Peculiarity of Embodiment of Literary Text by N. Leskov in Libretto of Opera by R. Shchedrin “The Enchanted Wanderer”

Abstract

On the example of reading two texts the story of N. Leskov “The Enchanted Wanderer” and the libretto of “opera for a concert stage” by R. Shchedrin the mechanism of transformation of a literary text into an opera libretto text is described in the article. The principles of elimination, intensification and re-emphasis are described as basic principles of such a transformation. It is shown how their implementation affects the concept of the main character, genre features and the architectonics of the libretto. Particular attention is paid to the concept of the main character. It is concluded that, working with Leskov’s text, reducing and supplementing it, shifting individual accents, R. Shchedrin as a whole does not deviate from the narrative in the interpretation of the concept of the main character, does not violate the genre specificity of the work, the general drawing of its plot and plot canvas. The relevance of the article is due to the fact that Shchedrin’s opera “The Enchanted Wanderer” (last production - New York, 2015) still causes a considerable research reaction both in Russia and abroad. The novelty of the article is due to the fact that there is no literary study on the comparative analysis of two texts: the story of Leskov and the opera libretto by Shchedrin. Meanwhile, the consideration of the ways and methods that artists went to implement the main idea of the work seems important and interesting.