| The Voyevoda | |
| Composer: | Tchaikovsky |
| Image Upright: | 1.2 |
| Native Name: | Russian: Воево́да|links=no |
| Librettist: | Alexander Ostrovsky |
| Language: | Russian |
| Premiere Location: | Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow |
The Voyevoda (Russian: Воево́да), Op. 3, is an opera in 3 acts and 4 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky with a libretto written by Alexander Ostrovsky and based on his play The Voyevoda (A Dream on the Volga) (Russian: [http://az.lib.ru/o/ostrowskij_a_n/text_0092.shtml Воевода (Сон на Волге)]|italic=yes).
The opera was composed between March 1867 and July 1868, and it received its first performance on 11 February [OS January 30] 1869 at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. It was a benefit for Alexandra Menshikova.
In the 1870s Tchaikovsky destroyed the manuscript full score of the opera, while recycling much of the first act in his The Oprichnik (1870–1872). The subject of The Voyevoda was thus left available to his former pupil Anton Arensky to compose as the opera Dream on the Volga in 1888. Decades later, during the Soviet period, The Voyevoda was posthumously reconstructed from surviving orchestral and vocal parts and the composer's sketches.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast 11 February [OS 30 January] 1869 Conductor: Eduard Merten[1]) |
|---|---|---|
| Nechay Shalïgin, the voyevoda | bass | Finokki |
| Vlas Dyuzhoy, a wealthy merchant | bass | Radonezhsky |
| Marya Vlasyevna, his wife | soprano | Alexandra Menshikova |
| Praskovya Vlasyevna, his older daughter | soprano | Kronenberg |
| Nastasya | soprano | Annenskaya |
| Stepan Bastryukov, son of a wealthy nobleman' | tenor | Rapport |
| Roman Dubrovin | baritone | Demidov |
| Olena, his wife | mezzo-soprano | Ivanova |
| Rezvïy, Bastryukov's servant | bass | Bozhanovsky |
| Jester | tenor | Lavrov |
| Nedviga, a nurse | mezzo-soprano | Rozanova |
| New voyevoda | bass | Korin |
| Chorus, silent roles: Noblemen, merchants, servants, maidens, people | ||
Source: Voyevoda (opera) Tchaikovsky Research
Time: The middle of the 17th centuryPlace: A large city on the Volga River
Overture
No.1 Chorus of Maidens & Scena
No.2 Mariya's Ballad & Duet
No.3 Scena
No.4 Bastryukov's Aria
No.5 Scena & Duet
No.6 Scena
No.7 Scena
No.8 Quartet & Scena
No.9 Finale
No.10 Introduction
No.11 Chorus of Servants
No.12 Bastryukov's Aria
No.13 Scena & Dubrovin's Aria
No.14 Entr'acte & Dances of the Chambermaids
No.15 Scena & Mariya's Song
No.16 Scena
No.17 Duet
No.18 Scena
No.19 Scena & Khorovod
No.20 Entr'acte
No.21 Scena & Dubrovin's Aria
No.22 Scena
No.23 Quartet
No.24 Scena
No.25 Duet
No.26 Scena & Quartet
No.27 Scena
No.28 Quintet
No.29 Scena & Chorus
No.30 Scena
No.31 Closing Scena
Source: Tchaikovsky Research