Schedule for Evening of one-act opera: Musorgsky. "Night on Bald Mountain" Bespalova. "Shponka and His Aunt" 2022

Composer: Modest Mussorgsky
Composer: Anastassia Bespalova

Orchestra: Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra

Performed in Russian with synchronised English supertitles

PROGRAMME: 

Modest Musorgsky 

Symphonic fantasia Night on Bald Mountain

Anastasia Bespalova 

Shponka and His Aunt (one act opera) 

Music by Anastasia Bespalova 

Libretto by Arkady Zastyrets after the tale of the same name by N. V. Gogol

ABOUT THE CONCERT

Shponka… is my first major effort in the opera genre. Work progressed very quickly. In three months I had written all the basic material. The ease of writing was a result of the extremely high-quality libretto by Arkady Zastyrets. Initially it was terrifying to take a non-poetic text, but during the composition process I came to understand the full delight of working with prose.

The main musical material consists of citations from my works (I am quoting simply because the music is good, so why should it go to waste?) and genuine folk songs such as Oh, There Flew the Peacock, The Lizard Sits Beloved, Beloved and A Miracle under the Mountain, which I have had my eye on for some time, and, at last, I was given the chance to make good use of them. And thus the flavour – at times somewhat countrified.

My musical credo is for beautiful, extended melodies and an elastic, precise, vivid rhythm. And so in the opera there is a great deal of rhythmic, fast-paced, somewhat “pop” music (and just one slow piece). But that´s where the treasure lies: combining the incongruous.

I never write anything in an ordered way, I always start from where I am most gripped. I remember, reading the libretto for the first time, that I truly loved the ending: all the protagonists are brides! Especially Storchenko in a wedding dress – that was something else! And again, initially I wanted the aunt to be played by a man and sung by a baritone or bass. So that he could lift up Shponka in his arms when they meet! But, as some erСтарый WYSIWYGudite persons told me, in theatre as well as in life there are insufficient men, and it´s simpler to give the role to a female voice. But still, I love the aunt, she is a catalyst for the whole plot in the opera, and each time always somewhat different.

Initially this story was loved for its unusual beginning and end: a beginning without a beginning and an end without an end – if you want to, then that´s how to take it… I don´t see any special scenes, “how that should be staged”, in the end I´m not a director. I trust completely the vision of professionals. It is, probably, very hard: the protagonists are constantly going from house to house, all the time eating or drinking something… But I know that the finale draws attention. The last dream is of particular importance, when the whirlwind begins, everything gets mixed up and the result is clear: the brides and Shponka. In the music for this scene I used a very famous rhythm from Queen´s We Will Rock You. Maybe we should try a joke like that – all the singers together should start to belt it out and sing, just imagine how it would rock!

Anastasia Bespalova