Semyon Kotko

An important role in creating the composition was played by V. E. Meyerhold , who met S. S. Prokofiev even before the revolution, when he was appointed director of the opera “ The Player ” at the Mariinsky Theater . The production did not take place, but it was Meyerhold who gave Prokofiev the idea of ​​creating the opera Love for Three Oranges ^[1] . The composer expressed in his “Diary” a desire to stage this opera by Meyerhold: “And I wish he would ever put on Oranges” ^[2] .

During Prokofiev’s first trip to the USSR in 1927, Meyerhold agreed to stage the opera The Player ^[3] , which led to its deep processing, embodied in the 2nd edition of the composition. The implementation of the director’s plan did not take place. A few years later, Meyerhold was preparing the premiere of the ballet Steel Gallop in the USSR, which was planned to be shown at the Bolshoi Theater in the spring of 1930 ^[4] . Then in 1932-1933 he repeatedly tried to stage The Player, but the performance was removed from the repertoire. None of the director’s plans to stage an opera or Prokofiev’s ballet was realized ^{[5] [6]} .

The composer's "Diary" records indicate difficulties in choosing a decision on moving to Soviet Russia. On the one hand, the Soviet press demanded that Prokofiev open his face and say directly about his attitude to the Soviet regime, on the other hand, the emigrant press did not publish a single positive review of his first tour in the USSR ^[7] . In 1929, Prokofiev weighed the pros and cons, reflecting on the words from Myaskovsky ’s letter “Are you going here?” What for? Our ideologists find that your music is harmful to workers or at best alien ... "and found a reason to move:" Or vice versa: I just have to go in order to again make me believe in music, which, using the absence, was jealous of people " ^[8] . The situation with pre-revolutionary Russia was repeated - both abroad and at home, the audience was divided into two main camps of connoisseurs and detractors, but politics and ideology largely joined the assessment. Then Meyerhold sent a magazine with an evil article: “A genius was seen in Prokofiev, however, each of his new works brings disappointment ... the atmosphere of cooling ... art avenges a lie ...” ^[9] . A month later, from a letter from Meyerhold, Prokofiev concluded: “it is not so good in Russia (if I go, I’ll be drawn into the writing of political music)” ^[10] .

In the fall of 1929, at the so-called “Purge of Prokofiev” (a kind of proletarian focus group with a discussion of the creative creed) , the composer gave a negative answer with an unintelligible motive to the question of whether he could write an opera on the topic of the Civil War ^[11] . However, after a few years, Prokofiev changed his attitude and began to look for a suitable plot.

Shortly after the closure of the State Technical Committee in January 1938, K.S. Stanislavsky offered V.E. Meyerhold the position of chief director at the KS Stanislavsky Opera House ^[12] . Thanks to Meyerhold’s efforts, Prokofiev’s new opera “Semyon Kotko” was included in the theater’s repertoire ^[13] . According to Meyerhold, on April 3, 1939, Prokofiev played the first 2 acts of a new opera for a narrow circle of people - Mayakovsky, Kataev and Meyerhold ^{[K 1] [14]} . After the arrest of V. E. Meyerhold, S. G. Birman was appointed to the position of director of the opera ^[12] . The orchestra of the opera was completed on August 29, 1939. However, during the preparation of the play, the political situation has changed. In the spring of 1940, before the premiere, questions were discussed about the need to make changes both in the libretto and in the music for the opera. The Germans acting according to the libretto were first replaced by the Austrians, then they tried to pass off as persons of uncertain nationality. Prokofiev sent a letter to Molotov , urging him to see everything with his own eyes in a closed viewing and to personally verify the political correctness of the material. After watching, Molotov gave permission for the first show of the play.

The composer attended rehearsals and the premiere of the play on June 23, 1940 ^[12] , but his production was not successful. In 1940, the USSR Union of Composers recommended the opera Semyon Kotko for the Stalin Prize , but the recommendation was rejected by the Prize Committee ^[15] .

• Semyon Kotko, demobilized soldier ( tenor )
• Mother Semyon ( mezzo-soprano )
• Frosya, sister of Semyon (mezzo-soprano)
• Tkachenko, former sergeant major ( bass )
• Xivra, his wife (mezzo-soprano)
• Sophia, their daughter soprano
• Remenyuk, chairman of the village council and commander of the partisan detachment (bass)
• Ivasenko, the old man (bass)
• Mikola, his son (tenor)
• Tsarev, sailor ( baritone )
• Lyuba, the bride of Tsarev (soprano)
• Worker, he is the landowner Klembovsky (tenor)
• Translator (tenor)
• Von Virchow, German Lieutenant (Tenor)
• Bandurist (baritone)

Women, peers, old people, haidamaks, partisans and others.

The plot of "Semyon Kotko" somewhat resembles the ballet " On the Dnieper ": a soldier returned from the front, to find a lover, you need to overcome obstacles, a happy ending.

The action takes place in 1918 in Ukraine.

Semyon fought with the Germans for four years in the First World War . On the threshold of his native hut he meets his mother, tells his fellow villagers about the war. Tkachenko, the father of his beloved Sophia and the commander of the artillery battery in which Kotko served, convinces her daughter to forget about the poor groom, wanting to pass her off as the former landowner Klembovsky. Frosya advises sending matchmakers whom Tkachenko cannot refuse - to the chairman of the village council Remenyuk and the sailor Tsarev, who divided the lands of Klembovsky among the inhabitants of the village. Father’s threats cannot break Sophia’s feelings. During the matchmaking, German scouts appear in the village, which they manage to drink and disarm.

On a warm Ukrainian night, couples of lovers walk around the village: Lyubka and Tsaryov, Frosya and Mikola. After the betrothal, Semyon and Sophia are unable to part. Time flies quickly and dawn is approaching. The village is occupied by Germans and Haidamaks; they executed the old Tkachenko, the old Ivasenok and the sailor Tsarev, issued by Tkachenko. Semen with Mikola manages to remove the bodies of the executed from the gallows and hide. A big fire begins in the village. Lyubka cannot find Tsarev and loses his mind, repeating: “No, no, then not Cornflower, then not Cornflower, then another alien sailor ...”

Semyon and Mikola fall to the partisans, decide to avenge the death of comrades and take the oath of the son of the working people. In the fall, Semyon teaches partisans how to handle artillery. Frosya brings news to the detachment about Sophia's upcoming wedding with Klembovsky. To prepare the offensive of the Red Army, Semyon and Mikola are sent to the village for reconnaissance. They manage to interrupt the wedding in the church and save Sophia. Haidamaks take the scouts captive and are going to shoot them, but partisans enter the village. People celebrate victory.

• 1940 - June 23 premiere at the K. S. Stanislavsky Opera House (Moscow). Director - S. G. Birman , conductor - M. N. Zhukov , artist - A. G. Tyshler ^[12] .
• 1960 - Kirov Theater (Leningrad), conductor - S.V. Yeltsin , director - Alexei Kireev, artist - S. S. Mandel . From June 11, 1960 to April 20, 1962, 11 performances took place ^[17] .
• 1970 - premiere at the Bolshoi Theater ^{[18] [19]} (Moscow), director B. A. Pokrovsky ^[20] , conductor F. Sh. Mansurov , production designer V. Ya. Leventhal . The parts were performed by G. Andryushchenko (Semyon), T. Sinyavskaya and E. Obraztsova (Frosya), A. Krivchenya and A. Eisen (Tkachenko), G.P. Vishnevskaya and N. Lebedeva (Sofia), M. Reshetin (Remenyuk ), Yu. Mazurok (sailor Tsarev), A. D. Maslennikov (landowner Klembovsky) ^[21] , G. Efimov and V. Vlasov (translator).
• 1999 - premiere at the Mariinsky Theater ( St. Petersburg ), the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra and Choir conducted by Valery Gergiev , director - Yuri Alexandrov , production designer - Semyon Shepherd . 20 performances from June 8, 1999 to February 1, 2016. The production was recorded by Philips in 1999 ^[16] , the CD was released in 2000. In this record, the numbers “Sooner, early, early, brother catches sister” and “Zapovit” according to the poem by T. G. Shevchenko, the choir sings N. Tikhonov translated into Russian (“How I die, you bury me in the grave”, 1845) . On Soviet records of the 1960s and 1970s, it was indicated that the same fragments from the opera were performed in Ukrainian .

Noëlle Mann pointed out that according to Richard Swift, 280 shows were shown from the premiere in 1940 to 2003, and cited the dates of some premieres: Brno (May 17, 1959), Perm (April 12, 1960) , Karl-Marx-Stadt (May 26, 1962), Dresden (November 4, 1962), Ostrava (February 2, 1963), Tbilisi (May 3, 1964), Sofia (February 11, 1965), Donetsk (March 2, 1967), Liberec (25 March 1977), Rousse (March 25, 1977), Odessa (October 26, 1977), Prague (November 4, 1977) ^[22] .

• 1960 - The All-Union Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by M. Zhukov and the All-Union Radio Choir, artistic director of the choir - K. Lebedev, choirmaster - V. Kunev. The company Melody D 07305-12 (4 records), record 1960 ^[23] . The same record was reissued in 2013 on MEL CD 10 02120 (3 CD) CDs ^[24] .

Other recordings of the opera were released by Philips (4646052, 2000), Chandos (CHAN10053, 2003), Decca (4782315, 2010) ^[25] . The total recording duration varies from 2 to 3 hours.

In 1943, S. S. Prokofiev, according to the tradition already established by him, created the symphonic suite for the large orchestra Semyon Kotko , op. 81 bis. On modern information resources, the creation of the suite erroneously dates from 1941. The composer himself pointed out that the suite from the opera was composed in 1943 in Perm :

In my opera Semyon Kotko, I composed a symphonic suite under the same title about the fight against the Germans in Ukraine in 1918. The suite has 8 parts. Working on it, I chose from the opera that which seemed to me the best from the musical side, and that which especially resonates with today's struggle with the Germans. The suite tells about the Ukrainian village: its difficult life, sonorous songs, cherry orchards, in which young lovers met on warm southern nights. The German invasion interrupts the peaceful life of the village, it becomes terrible. Robberies, cruel reprisals of Germans with residents. The fire has set. Executions Partisans bury the dead heroes. The village does not bow its head before the conquerors, but engages in an implacable struggle with them. In the last part of "Our Came" - the village, recaptured from the Germans, is again free.

In the fall of 1943, I moved from the city of Perm to Moscow.

- Prokofiev about Prokofiev. Articles and Interviews, 1991 ^[26] .

The suite consists of 8 parts with a total duration of 36–42 minutes:

1. Introduction. Andante
2. Semyon and mother. Moderato
3. Zamoviny (matchmaking). Moderato
4. South night. Adagio
5. Execution. Allegro moderato
6. The village is on fire. Andante moderato
7. The funeral. Andante
8. Our have come. Vivace

The first performance of this composition took place on December 27, 1943 in Moscow under the direction of M.N. Zhukov. The score was first released in 1947 at the Muzgiz Music Publishing House. Records of the suite were released by Chandos , Revelation , CPO , Northern Flowers :

• 1990 - Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Jarvey , Chandos 8803
  • 2008 - Same Artist, Chandos 10485
• 1996 - All-Union Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky , Revelation (RV 1004), 1985 recording
• 2004 - Cologne Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Yurovsky , CPO999 976-2
• 2012 - St. Petersburg State Academic Symphony Orchestra conducted by A. V. Titov , Northern Flowers (NFA 9980) ^[27]

• The movie " The Soldier was Walking from the Front " (1939)

• Meyerhold V. E. From a report on the repertoire plan of the State Opera House named after K. S. Stanislavsky (April 4, 1939) // Articles, letters, speeches, conversations / Kom. A. V. Fevralsky . - M .: Art, 1968. - T. 2. - S. 471—478. - 643 p.
• Prokofiev S. S. Diary 1919-1933 / Foreword by Svyatoslav Prokofiev. - Paris: sprkfv [DIAKOM], 2002. - T. 2. - 813 p. - ISBN 2951813813 .
• Prokofiev about Prokofiev. Articles and interviews / Comp., Ed. and comments by V.P. Varunts. - M .: Soviet composer, 1991 .-- 285 p. - ISBN 5-85285-219-8 .
• Tsukkerman V. A. A few thoughts about S. Prokofiev’s opera Semyon Kotko . - In: Features of the style of S. Prokofiev // 1st ed. : Sat theoretical articles / Comp. and ed. L.G. Berger. - M .: "Soviet composer", 1962. - S. 16-31. - 314 p.

• Mikheeva L., Druskin M. Prokofiev’s opera “Semyon Kotko” (neopr.) . "Belcanto.ru". Date of treatment August 9, 2017.
• Prokofiev at the Mariinsky. Semyon Kotko. 1999 (neopr.) . State Academic Mariinsky Theater. Date of treatment August 8, 2017.
• Rayskin, Joseph. Semyon Kotko - “non-opera” name? // Musicus: magazine, Bulletin of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory named after N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. - 2014. - September ( No. 3 (39) ). - S. 55-56 . - ISSN 2072-0262 . About the production of the 1999 opera at the Mariinsky Theater.
• Shakhov, Vadim. Mariinsky # Opera: “Semen Kotko” by Sergei Prokofiev (neopr.) . Rutube (February 19, 2016). Date of treatment August 10, 2017. Musicologist Vadim Shakhov tells the story of the creation of Sergei Prokofiev’s opera “Semyon Kotko”.
• Chronicle of 1928-1941 (neopr.) . Moscow Academic Musical Theater. Date accessed August 8, 2017. (unavailable link)