TUESDAY October 10, 7:30 p.m. (finishing at approx 10:30 p.m.)

  SEMYON KOTKO  

An opera in five acts or seven scenes

by Sergei Prokofiev (1891 – 1953)

Libretto by Sergei Prokofiev & Valentin Kataev

First performed at the Stanislavsky Theatre in Moscow on 23 June 1940

Cast

Semyon Kotko a demobilised soldier

Semyon's mother

Frosya Semyon's sister

Remenyuk chairman of the village Soviet

Tkachenko a former sergeant-major

Khivrya Tkachenko's wife

Sofia (Sonya) Tkachenko's daughter

Tsarev a sailor

Lyubka Tsarev's fiancée

Ivasenko an old man

Mikola Ivasenko's son, Frosya's sweetheart

Klembovsky landowner posing as worker

Von Wierhof German lieutenant

German sergeant

Bandura player

Viktor Lutsyuk tenor

Lyubov Sokolova mezzo soprano

Varvara Solovyova mezzo soprano

Eugeny Nikitin bass baritone

Gennady Bezzubenkov bass

Nadezhda Vassilieva mezzo soprano

Tatiana Pavlovskaya soprano

Roman Burdenko baritone

Olga Sergeeva soprano

Grigory Karasev bass

Stanislav Leontyev tenor

Andrei Popov tenor

Yuri Laptev baritone

Vitaly Yankovsky bass

Mikhail Kit

Production

A 2015 production by the Kirov Opera from the Mariinsky Theatre

Direction by Yuri Alexandrov

Design by Semyon Pastukh

Costume design by Galina Solovieva

Lighting design by Gleb Filshtinsky

The Mariinsky Chorus & Orchestra
conducted by Valery Gergiev

Synopsis

ACT ONE

Semyon has returned to his village after four year's absence but instead of his home he finds a scorched wasteland, pitted with craters, in which people are hiding; they are his fellow villagers, friends from his youth, his grown up sister Frosya, her young suitor Mikola, and his mother, now aged and laden with woes and grief. Upon seeing his beloved Sofia, he is overcome with warmth and affection. But Sofia's father, the former sergeant-major, Tkachenko, despite his earlier promise of his daughter's hand to Semyon is now reluctant as he is a pauper. Help comes unexpectedly from Remenyuk, chairman of the village council, and the sailor Tsarev and his future bride Lyubka. Meeting this trio stirs conflicting emotions in Semyon's soul but he is prepared to do anything for the sake of his happiness with Sofia. The new allies and matchmakers are convinced that Tkachenko, the 'kulak' will not dare refuse these representatives of the revolutionary authorities.

ACT TWO

Tkachenko has given refuge to Klembovsky, the local landowner disguised as a hired worker, whom he wants Sofia to marry. However the unwanted matchmakers are already at his door. The festive betrothal ceremony of Sofia and Semyon descends into a terrible farce. Tkachenko believes the revolution will fail and he watches in horror as the uninvited guests burst into his house. The wild 'red wedding' is cut short by the sudden arrival of the Germans. All are seized by a feeling of impending doom, a fear of some terrifying destructive power that they are yet to face. Remenyuk entrusts the papers listing he division of the Klembovsky estate to the old man Ivasenko. Tsarev stays behind to be with Lyubka.

ACT THREE

Amid the ruins and ashes, pairs of young lovers can be seen in the fog – three faiths, three hopes and three loves with no future. The fragile pre-dawn silence is broken by an implacable avenging force. The 'Reds' , the Germans, the 'White Guards' and the 'haydamaks' have all become entangled in the bloody mass. Mikola and Lyubka watch as Mikola's father, the old man Ivasenko, and the sailor Tsarev are hanged. Sofia manages to warn Semyon, who escapes with Mikola, after rescuing the bodies of Ivasenko and Tsarev. Lyubka has gone mad, refusing to believe that Tsarev is dead. The Germans burn down Semyon's cottage; the blaze spreads and the village is seized with horror and panic.

ACT FOUR

Semyon and Mikola make it safely into the woods, where they join up with a unit of partisans. Remenyuk is shocked by the savage punishment of Ivasenko and Tsarev at the hands of the haydamaks. As they solemnly bury the bodies they swear to avenge the deaths of their comrades. Semyon is training new recruits in the art of war. Frosya appears and tells of how Tkachenko is forcing Sofia to marry Klembovsky. At that moment the unit receives orders to carry out a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines to join with the Red Army. Semyon and Mikola leave for their native village to blow up the German headquarters.

ACT FIVE

The village square is deserted apart from Semyon's mother and a blind bandura player. Candles are burning in the church. Sofia is about to enter the church to marry Klembovsky against her will when Semyon and Mikola arrive in time to hurl a grenade into the church. But they are caught by the haydamaks and sentenced to death by firing squad. The Germans hastily withdraw. Tkachenko is arrested and taken off to execution while Remenyuk and the Red Army arrive to dedicate themselves to the struggle for the freedom of the Ukraine and its people.