“Little Red Riding Hood” is an opera tale for children in two acts, written by the Russian composer Caesar Cui in 1911 based on the libretto by Marina Stanislavovna Paul , based on the fairy tale of the same name by Charles Perrault .
| Opera | |
| Little Red Riding Hood | |
|---|---|
| Composer | Caesar Cui |
| Librettist | Marina Stanislavovna Paul |
| Plot source | tale of the same name by Charles Perrault |
| Action | II |
| Year of creation | 1912 |
The original music edition of 1912 was dedicated to the heir, Tsarevich Alexei .
The earliest production date for this opera has not yet been set. However, it is known for sure that it was performed in 1921 in Gomel by students of the People’s City Conservatory and College .
Characters
- Grandma: viola
- Mother: Mezzo Soprano
- Little Red Riding Hood: soprano
- Wolf: viola
- Hunter: Soprano
- Lumberjack: Mezzo Soprano
- Hunters and lumberjacks
- Narrative choir
Story
(Note: the plot, although nominally based on Perrault's work, has a happy ending)
Act I, scene 1. The choir introduces the audience to the background. The scene is the edge of the forest and the porch of the Little Red Riding Hood house on the side. When the little Red Riding Hood leaves to bring a basket of fresh pies to her sick grandmother, her Mother warns her not to stumble in the forest and not to talk with strangers.
Act I, scene 2. Spooky forest. You can hear the lumberjacks chopping wood. The hat comes out of the bushes. When she stops to pick up flowers, the Wolf notices her. He walks up to her and talks about a short way to her grandmother's house. He offers to see who gets to him first. She agrees, and both of them scatter in different directions, and the lumberjacks resume their work.
Act II. A choir appears again to explain that Wolf did not eat for three days and was able to get to his grandmother's house first. Viewers see the grandmother's house from the inside and a clearing outside its walls. The wolf, posing as a Riding Hood, manages to penetrate the house and swallow grandmother. He takes her place in bed before the arrival of Hats. In a few questions, she expresses her surprise at how grandmother now looks, and Wolf swallows her.
The hunters and lumberjacks that track the Wolf enter the house. They find the Wolf asleep and tear up his stomach to release Grandma and Riding Hood. After they sew up the Wolf again, he repents of his deed. He is allowed to live in the forest, but with the agreement that he will behave well.
Literature
- Cui, Caesar. Little Red Riding Hood: children's opera tale. Moscow: Pechatnik, 1912. (piano-vocal score)
- Neef, Sigrid. Handbuch der russischen und sowjetischen Oper. 1. Aufl. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1989, p. 148.