''Aleko'' (russian: Алеко, links=no) is the first of three completed

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

s by Sergei Rachmaninoff. The Russian libretto was written by

Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko (russian: Владимир Иванович Немирович-Данченко; , Ozurgeti – 25 April 1943, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian theatre director, writer, pedagogue, playwright, producer an ...

and is an adaptation of the 1827 poem '' The Gypsies'' by

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

. The opera was written in 1892 as a graduation work at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, and it won the highest prizes from the conservatory judges that year. It was first performed in Moscow on 9 May 1893.

Performance history

The Bolshoi Theatre's premiere took place on 9 May ( O.S. 27 April) 1893 in Moscow. The composer conducted another performance in Kiev on 18/30 October 1893. (

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

had attended the Moscow premiere of ''Aleko'', and Rachmaninoff had intended to hear the premiere of Tchaikovsky's ''Pathétique'' Symphony on 16/28 October, but had to catch a train for Kiev to fulfill his ''Aleko'' conducting engagement.) A

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

centenary celebration performance on 27 May 1899 at the

Tauride Palace Tauride Palace (russian: Таврический дворец, translit=Tavrichesky dvorets) is one of the largest and most historically important palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction and early use Prince Grigory Potemkin of Tauride ...

in Saint Petersburg featured

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

in the title role, and utilized the chorus and ballet of the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

. The opera had its first performance in England on 15 July 1915 at the London Opera House under the direction of

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

. The

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

's 2016/17 season opened in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Rose Hall with a double bill of ''Aleko'' and '' Pagliacci'', an opera that also premiered in May 1892. James Meena conducted and

Stefan Szkafarowsky Stefan Szkafarowsky is an American opera singer (bass). Szkafarowsky was born on February 13, 1956, and is a native of New York. He attended the American Opera Center at Juilliard and the Westchester Conservatory of Music. He is a recipient of gr ...

sang the title role.

Roles

Synopsis

A band of Gypsies has pitched its tents for the night on the bank of a river. Beneath a pale moon, they light campfires, prepare a meal and sing of the freedom of their nomadic existence. An old Gypsy tells a story. Long ago, he loved Mariula who deserted him for another man, leaving behind Zemfira, their daughter. Zemfira is now grown up, has her own child, and lives with Aleko, a Russian who has abandoned civilisation for the Gypsy life. Hearing this story, Aleko is outraged that Zemfira's father took no revenge on Mariula. But Zemfira disagrees. For her, as for her mother, love is free, and she herself has already tired of Aleko's possessiveness and now loves a younger Gypsy, one of her own people. After dances for the women and the men, the Gypsies settle down to sleep. Zemfira appears with her young lover, whom she kisses passionately before disappearing into her own tent to look after her child. Aleko enters and Zemfira taunts him, singing about her wild lover. Alone, Aleko broods on the catastrophe of his relationship with Zemfira and the failure of his attempt to flee the ordinary world. As dawn comes, he surprises Zemfira and her lover together. In a torment of jealousy he kills them both. All the Gypsies gather, disturbed by the noise. Led by Zemfira's father, they spare Aleko's life but cast him out from them forever.

Principal arias and numbers

*Aleko's Cavatina / Каватина Алеко (Kavatina Aleko) *The Young Gypsy's Romance / Романс Молодого Цыгана (Romans Molodogo Tsygana) *The Old Gypsy's Story / Рассказ Старика (Rasskaz Starika) *Men's Dance / Пляска мужчин (Plyaska muzhchin)

Critical reception

Like Rachmaninov's two other operas, ''Aleko'' shows Rachmaninov finding his own individual style, independent of the traditional

number opera A number opera (; ) is an opera consisting of individual pieces of music ('numbers') which can be easily extracted from the larger work."Number opera" in ''New Grove''. They may be numbered consecutively in the score, and may be interspersed with r ...

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's music-dramas. Michael Bukinik, a contemporary of Rachmaninov at the conservatory, recalled the rehearsals for the opera:

I was a pupil of the orchestra class, and during the rehearsals, we not only admired, but were made happy and proud by his daring harmonies, and were ready to see in him a reformer.

Geoffrey Norris has noted criticism of the opera as lacking in dramatic momentum and the libretto as being a hastily crafted "hotchpotch". A contemporary critic in the ''

Moskovskiye vedomosti ''Moskovskiye Vedomosti'' ( rus, Моско́вские ве́домости, p=mɐˈskofskʲɪje ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ; ''Moscow News'') was Russia's largest newspaper by circulation before it was overtaken by Saint Petersburg dailies in the m ...

'' wrote of the opera at the time of the premiere:

Of course there are faults, but they are far outweighed by merits, which lead one to expect much from this young composer in the future.

Recordings

*1951 Ivan Ivanovich Petrov, Nina Pokrovskaya, Anatoly Orfenov, Alexander Ognivtzev, Bronislava Zlatogorova; Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra; Nikolai Golovanov, Melodiya *1987

Evgeny Nesterenko Yevgeny Yevgenievich Nesterenko (russian: Евгений Евгеньевич Нестеренко, link=no; 8 January 1938 – 20 March 2021) was a Soviet and Russian operatic bass. He made an international career, based at the Bolshoi Theatre. ...

, Svetlana Volkova,

Vyacheslav Polozov Vyacheslav Michailovich Polozov (russian: Вячеслав Михайлович Полозов; January 1, 1950) nicknamed "Slava", is a Soviet-born opera singer, professor of voice, entrepreneur. He sang at many opera houses around the world, ap ...

, Vladimir Matorin, Raisa Kotova; USSR TV & Radio Large Chorus, Moscow Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra; Dmitri Kitaenko, Moscow Studio Archives / Alto *1990

Arthur Eisen Artur Arturovich Eizen (russian: Артур Артурович Эйзен; 8 June 1927, Moscow – 26 February 2008, Moscow), was a Soviet and Russian bass singer, actor and pedagogue. People's Artist of the USSR (1976). He was born into a fami ...

, Lyudmila Sergienko, Gegham Grigoryan, Gleb Nikolsky, Anna Volkova, Vasily Lanovoy; USSR Academic Grand Chorus of Radio & TV, USSR Academic Symphony Orchestra;

Yevgeny Svetlanov Yevgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov (russian: Евгéний Фёдорович Светлáнов; 6 September 1928 – 3 May 2002) was a Russian conductor, composer and a pianist. Life and work Svetlanov was born in Moscow and studied conducting ...

, Melodiya *1993 Vladimir Matorin, Natalia Erassova, Viatcheslav Potchapski, Vitaly Tarastchenko, Galina Borissova; Russian State Choir, Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra; Andrei Chistiakov, Chant du Monde *1995 Samson Isoumov, Marina Lapina, Oleg Koulko, Leonid Tischenko; Aleko Choir, Donetsk Philharmonic Orchestra; Roman Kofman (Live Rotterdam), Verdi Records / Brilliant *1996 Nicola Ghiuselev, Blagovesta Karnabatlova, Pavel Kourchoumov, Dimiter Petkov, Tony Christova; Bulgarian Broadcasting Chorus, Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra; Rouslan Raichev, Capriccio *1997 Sergei Leiferkus, Maria Guleghina, Ilya Levinsky, Anatoli Kotscherga,

Anne Sofie von Otter Anne Sofie von Otter (born 9 May 1955) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano. Her repertoire encompasses lieder, operas, oratorios and also rock and pop songs. Early life Von Otter was born in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father was Göran von Otter, a Swedis ...

; Gothenburg Opera Chorus, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra;

Neeme Järvi Neeme Järvi (; born 7 June 1937) is an Estonian American conductor. Early life Järvi was born in Tallinn. He initially studied music there, and later in Leningrad at the Leningrad Conservatory under Yevgeny Mravinsky, and Nikolai Rabinovich, ...

, Deutsche Grammophon *2006 Egils Silins, Maria Gavrilova, Alexandra Dursuneva, Andrey Dunayev; Moscow Chamber Choir, RSO Moscow; Vladimir Fedoseyev, Relief *2007 Vassily Gerello, Olga Guryakova, Vsevolod Grivnov, Mikhail Kit; Yurlov Capella, Moscow Chamber Orchestra; Constantine Orbelian, Delos *2009. Sergey Murzaev, Svetla Vassileva, Evgeny Akimov, Gennady Bezzubenkov, Nadezhda Vasilieva; Coro del Teatro Regio di Torino,

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Med ...

;

Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964, Sesto San Giovanni, Italy) is an Italian conductor. Biography Noseda studied piano and composition in Milan. He began conducting studies at age 27. He furthered his conducting studies with Donato Renzet ...

, Chandos ;Notable excerpts * 1929

: Aleko's Cavatina. Available on LP, CD, online. Electrical (microphone) recording. A 1924 acoustical (horn) recording also exists. ;Video * 1986

(Aleko), Nelli Volshaninova/Svetlana Volkova (Zemfira), Sandor Semenov/Mikhail Muntyan (Young Gypsy), Vladimir Golovin/Vladimir Matorin (Old Gypsy), Maria Papazian/Raisa Kotova (Old Gypsy Woman); Gosteleradio Chorus, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra; Dmitri Kitaenko, VAI

References

{{Authority control Operas by Sergei Rachmaninoff 1893 operas Russian-language operas One-act operas Operas based on works by Aleksandr Pushkin Operas