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Opera Music Plot Synopsis
Stravinsky: Mavra
Opera buffa in 1 act. Music by Igor Feodorovich Stravinsky
(Oranienbaum, June 5
1882 - New York April 6 1971)
Libretto by Boris Kochno, after Pushkin's rhymed story The
Little House in
Kolomna
First performance: Paris Opera, June 3 1922; conductor: Gregor
Fitelberg.
Cast:
Parasha Soprano
Her mother Mezzo soprano
Neighbour's wife Mezzo soprano
Vassili Tenor
A Russian village, circa 1840.
In a room of her mother's house, Parasha is embroidering.
She is in love with
the boy next-door, the young hussar Vassili. "Oh, my
dearest," she sings, full
of desire. Her lover appears at the window: "Zing-a-ling!"
They strike up a
duet. The hussar withdraws, and Parasha's mother enters. She
complains how
difficult it is to find a capable maid-servant, now that her
former cook, the
great Thecla, has passed away. She orders her daughter to
go and find a new
servant for her. "Good morning": the nosy neighbour's
wife turns up. The two
women discuss their domestic problems, and the high cost of
clothes nowadays.
Parasha now arrives triumphantly, accompanied by a young lady
possessing
excellent skills, she says. Her name is Mavra, and she was
formerly employed by
old Anna, their neighbour. `Mavra' is actually the hussar
in disguise, dressed
up as a kitchen maid, but the mother and the neighbour's wife
do not recognize
`her'. In a quartet, both women point out to Mavra that she
will have to do her
utmost to equal the late Thecla. The neighbour's wife goes
home, and the mother
leaves the room. In a duet, the lovers give expression to
their joy at having
succesfully smuggled Vassili into Parasha's house. Parasha
and her mother then
go for a walk. Vassili, alone, sings of his love for Parasha
and then takes the
opportunity to shave. He is caught by the returning ladies
during this little
male business. The mother faints, the neighbour's wife rushes
forward, and
Vassili jumps out of the window. Parasha stays behind, plaintively
crying for
her hussar.
synopsis © Jeroen Scholten, 1999
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