Christmas Eve (Russian: Ночь перед ождеством, Noch' pered Rozhdestvom), is an opera in four acts with music and libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Composed between 1894 and 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov based his opera on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolay Gogol's Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. The story had been used as the basis for an opera at least three times previously, including for Tchaikovsky's Vakula the Smith (1874). Oliver Knussen writes that "Rimsky is only interested in recreating the atmosphere of the folk-tale, fleshing it out for his stage pageant in a comparable way to Humperdinck in Hansel.
Librettist | Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (based on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolay Gogol's "Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka") |
Date of composition | 1895 (1894-1895) |
Premiered | 1895, December 10th (Mariinsky Theatre) in Saint Petersburg, Russia |
First published | 1895 in Leipzig, Germany |
Type | Opera |
Spoken language | Russian |
Instruments |
Orchestra
Voice (Mezzo-Soprano) - Tsaritsa Voice (Baritone) - Village-head Voice (Bass) - Chub, an elderly Cossack Voice (Soprano) - Oksana, Chub's daughter Voice (Contralto) - Solokha, a widow, and by rumor, a witch Voice (Tenor) - Vakula the smith, Solkha's son Voice (Bass) - Panas, a crony of Chub Voice (Tenor) - Deacon Osip Nikiforovich Voice (Bass) - Patsyuk, an old Zaporozhets, a sorcerer Voice (Tenor) - Devil Chorus/Choir - Lasses, lads, Cossacks of Dikanka. Witches, wizards, evil and good spirits. The figures of Kolyada and Ovsen. The morning star (Venus) and other stars. Court gentlemen and ladies. Lackeys |
Arrangements |
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Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov: Christmas Eve Suite
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Autotranslations beta |
Nikolaï Rimski-Korsakov: Christmas Eve Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov: Christmas Eve Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow: Christmas Eve |