FULL A Life for the Tsar aka Ivan Susanin Astrakhan 2023 Mikhail Kolelishvili, Yuri Vlasov, Artem Krutko, Alexey Pyankov, Diana Nur
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: A Life for the Tsar aka Ivan Susanin aka Zhizn' za tsarya
- Composer: Glinka Michail
- Libretto: Nestor Kukolnik, Egor Fyodorovich (von) Rozen, Vladimir Sollogub, Vasily Zhukovsky Libretto Text, Libretto Index
- Venue & Opera Company: Cathedral Square, Astrakhan Kremlin, Russia, Astrakhan State Opera and Ballet Theater
- Recorded: September 2 & 3, 2023
- Type: Staged Opera Live
- Singers: Mikhail Kolelishvili, Yuri Vlasov, Artem Krutko, Alexey Pyankov, Diana Nur, Anna Kadenkova
- Conductor: Valery Voronin
- Orchestra: Orchestra of the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theater
- Chorus: Chorus of the Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theater
- Stage Director: Mikhail Pandzhavidze
- Stage Designer: Garry Hummel
- Costume Designer: Tatyana Kondrychina
Information about the Recording
- Published by: Astrakhan Opera and Ballet Theater
- Date Published: 2023
- Format: Streaming
- Quality Video: 3 Audio:3
- Subtitles: nosubs
- Video Recording from: YouTube FULL VIDEO
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
Opera by Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka “Ivan Susanin” is an outstanding work of Russian musical art, remaining in the repertoires of Russian and foreign theaters for almost two centuries. For our country, society, this work is especially significant, as it is directly related to its history and our traditional worldview.
In different milestones of the existence of Russia, “canvases” like “Ivan Susanin” (“Life for the Tsar”) were and remain not only a symbol of the greatness of Russian culture, but also a factor in uniting our people, connecting their various generations with each other. A simple and at the same time monumental story about the sacrificial feat of an ordinary Russian peasant in the name of saving the Motherland from foreign invaders will always be the most important for preserving our identity and educating future generations.
On the advice of V. A. Zhukovsky, Glinka renames the opera Death for the Tsar, but Emperor Nicholas I makes a wise decision. The word “death” is replaced by the word “life” – by that time a more modern semantic analogue of the sacred word “stomach”. Thus, the top leadership of the country emphasized the importance for her of the personality of the peasant Ivan Susanin, who laid down the most valuable thing that a person has – his own life for his king – the ruler, who managed to unite and raise his own people to the final expulsion of the enemy from his native land.
It seems to us that Ivan Susanin is a reflection of an entire era, this is a virtuoso and mysterious embodiment of folk wisdom, the wisdom that saved Rus’ from destruction during the years of difficult trials.
Critic Vladimir Stasov wrote: “In many ways, Glinka has the same significance in Russian music as Pushkin has in Russian poetry. Both are great talents, both created a new Russian language – one in poetry, the other in music.