Libretto by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Viktor Burenin
based on the epic poem Poltava by Alexander Pushkin
Performed in Russian
The performance will have synchronised
English supertitles
Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Stage Director: Ilya Shlepyanov (1950)
Set Designer: Alexander Konstantinovsky
Revival Director: Yuri Laptev
Lighting Designer: Damir Ismagilov
Principal Chorus Master: Andrei Petrenko
Musical Preparation: Irina Soboleva
World Premiere: 15 February 1884, Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow
Premiere of this production: 15 May 2009, Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg
Running time: 4 hours 05 minutes
The performance has two intervals
SYNOPSIS
The action is set in the Ukraine in the early 18th century.
Act I
Scene 1
Kochubei’s house and garden.
The girls come to Maria, Kochubei’s daughter, and tell her to come and have her beloved’s fortune told. She refuses: her father has a guest, the hetman Mazepa. Her heart if filled with deep love for him.
A childhood friend, Andrei the Cossack, knowing of Maria’s fateful passion, declares his unrequited love for her and begs her to leave Mazepa. Maria, understanding the full recklessness of her feelings, nonetheless is powerless to resist them. Kochubei enters the garden, with his wife Lyubov, Mazepa and his other guests.
Kochubei’s servants amuse Mazepa with singing and dancing.
Mazepa asks Kochubei for Maria’s hand. Kochubei and Lyubov are enraged at the old hetman’s proposal – he is Maria’s godfather. The hetman turns to Maria and offers her a choice between him and her parents. She, after tortuous hesitation, gives her hand to Mazepa. The hetman carries Maria away.
Scene 2
A room in Kochubei’s house.
Maria’s mother mourns the loss of her daughter, who has now left her father’s home. She urges her husband to take revenge on Mazepa. Kochubei proposes his plan of vengeance: he has found out about the links between the hetman and Sweden’s King Charles XII, and of Mazepa’s proposed betrayal of Peter I, and he resolves to present the captured hetman to the Russian Emperor.
Andrei is ready to deliver a denunciation before the Emperor. Kochubei’s acquaintances are filled with hatred for the hetman Mazepa.
Act II
Scene 3
A cellar in Mazepa’s palace in Belotserkovsk.
The mendacious hetman, having been warned of his denunciation before Peter I, has succeeded in slandering Kochubei to the Emperor. Bound in chains and having been tortured, both Iskra and Kochubei await interrogation.
Orlik enters – he is the hetman’s faithful retainer. He demands that Kochubei give up the treasure he allegedly has buried in the village of Dikanka.
Kochubei has nothing: his honour has been despoiled by Mazepa, and his beloved daughter Maria taken from him by the very same Mazepa.
Kochubei desires one thing only – revenge.
Scene 4
A room in Mazepa’s palace.
The hetman is receiving in secret the ambassadors of the Swedish King. Orlik enters, and receives the order to execute Kochubei.
Maria appears. In a talk with Mazepa, she upbraids him for his coldness towards her. Jealous suspicions torment her soul. Unwillingly, the hetman must lay bare before his daughter the true reason for his coldness, and he reveals the secret plan against the Russian Tsar. Mazepa wants to know whom Maria would choose: her father or her husband, if she was forced to make that choice? In disarray, she speaks of the boundless nature of her love, she does not understand the question of a choice between father and husband. Mazepa leaves.
Maria’s mother appears, having secretly gained access to the palace; she tells her daughter of the failed plot against the hetman, and is stunned that her daughter does not know about the death that awaits her father. Maria and Lyubov hurry to stop the execution.
Scene 5
The road leading to Kochubei’s place of execution.
The people await the appearance of the sentenced men, while a drunken Cossack sings and dances in the crowd. The executioner appears, followed by Mazepa and Orlik, then Kochubei and his friend Iskra are brought in. The sentenced men bid farewell to one another, the people and life, and they mount the scaffold.
Maria and Lyubov run in. But they are too late. The sentence has been executed.
Act III
Scene 6
The Battle of Poltava – symphonic scene.
Scene 7
Kochubei’s former home and garden.
The height of the battle, Russian warriors and pursuing the Swedes; Andre is among them. He is stopped by familiar places, and he recalls times of happiness gone by. Mazepa appears with Orlik. They have fled after the loss of the Swedes at Poltava. Andrei, recognising Mazepa, attacks him with a sword, but Mazepa forestalls him and wounds him fatally.
Maria appears, having lost her mind; she recognises nothing around her. Drowning in grief, the daughter laments her murdered father.
Orlik and Mazepa hide. Not recognising the dying Andrei, Maria lulls him with a cradle song.
Casts & Credits
- Home
- |
- Tours
- |
- Day tours
- |
- Rail tours
- |
- Shore excursions
- |
- My trip
- |
- About
Group Tour Packages
Company Information
US office
3422 Old Capitol Trail Suite 1252,
Wilmington DE, 19808 USA.
US toll-free: 1-888-845-8877
Russian office
Ligovsky pr. 57, Office 19,
191040, St. Petersburg, Russia
tel: +7-812-309-5339
© 2001 – 2024 by Northern Crown, Ltd. uVisitRussia and uVisitRussia.com are registered trademarks. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy
Why Do You Need Our Travel Expert
Contact our experts, and they will help you to plan your best trip to Russia, with attention to every detail!
Our Experts have been in the travel industry for many years, guarantee to offer first class customer service, excellent value for money and unbiased advice. They are standing by to find and build your dream holiday to one of the world's most fascinating destinations - Russia.
Your personal Travel Expert will guide you through each stage of the travel process, from choosing a program that fits you best to support during your trip.
Just tell us your e-mail, and we'll take care of everything!
Ask a Travel Expert
Leave your phone number
Your tour request has been received. Thank you !
We have sent you the confirmation message to [email]
Please make sure that you receive this message (sometimes e-mail messages may go to the spam/junk mail).
If you did not get this message, it means you will not get message with the tours' selection as well. If you use a Yahoo!, Gmail, AOL or Hotmail, we recommend to add request@uvisitrussia.com to your address book.
We recommend to leave your phone number. If we will not heard back that you received the e-mail with the tours' selection, we will contact you by phone.
And you will not miss the best tour for you.
Thank you ! Your request for Travel Expert assistance has been sent. We will e-mail you within 1 hour.