THE SECOND BIRTH OF THE OPERA "ASYA" BY M. M. IPPOLITOV-IVANOV

Abstract

The article is devoted to the revival of the opera "Asya" by M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov in a concert version at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The article compares the text of the story "Asya" by I. S. Turgenev and the libretto of the eponymous opera by M. M. Ippolitov- Ivanov, which was first staged at the Russian Private Opera on September 28, 1900 under the direction of its author with the scenery by M. Vrubel. The dramatic features of the opera "Asya" are briefly characterized as lyrical scenes, partly inheriting the genre features of Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin". The questions of the internal relationship of the musical material are raised: through repetitions or figurative allusions of waltz, through contrasting mass scenes (with an abundance of participants: students, walking crowds, men, women, children) and lyrical chamber episodes (Asya, her brother Gagin and Mr. N. N.). The role of the direct quotations in the score by Ippolitov-Ivanov (the student's anthem "Gaudeamus igitur" and "Landesvater", the ceremony of stringing student's hats on a sword), and light allusions to Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin", are discussed. In conclusion, the concert performance of "Asya" at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory on June 6, 2022, is briefly reviewed.