«ЗОЛОТОЙ ПЕТУШОК» Н. А. РИМСКОГО-КОРСАКОВА — «СОЛОВЕЙ» И. Ф. СТРАВИНСКОГО: ПАРАЛЛЕЛИ И ПЕРЕСЕЧЕНИЯ

Abstract

The article is devoted to the musical and theatrical works of I. F.Stravinsky and N. A. Rimsky- Korsakov, The Nightingale and The Golden Cockerel. The “meeting” of Rimsky-Korsakov’s last opera and the first musical and theatrical opus of his younger contemporary on May 26, 1914 at the Chatelet Theatre in Paris, as part of S. Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons, is noteworthy. The search for synthetic artistic forms relevant to the Art Nouveau era, sought by the famous impresario and his associates, led to the production being staged as a ballet with the singing of not only The Golden Cockerel, but also of The Nightingale, which was originally conceived by Stravinsky as an opera-ballet. In the performances shown on the same evening, the vocal-instrumental aspect of the action was complemented by a dance-plastic one, creating an expressive sound-visual counterpoint of the audible and the visible. The colourful details in A. Benois’s direction and M. Fokin’s choreography, N. Goncharova’s picturesque scenery design for The Golden Cockerel, as well as in the solution of The Nightingale by A. Sanin, A. Benoit and B. Romanov, the conventionality of the stage form of a fantastic spectacle was emphasized. The article discusses the similarities and differences in the composers’ embodiment of the original image of the fairy-tale world, examines the artistic and conceptual potential of both works, their dramatic and stylistic features, and the interpretation of literary prototypes. The Golden Cockerel and The Nightingale also encourage reflection on the evolution of fairy-tale opera in the works of Rimsky-Korsakov and on the peculiarities of the formation of Stravinsky’s creative talent.