’s resourceful fist. A cheerful ditty tune heralds the arrival of matchmakers. Sophia's jubilant exclamations and Khivri's fussy patter contrast with Tkachenko's angry shouts. The wedding choir “What are you, elders” sounds transparent and bright, performed alternately by girls and boys. It is replaced by the general choir “Rano-Ranenko”, the beautiful chanting melody of which is close to soulful Ukrainian songs (this theme was heard in the overture). At the end of the picture, an assertive and harsh theme of anxiety appears in the orchestra, calling the villagers to combat readiness.

The third action consists of two unequal halves, opposite in emotional state: lyrical and tragic. A poetic nocturne combines lyrical scenes. Its widely chanted melody expresses the fullness of feelings and spiritual trepidation of lovers. The scene of Frosya and Mikola is accompanied by a playful dance theme from the first act. The torture and violence of the occupiers, the fire of the village are conveyed with extremely expressive music. The inhuman cruelty of the enemy is emphasized by annoying rhythms and dissonant harmonies. Repeated repetition of the short melodic phrase-lament of the mad Lyubka achieves enormous power of expression. In the final episode, this phrase is heard by the choir and orchestra, growing into a nationwide cry of despair and anger. A menacing, inexorable alarm bell announces a terrible disaster that has befallen peaceful villagers.

In the first scene of the fourth act, Remenyuk's arioso over the bodies of the executed is perceived as an epitaph. A choir on the words of “Zapovita”, similar in music to the harsh revolutionary hymns, accompanies the funeral procession.

The second picture opens with the light playing of the oboe, sounded earlier in the overture; in the distance a cuckoo crows. Frosya's story about the horrors of the Haidamak massacre is full of heartache. The ringing of the bells of a retreating chaise accompanies the scouts departing for a combat mission.

The introduction to the fifth act is colored with mournful pathos; the bandura player sings a sad thought about the devastated Ukraine. The trumpet signal proclaims the liberation of the village. The wide chanting of the wedding choir from the second act (the ensemble of the main characters) is combined with the song of the partisans and Red Army soldiers, full of enthusiasm and energy. Glory to the free Motherland sounds.

What is the difference between the concepts of “domestic solid waste” and “municipal solid waste”, and what should they be called correctly? This confusion arose not so long ago - after the changes adopted by the authorities, where for the first time the very concept of solid waste was clearly spelled out, and work on their storage and disposal was included in the list of public utilities.

These changes have been in effect since January 2016, but still not all citizens have managed to understand the difference between household solid waste and municipal solid waste. Therefore, it is worth talking separately about how MSW and MSW differ.

The bulk of any garbage modern city- this is, that is, the garbage that is generated every day in any apartment.

Such waste consists of various biological (food and plant remains, bones) and synthetic (plastic, glass, cellulose, metals, textiles, etc.) components that are unsuitable for further use. Based on their composition, they can be divided into two types:

Biological (also called waste).
Non-biological (regular household waste).

What waste is considered “municipal solid”

The very concept of municipal solid waste was first established by Federal Law dated December 29, 2014 No. 458-FZ. Based on this document, this is actually the garbage that is formed and accumulated in residential premises as a result of human activity, as well as consumer goods that have lost their useful properties over time.

Legislators also included waste from legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, similar in composition to ordinary household waste.

It turns out that the main feature by which waste can be classified as municipal is its formation during everyday life a person or as a result of the activities of organizations or enterprises whose work is not directly related to the production of goods, works and services.

MSW or MSW: what is correct and what is the difference

Since the adoption of the above law, in the Russian legal field there has been only one correct name for household waste - solid municipal waste. And the expression “solid waste” has become a colloquial expression, and is no longer used in official documents and reports.

Initially, MSW is a broader concept than solid waste, since it includes not only the garbage that ordinary citizens take out of their homes every day, but also similar waste from organizations (for example, office garbage).

As we see, solid waste and solid waste are the same thing, and it is not so important for the average citizen what differences exist between these terms. The specific difference is more important for those enterprises or organizations that are involved in the collection and disposal of household waste - since the use of colloquial designations is completely excluded in official documents and reports.

Video report on pressing problems of collection and disposal of municipal solid waste

The legislative definition of the status of MSW is due to the need to establish more understandable relations for citizens regarding the collection and disposal of waste. If before the entry into force Federal Law No. 458-FZ, payment for the collection and removal of household waste depended on the status of the premises (non-residential or residential), as well as its area, but now the tariff will be tied to the status of the consumer (individual or legal entity/individual entrepreneur) and established standards for the accumulation of MSW. These standards differ for certain types of consumers (residents of apartment buildings, individual residential buildings - and owners of offices and enterprises).

It seems logical that residents apartment building– ordinary average families will accumulate less waste than, say, a large office with many employees and visitors. Accordingly, payments for residents will also be less.

So, the familiar concept of “domestic solid waste”, which is familiar to every person, was legislatively changed to “municipal solid waste”. We hope that this innovation will help improve the state of the environment in Russia - now solid household waste is separated into special group, and the rules for handling them are strictly regulated by law.

Who should a genius be - a “citizen of the world” or a son of his country, taking all the vicissitudes of its fate to heart? he succeeded in both, even if it was not easy - and the opera “Semyon Kotko” became a brilliant confirmation of this.

In 1936, Prokofiev returned to the USSR. This decision was not made immediately and was not easy for him. Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky dissuaded him, noting that, in the opinion of domestic ideologists, Prokofiev’s music was “harmful to workers or, at best, alien,” two attempts by Vsevolod Emilievich Meyerhold to stage his opera “The Player” were never successful. In addition, the composer feared that upon arriving home he would be drawn into “writing political music.” But if political “games” were alien to Prokofiev, then fate home country was not indifferent to him - that is why he decided to return to his homeland. Moreover, if in 1929 he flatly refused to create an opera based on a plot from the Civil War, now he is thinking about creating a work that would reflect the recent history of Russia.

A suitable plot was found in Valentin Petrovich Kataev’s story “I, Son of the Working People”; more precisely, at first Sergei Sergeevich’s attention was attracted by a performance based on it, which was staged in 1938 under the title “A Soldier Walked from the Front” (Kataev himself reworked the story for drama theater). Prokofiev was especially touched by the setting of the work - Ukraine, because his childhood passed there. And, of course, he was fascinated by the plot, full of drama.

Returning to his native village after the war, soldier Semyon Kotko finds in its place a scorched wasteland, where his fellow villagers are hiding in craters. His consolation is that his mother, sister and beloved girl Sophia are alive. Her father - kulak Tkachenko - being a sergeant major, promised him Sophia as his wife at the front, but now he has backed down from his promise. He wants to marry her to the former landowner Klembovsky, whom he hides in his house under the guise of an employee, because both are sure that the return of the old order is a matter of the near future. However, he has to obey when matchmakers appear on the doorstep. Seeds are supported by the communist Remenyuk and the sailor Tsarev. During the fun in honor of the engagement, German spies appear, whom they manage to get drunk and disarm. Tkachenko rejoices at the appearance of the Germans, pinning certain hopes on their arrival. Lovers are walking along the street of a devastated village - Semyon and Sophia, his sister Frosya with her boyfriend Mikola, Tsarev with her girl Lyubka, but suddenly the Haidamaks and Germans burst into the village. Tkachenko handed over Ivasenko, Mikola’s father, and Tsarev to them, and both were captured and executed. Lyubka, who saw this, loses her mind.

Having made their way into the forest, Semyon and Mikola join a partisan detachment led by Remenyuk, who calls on his comrades to avenge the dead. Frosya comes here, she reports that Tkachenko is marrying Semyon’s fiancee to a landowner, and the Germans are rampaging through the village.

Sophia is taken against her will to the church to marry Klembovsky, but Mikola and Semyon arrive in time and free the girl; Semyon throws a grenade into the church. Both are captured and sentenced to death, but the partisans who burst into the village save them. The people rejoice at the victory.

Prokofiev himself worked on the libretto in collaboration with Kataev. He realized that he had set himself a difficult task. Of course, in Russian art there was a tradition of opera-drama on a historical plot - but to what extent can one rely on its traditions? Multi-verse choirs in folk scenes or detailed “portrait” arias may be good when talking about distant eras - but is it possible to put such an aria into the mouth of the chairman of the village council? Prokofiev tries to get away from the static of opera - from arias and choral scenes during which nothing happens. Based on the traditions laid down by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, he musicalizes human speech and uses the techniques of musical recitation.

And yet in the opera painting pictures folk life, people's fate, it was impossible to do without folk song intonations. The composer even resorts to quoting folklore melodies - for example, Frosya’s arioso in the second scene of the first act is based on the folk song “Oh, don’t scare the little girl,” and the chorus “Rano-Ranenko” is full of intonations Ukrainian songs. Both elements musical language opera - musical recitation and folk song origins - organically coexist in the work. This is very clearly demonstrated, for example, at the moment when the villagers disarm the Germans - this scene unfolds against the backdrop of the sound of a wedding choir.

It was assumed that the new opera would be staged by Meyerhold, but he was arrested even before it was orchestrated, and Serafima Germanovna Birman was appointed director. The premiere took place in June 1940.

IN Soviet era The opera was staged a lot and was loved by music lovers not at all for the ideological background of the plot, drawn from the story by Valentin Kataev. Sergei Prokofiev, known for his contempt for well-worn paths in music, turned to Ukrainian folklore in search of an original musical language for his new opera about new people. He not only enriched the music with symphonic arrangements of folk melodies, but also transferred the live speech of villagers from the original source - a technique traditional for literature and cinema, but not for opera. The prose text of the story was reworked - in some places rhymes appeared, supporting the listener’s feeling of a narrative akin to a ballad:

A soldier walked from the front
and then he came to his home.
I fought for four years
and here is my home.

At the same time, sometimes colloquial phrases are structured by rhythmically repeating words to create a special prosaic refrain, like bar lines in music. Suffice it to recall the crafty Frosino “Well, goodbye to that!”, Tkachenko’s exclamations of “Hivrya!” or a contemptuous “Beasts!” one of the Haidamaks. For the climactic chorus, Taras Shevchenko’s poem “Testament”, which was included in the curriculum of Soviet schools, was used. From such ideologically consistent material, Prokofiev produced not a one-day editorial, but a full-fledged opera, which to this day attracts performers and musicians.

A serious problem with concert performance is the theatricality inherent in Prokofiev’s operas. Music implies stage action, which, in turn, becomes an occasion for music, giving impetus to the further development of the plot. The opera is staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, but the defiantly gloomy apocalyptic solution of Yuri Alexandrov's production can hardly be called adequate to the music of Sergei Prokofiev.

At the concerts of Valery Polyansky's band, elements of illustrative theatrical production- a common thing. Moreover, the regulations for theatrical decisions are not clichéd, but are created individually for each opera: costumes are used, and the props of a village hut are played in the orchestra. The scenery of “Seeds of Kotko” is a genre fence with simple dishes and food and a “living” backdrop onto which stylized images are projected. Characteristic small detail: the soloists sing in shirts with open collars, without the usual concert bowties - really, what kind of ties can there be in the village? A continuation of the thoughtful scenography and layout is the artistry of the soloists, who not only sang their parts at a high level without “ weak links”, but also painted a gallery of memorable characters.

I would like to start the story about the performers with three female images, of which the most powerful impression was made by Ksenia Dudnikova, soloist of the Moscow Academic Musical Theater. Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. Frosya is a complex role due to her multifaceted character. But also a winning one. It was for her that the composer, based on a Ukrainian folk song, wrote a touching arioso “And it makes noise and buzzes”, a sparkling duet with Mikola “I came to spoil you ...” and an expanded tragic story from 4 actions. Ksenia Dudnikova has a voluminous voice that does not get lost behind a dense orchestra and can handle both low and high tessitura equally freely. The dense lower register gives expressiveness to both flirtatious and dramatic passages, and the power of the punchy fortes is completely controlled by the singer and does not compromise either the quality of sound engineering or diction - which, generally speaking, is very rare.

Soprano Anastasia Privoznova in “peacetime” and in the duet that opens Act 3 with Semyon could seem a bit strong and harsh for a spoiled kulak daughter. But in the grand ensemble finale of Act 3, Sophia’s voice soaring above the choir and orchestra became the main decoration, focusing the energy of the soloists, the choir and the fire raging in Prokofiev’s music.

Another role that reveals itself in the tragic events is Lyubka, whose crying echoes the most terrible moment in the opera - the execution of Ivasenko and Lyubka’s betrothed Tsarev. This role, truly tragic and incredibly costly vocally and emotionally, was performed by Anna Pegova at that level of dedication when not only vocal abilities are used, but also the acting ability to hold the audience, making it die with the heroine.

The title character of the opera was sung by Oleg Dolgov powerfully, with legato folk singing. Without resorting to external effects, the singer was able to intonationally convey the character of the hero in all key scenes, of which the tense confrontation with Tkachenko in the second act was especially memorable.

Valery Polyansky's team regularly invites Andrey Antonov, bass from Samara, to its projects academic theater opera and ballet. The singer's artistry is multifaceted - he creates convincing images in seemingly stylistically distant works and different roles. Tkachenko turned out to be completely alive - both the cowardly attempt to escape from the matchmakers, and the kulak arrogance in his conversation with Semyon, and the servility in his communication with the invaders - each hypostasis of the character of the hero was drawn carefully, leaving the feeling of a full-fledged stage image.

Maxim Sazhin endowed his character Mikola with truly folk simplicity and human charm. The successful embodiment of one of the central images is due in no small part to the singer’s voice, which, perhaps, sounded especially expressively in a short solo performance “with a guitar”. The voice is ringing, even in registers and pleasant to the ear not in spite of, but because of the appropriate shrillness.

Evgeny Lieberman, who sang the small role of Klembovsky, showed similar voice qualities. Perhaps the only thing alarming about the singing was the tendency to force the sound, partly encouraged by the Prokofiev orchestra, which rarely gives primacy to the soloists.

Remenyuk, the second most important and extensive male role, was played with presiding weight by Ruslan Rozyev. The dark bass of a noble matte sound was organically heard both in leisurely village dialogues and in a heroic oath.

The choir in this opera is assigned the role of a petrel - the scale of the choral numbers increases along with the dramatic intensity of events. In the sound of the GASK choir, epic power was combined with the jeweler precision of polyphony. The ensemble soloists, Baba and Gaydamak, also left a very pleasant impression with their singing and combination of voices.

The already mentioned theatricality of Prokofiev’s operas fully applies to the peculiar theater in the orchestra, where the meager accompaniment can instantly flare up with a bouquet of instrumental characteristics, develop the theme begun in the previous act, reveal irony and humor, and soar in a deafening storm. The orchestra, led by Valery Polyansky, playing with the precision of a clockwork mechanism, fully conveyed to the audience the beauty of Prokofiev's music.

One of the side missions of opera is to capture the elusive details of times, placing them in the protective frame of immortal music - like fragile relics reaching us through the centuries in pieces of amber. With every generation social side The plot of "Kotko's Seeds" is becoming less and less clear - very little time will pass, and fully grown people will know much less about village councils and kulaks than about knights and dinosaurs. But music is capable of preserving the main thing - human feelings, cleared of ideological husk. And to force listeners to empathize with the heroes in plot twists and turns, seemingly inaccessible to full understanding. Low bow to all those who preserve such music for us and for future generations.

Opera in five acts (seven scenes)

Libretto by V. Kataev and S. Prokofiev

Characters:

Semyon Kotko, demobilized soldier
tenor
Semyon's mother
mezzo-soprano
Frosya, Semyon's sister
mezzo-soprano
Remenyuk, chairman of the village council and commander of the partisan detachment
bass
Tkachenko, former sergeant major
bass
Khivrya, his wife
mezzo-soprano
Sophia, Tkachenko's daughter
soprano
Tsarev, sailor
baritone
Lyubka, Tsarev's bride
soprano
Ivasenko, old man
bass
Mikola, son of Ivasenko
tenor
Worker, aka landowner Klembovsky
tenor
Von Virchow, chief lieutenant of the German army
baritone bass
Translator
tenor
1st old man
bass
2nd old man
bass
1st woman
soprano
2nd woman
soprano
3rd woman
mezzo-soprano
1st Gaydamak
bass
2nd Gaydamak
tenor
1st peer
baritone
2nd peer
tenor
Boy
bass
Bandura player
baritone
Peasants, partisans, Haidamaks, Red Army soldiers, White Guards.
The action takes place in 1918 in Ukraine.

HISTORY OF CREATION
The plot of the opera is borrowed from V. Kataev’s story “I am the son of the working people” (1937), which tells about the events of the civil war in Ukraine, about the fate of the poor peasant Semyon Kotko, who, defending his share, went to fight for the power of the Soviets1. Prokofiev wrote the libretto together with Kataev. It was based on the prose dialogues of the story. Among the few poetic texts are “Zapovit” by T. Shevchenko, a comic folk song “And it makes noise and buzzes,” ritual wedding choirs.

PLOT
Semyon Kotko returns from the front. He fought against the Germans for four years, and here in front of him was his home, his home. He knocks on the window. Mother appears on the threshold of the hut. An uninvited lump rolls up to the experienced soldier’s throat, and one eternal word bursts out of his chest: “Mom!”

The news of Kotko's return quickly spread throughout the village. Curious women and men vying with each other to look into the windows of Semyonovaya's hut. Lively Frosya, choking with delight, talks about the hero’s weapons. Semyon joyfully greets his fellow villagers. The men start a decorous conversation about the situation at the front, and the crafty young women “fire” the soldier with jokes and jokes. Semyon's bride Sophia also arrives. The four years that passed in separation, the young people dreamed of happiness. But Tkachenko’s fist forbade his daughter to even think about the poor peasant. Will he accept matchmakers from Kotko? Frosya serves good advice- it is necessary to send such people whom Tkachenko will not dare to refuse: the chairman of the village council Remenyuk and the sailor Tsarev. The latter were not slow in coming with a message about the division of the land of the landowner Klembovsky. Semyon also got a good share.

Tkachenko is indignant upon learning of Kotko’s return. He hoped that in four years Sophia would stop dreaming about unevenness. The sounds of harmonica, noise, fun are heard from the street - the matchmakers are approaching. Tkachenko wanted to escape from them, but it was too late. Holding a grudge, he receives uninvited guests. And on the other half of the house, women are fussing: happy and confused Sophia cannot find the festive decorations that have long been prepared for this occasion. No threats from her father will force her to abandon Semyon. And now young people filled the hut, celebrating the bride and groom. Happy holiday suddenly interrupted by the arrival of German spies. They are soldered and disarmed, but the feeling of anxiety does not leave the guests - the enemy is close. Remenyuk orders all communists to leave the village. Semyon chose the wrong time to get engaged! And Tkachenko is happy: the enemies of the people are his friends. And he obsequiously brings a glass to Klembovsky, who was hiding in his house under the guise of a shell-shocked worker.

The warm southern night seemed to bewitch the lovers. It’s almost dawn, and the young people just can’t part, telling each other about their plans and doubts, talking about love. Tkachenko interrupts the meeting between Sophia and Semyon with a sharp shout: he does not recognize the engagement that has taken place. Happy Lyubochka and Tsarev walk through the village hugging; Frosya chats incessantly with Mikola. The silence of the night is broken by the stomping of horses. The Germans and Haidamaks surrounded the village. With the help of Tkachenko, the sailor Tsarev and the old man Ivasenko were captured and executed, and Kotko was not forgotten in the list of “unreliables.” But Semyon, warned by Sophia, manages to escape, removing the corpses of those executed along with Mikola. Tkachenko is furious at the failed revenge. The glow of the fire rises above the village, illuminating the crowd of peasants trying to save their property from the fire, and the figure of the insane Lyubka, vainly searching for her Vasilko, the sailor Tsarev.

Semyon and Mikola make their way into the forest. Remenyuk meets them at the appointed place. He is shocked by the brutal massacre of the Haidamaks. The partisans vow to avenge the death of their comrades and give their lives for the happiness of the people.

Autumn has come. In the partisan detachment, Semyon teaches the boys the art of war. Suddenly Frosya appears. With sobs, she talks about the atrocities of the invaders, about how Tkachenko is marrying Sophia to the landowner Klembovsky. At this time, the detachment receives orders to conduct deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines and join forces with Red Army units. Semyon and Mikola are the first to go to carry out the order.

The burned village looks terrible. The square is deserted. Only candles are lit in the church. Sophia climbs up to the porch crying—she is not going to get married of her own free will. Semyon and Mikola arrived on time. A successful grenade throw and Sophia is freed. But the heroes were captured by the Haidamaks. Brave scouts were sentenced to death. Tkachenko is looking forward to the long-desired reprisal against the hated Kotko. A partisan detachment breaks into the village. The people celebrate the victory.

MUSIC
“Semyon Kotko” is a lyrical and everyday opera. But its content is multifaceted. Lively sketches of the colorful life of the Ukrainian village, the bright nationality of images that seem to be snatched from life are combined with deep psychologism, which sometimes takes on a tragic sound. The first half of the opera is dominated by chamber genre scenes. However, starting from the third act, the scale of action expands, events are shown in close-up, and their coverage takes on the features of a folk drama.

The second scene of the first act gives a colorful sketch of rural life. The lively patter of Ukrainian women and the ceremonial greetings of old men can be heard. Light, lively dance themes characterize Frosya and Mikolka, and sly, shy, languid phrases characterize Sophia. Frosya’s poetic arioso “It makes noise and buzzes” uses the popular melody of the folk lyrical song “Oh, don’t scare, little scare.”

The third act consists of two unequal halves, opposite in emotional state: lyrical and tragic. A poetic nocturne combines lyrical scenes. Its widely chanted melody expresses the fullness of feelings and spiritual trepidation of lovers. The scene of Frosya and Mikola is accompanied by a playful dance theme from the first act. The torture and violence of the occupiers, the fire of the village are conveyed with extremely expressive music. The inhuman cruelty of the enemy is emphasized by annoying rhythms and dissonant harmonies. Repeated repetition of the short melodic phrase-lament of the mad Lyubka achieves enormous power of expression. In the final episode, this phrase is heard by the choir and orchestra, growing into a nationwide cry of despair and anger. A menacing, inexorable alarm bell announces a terrible disaster that has befallen peaceful villagers.

The introduction to the fifth act is colored with mournful pathos; the bandura player sings a sad thought about the devastated Ukraine. The trumpet signal proclaims the liberation of the village. The wide chant of the wedding choir from the second act (the ensemble of the main characters) is combined with the song of the partisans and Red Army soldiers, full of enthusiasm and energy. Glory to the free Motherland sounds.