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19Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 1 (2016 9) 194-202
УДК 782.1
On Some Features of A. Smelkov and Yu. Dimitrin's Libretto "The Brothers Karamazov"
Svetlana G. Voitkevich*
Krasnoyarsk State Institute of Art 22 Lenin Str., Krasnoyarsk, 660049, Russia
Received 23.08.2015, received in revised form 23.10.2015, accepted 14.11.2015
"The Brothers Karamazov" opera by Alexander Smelkov, a Petersburg composer, who worked in close collaboration with Yuri Dimitrin, a playwright, is viewed through the prism of "the literary source - the opera libretto" relation. The texts of the opera and the novel are subject to a comparative analysis for the first time. This analysis results in the conclusions about what changes were made in the literary source by the authors of the opera-mystery. Two acts connected with the images of Grushenka and Katerina Ivanovna are given a special focus. The solo text characterizing the opera female characters are written by Yu. Dimitrin and Z. Gippius. The article dwells on the reasons of using "other" texts in the libretto as well as the meaning of the borrowings helping to reveal the idea of the authors of the opera. The theme "in the spirit of Tchaikovsky" in the scene with Grushenka gives rise to the analogy with the opera "Eugene Onegin", A.S. Pushkin's novel, and F.M. Dostoevsky's Pushkin speech. There are interesting parallels between the circumstances of Z.N. Gippius' personal life and Katerina Ivanovna's fate. The conclusion is drawn that the composer and the librettist's deep knowledge relates to understanding of literary criticism and reflects the writer's creative heritage.
Keywords: F.M. Dostoevsky, A.P. Smelkov, Yu.G. Dimitrin, "The Brothers Karamazov", opera, libretto, Z.N. Gippius, "Eugene Onegin".
DOI: 10.17516/1997-1370-2016-9-1-194-202.
Research area: culture studies.
The works by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, a great Russian writer, are ones of those priceless treasures of the Russian art which arouse inspiration and ideas for new works. Their everlasting significance is proved by time; their relevance is increasing from year to year thus confirming their truth and tremendous prophetic power which was noted by the contemporaries of the author of
"The Demons". A special corresponding bond between the modern time and the writer's artistic world is becoming stronger and stronger as the years pass. It is probably "because the works of the great Russian humanist, as if they were a specific model of the world, embody the spiritual strivings of the epoch, moral searches of the contemporaries. Moreover, the problems outlined by F.M. Dostoevsky in his novels and
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* Corresponding author E-mail address: vsg.music@gmail.com
essays are becoming more and more topical with time" (Voitkevich, 2014b: 44).
A specific feature of Dostoevsky's poetics is one of the reasons why his works are referred to by contemporary Russian composers. So, in 2008, on the order of the Mariinsky Theatre Alexander Pavlovich Smelkov, a St. Petersburg composer, and Yuri Georgievich Dimitrin, a well-known playwright, created the opera "The Brothers Karamazov"1.
Referring to Dostoyevsky's last novel, the authors focused their attention on its spiritual meaning. This, to some extent, led to the author's definition of the genre to be "opera mystery". The text of the libretto reflected the main events of
"The Brothers Karamazov", connected with the history of "one family": the conflict between Fyodor Pavlovich and Dmitri Fyodorovich; Ivan's internal conflicts embodied in Smerdyakov and the Devil, his doubles; Alyosha's Christianity; Mitya's spiritual feat. Grushenka and Katerina Ivanovna are shown as rivals, and the idea of "The Legends about the Great Inquisitor", which predetermined the authors' interpretation of the genre, runs all through the whole opera giving it a dramatic and conceptual integrity.
For a clearer idea of the musical drama authors' work with the text of the novel it is worth while illustrating the correlation of the texts of the libretto and the literary source in a Table 1.
Table 1
No. of the opera piece, name F.M. Dostoevsky's novel "The Brothers Karamazov"
1. The beginning of the legend (Prelude) The words of children's choir: Part I. Book I. Chapter 4 "The Third Son, Alyosha". The words of male choir: Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 8 "Delirium".
2. ... Anything goes! Part I. Book II. Chapter 3 "Peasant Women Who Have Faith", Chapter 4 "A Lady of Little Faith". Chapter 2 "The Old Buffoon", Chapter 6 "Why is such a man alive?". Part II. Book VI, Chapter 1 "Father Zossima and His Visitors". Part I. Book II. Chapter 7 "A Young Man Bent on a Career"
3. Confession of a passionate heart Part I. Book III. Chapter 5 "The Confession of a Passionate Heart. "Heels Up""
4. Both together Part I. Book III. Chapter 10 "Both Together"
5. What for? Why? (Mitya's aria) Part III. Book IX. Chapter 9 "They Carry Mitya Away". Part I. Book III. Chapter 4 "The Confession of a Passionate Heart. In Anecdote". Part III. Book IX. Chapter 8 "The Evidences of the Witnesses. The Babe". Part I. Book III. Chapter 3 "The Confession of a Passionate Heart. In Verse". Chapter 5 "The Confession of a Passionate Heart. "Heels Up""
6. Drinking cognac... Part I. Book III. Chapter 6 "Smerdyakov", Chapter 7 "The Controversy", Chapter 8 "Over the Brandy", Chapter 9 "The Sensualists"
7. Anguish in the drawing room Part II. Book IV. Chapter 5 "A Laceration in the Drawing-Room"
8. ... It is interesting to talk with an intelligent man Part II. Book V. Chapter 2 "Smerdyakov with a Guitar", Chapter 6 "For Awhile a Very Obscure One", Chapter 7 "It's Always Worth While Speaking to a Clever Man"
9. In bitterness there is sweetness! (Fyodor Pavlovich's monologue) Part II. Book IV. Chapter 2 "At His Father's"
10. Relay from Mokroe The text of Grushenka's arioso is composed by Yu. Dimitrin
Part III. Book VII. Chapter 3 "An Onion"
11. She won't take the knife, she won't take it... (Alyosha's prayer) Part III. Book VII. Chapter 3 "An Onion"
12. The copper pestle Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 3 "Gold Mines"
13. Praise be to God! The scene, described in Part II. Book V. Chapter 5 "The Grand Inquisitor" Children's choir: the text of the Gregorian chant "Ave Regina coelorum"
Male choir: Yu. Dimitrin's text, based on the scenes of Mitya's trial.
14. Symphonic Entr'acte 15. Darkness. Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 4 "In the Dark"
16. The Grand Inquisitor Part II. Book V. Chapter 5 "The Grand Inquisitor" Male choir: Yu. Dimitrin's text, based on the scenes of Mitya's trial.
17. Let me love. (Mitya's prayer) Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 8 "Delirium", Chapter 6 "I Am Coming, Too!".
18. Take me away, far away Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 7 "The First and Rightful Lover", Chapter 8 "Delirium". Book IX. Chapter 3 "The Sufferings of a Soul. The First Ordeal" The words of male choir: Book VIII. Chapter 8 "Delirium"
19. What I need exists not on earth. (Katerina Ivanovna's aria) Part IV. Book XI. Chapter 7 "The Second Visit to Smerdyakov". The text of the Arioso beginning is based on the events described in Part I. Book III. Chapter 5 "The Confession of a Passionate Heart. "Heels Up"" The text of the aria is taken from Z. Gippius' poem "The Song" (1893)
20. Not you, not you who killed Part IV. Book XI. Chapter 5 "Not You, Not You!"
21. Alyosha's dream The text is based on some words and phrases from Part III. Book VII. Chapter 4 "Cana of Galilee" Ivan's phrase "You stay well clear of me today!", repeated at the end, is from Part IV. Book XI. Chapter 5 "Not You, Not You!"
22. And so it was you who killed. Part IV. Book XI. Chapter 8 "The Third and Last Interview with Smerdyakov" It is supplemented with a phrase from Part II. Book V. Chapter 2 "Smerdyakov with a Guitar"
23. You are I, only the face is different Part IV. Book XI. Chapter 9 "The Devil. Ivan's Nightmare"
24. All rise! Court is in session. The words of male choir: Part III. Book VIII. Chapter 8 "Delirium" Part IV. Book XII. Chapter 1 "The Fatal Day". Chapter 4 "Fortune Smiles on Mitya". Chapter 5 "A Sudden Catastrophe"
25. The wanderer (Postlude) The Grand Inquisitor's words: Part II. Book V. Chapter 5 "The Grand Inquisitor" The words of the Chairman at the court and a phrase of male choir: Part IV. Book XII. Chapter 14 "The Peasants Stand Firm". Mitya's words: Part III. Book IX. Chapter 8 "The Evidences of the Witnesses. The Babe" Grushenka's words: Book VIII. Chapter 8 "Delirium" Alyosha's words are based on: Part III. Book VII. Chapter 4 "Cana of Galilee" (the repetition of phrases from No. 21) The words of children's choir: Part I. Book I. Chapter 4. "The Third Son, Alyosha"
Analyzing this table, several conclusions can be drawn. The text of a set of opera pieces is "composite". It is a compilation of different chapters and parts of the novel. This mainly applies to key opera scenes and scenes involving a large number of actors. The names of some opera pieces (3, 4, 6, 7, 15, 16, 20) literally repeat the names of the chapters of the literary source. The authors of the musical drama preserve them in solo scenes, reconstructing complex images of F.M. Dostoevsky's novel, as well as in the ensemble episodes, literally "duplicating" similar situations from "The Brothers Karamazov", often written under the laws of the opera genre. This fact was noticed by A.A. Gozenpud (Gozenpud, 1981).
It is indicative that the opera's authors, whose work with the text of the literary source was particularly careful, took the liberty to "supplement" Dostoevsky thrice. Whereas the text of the Gregorian chant "Ave Regina coelorum", introduced to piece No. 13 "Praise be to God!", was aimed to emphasize the place and time of the action that were referred to as "a medieval city", two other cases - No. 10 "Relay from Mokroe" and No. 19 "What I need exists not on earth..." -are associated with the opera female images: Grushenka and Katerina Ivanovna. Thus, it is worth while trying to understand the logic and relevance of the librettist's "supplements".
The action of piece No. 10 of part I of the opera takes place in the house of Grushenka Svetlova, who decided to flee from Skotoprigon'evsk to her ex-lover Mussyalovitch. Mitin's "infernal" is looking forward to a letter from Mokroe, a place where "a noble pan" stayed. The scene opens with the heroine's solo episode termed as arioso in classical opera terminology. Grushenka's state is rendered in the following poetic lines, written by Yu. Dimitrin:
"Oh, is long-awaited love really back?
The heart fluttered with flaming passion again.
It started, opened whether to happiness or evil.
Whether it is the dream that has burst open Or the pain that has blossomed".
A feature of this arioso in musical terms is the appearance of the theme, corresponding with another famous scene - the scene of Tatyana's letter from P.I. Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin". The composer's stage direction "Grushenka is alone in an elegant dress with a letter in her hands" is indicative of this. The letter will be mentioned in the opera piece under consideration once again - by Mariya Kondratyevna (in the opera she plays the role of Grushenka's maid): "The carriage to Mokroe for you. A letter for you, a letter!". However, it is more important that beside a verbal "hint" in Smelkov's opera scene there are also some "obvious" signs characteristic of P.I. Tchaikovsky's style: sequencing as a method of musical material development; the timbres of the oboe and clarinet, conducting a melodic line and expressive supporting voices in the orchestra like in the scene of Tatyana's letter; supporting triolet rhythm and polyrhythm marking the moments of the heroine's extreme emotions. Contrasting and component principle of form organization brings two scenes together.
Yet, with the similarities mentioned the scene of Tatyana's letter and the scene in Grushenka's house have even deeper analogies. In fact both episodes represent the recognition of the heroine, the difference being a large detailed monoscene in Tchaikovsky's opera and the presence of Mariya Kondratyevna and Alyosha besides the main heroine in piece No. 10 in Smelkov's opera. However, by and large, these characters only help Grushenka to expose herself, her confession to take place and bitter memories to pour out.
This is what makes the key difference between P.I. Tchaikovsky's and A.P. Smelkov's heroines.
Young Tatiana, far gone with the ardor of first love, is beautiful in the ecstasy of confession. Her every word breathes charm, hope, awe, delight, and, what is the most important, the elect's faith in honor and dignity. Things are different with Grushenka. Once she might have experienced something similar, but, as one can learn from the novel, "she had been at seventeen betrayed by someone, some sort of officer, and immediately afterwards abandoned by him. The officer had gone away and afterwards married, while Grushenka had been left in poverty and disgrace" (Dostoevsky, 1976: 311). And now this "long awaited love" is back and calling her to "a new life". The memories - not of Lieutenant Mussyalovich but of her first feeling - awaken "old Grushenka": gentle, soft, trustful. That is why at the beginning of piece No. 10 in Smelkov's opera she is gentle and dreamy; the lyrical theme "in the spirit of Tchaikovsky" or, more precisely, "in the spirit of Tatiana" helps to convey the world of her internal feelings better.
Despite the fact that Grushenka was betrayed by a noble pan 4 years ago she was still far gone with the hope to return old feelings. She confesses to Alyosha not by chance that she "had been amusing herself with Mitya for the whole month not to run to him" (figure 140). Still this is not the love of delight and joy but a sense in which there is resentment, desire for revenge: "At night I used to lie sobbing into my pillow in the dark, and I used to brood over it... 'If only I could meet him again, I'd pay him out! ... For perhaps I shall take a knife with me to-day" (figure 141). Realizing this, when leaving for Mokroe the heroine asks Alyosha to tell little Mitya that "Grushenka has fallen to a scoundrel, and not to you, noble heart" (figure 146).
Introduction of rhymed words strengthens the analogy not only with P.I. Tchaikovsky's opera
but with its literary source the genre of which was defined by the author as a "novel in verse". More importantly, it is "Eugene Onegin" that was very often referred to by F.M. Dostoyevsky in his famous Pushkin speech delivered on June 8, 1880 at the meeting of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. It is this speech that contains the statement about Tatiana: "She is a strong character, strongly standing on her ground. ... She is positive and not negative, a type of positive beauty, the apotheosis of the Russian woman, and the poet destined her to express the idea of his poem in the famous scene of the final meeting of Tatiana with Onegin" (Dostoevsky 1984: 140). As suggested by P.E. Veidman, the writer's speech had a great influence on P.I. Tchaikovsky: "There are circumstantial reasons to believe that changing the finale of the opera "Eugene Onegin" (at first Tatiana threw herself into the hero's arms) was not without the influence of Dostoevsky's famous Pushkin speech. This is evidenced by the lines from A.I. Tchaikovsky's letter to his brother P.I. Tchaikovsky, dated 22.X.1880: "I am utterly happy that you have agreed to these changes. I swear any talk about "Eugene Onegin" leads to mentioning the fact that you have needlessly corrected Pushkin. This is what Dostoevsky's speech and his August issue of "The Diary" have done" (Vaidman).
In light of our reasoning another remark from F.M. Dostoevsky's speech is of some interest. It is the idea that having been to Onegin's house the heroine "figured him out" and said: "Is he not really a parody?". In the context of the scene from A.P. Smelkov's opera this interpretation of Pushkin's text reveals a deeper meaning of creating a theme "in the spirit of Tchaikovsky". It can be assumed that the path of disappointment in love, predicted but not passed by Tatiana Larina, is materialized in the life of another woman, Grushenka Svetlova, whose hero of girlish dreams finally loses his romantic aura
and turns out to be if not a parody but a Polish zilch and spiritual emptiness. As if to confirm this "a la Tatiana" theme runs through the finale in opera piece No. 18 "Take me away, far away" before Grushenka's phrase to Mussyalovich: "And get out where you came from" (figure 226). Consigned with the brass wind-instrument, in rhythmic increase, in the dynamics offf, it ends with "disruption", emphatic bright harmonic turn that is perceived as a symbol of the heroine's final disillusionment.
Whereas the analogies with Pushkin's heroine are indirect in Grushenka's solo characteristics, the text of Katerina Ivanovna's aria (piece No. 19) provides a reasonable basis for thoughts and interesting parallels. A.P. Smelkov told the author of the article: "Yuri Georgievich Dimitrin planned to write a solo scene on the basis of the text of the novel and I wanted something more operatic. I came up with the idea of the aria instead of the scene and was searching for something appropriate to the text when Nataliia Sergeevna Seregina2 came to the rescue and showed a poem by Zinaida Gippius. It best suited the situation both in its plot and meaning. In addition, at the time of writing this poem Zinaida Nikolaevna was undoubtedly a thoughtful and well-read girl even though she was quite young. She left very interesting notes regarding a complex political situation in Russia in Kerensky's time and many other things. She was obviously under Dostoevsky's spell, read all his works especially because there was not so much philosophical literature. Realizing that the poem is written later than the novel, I came to a decision to include it in the text of the libretto. In my opinion, it is quite acceptable for the opera".
In connection with this it is interesting that the name of Zinaida Gippius is mentioned in L.E. Artamoshkina's article where the poetess is an example of "a woman who became ... a translator of the spirit of philosophy" (Artamoshkina, 2013: 16).
The text of Katerina Ivanovna's aria is constituted from the following lines of "The Song":
"My window is high above the earth, high above the earth.
I see only the sky with the evening dusk. Evening dusk.
And the sky seems empty and pale, so empty and pale.
It will not take pity on a poor heart, my poor heart.
Let it be that which doesn't occur, never occurs.
The pale sky promises me miracles, it promises.
But I cry without tears over false vows, false vows.
I need that, which is not in this world, not in this world..."
According to the composer, making use of two stanzas from a poem by the author of the silver age helped to portray the complexity and ambiguity of the image of the heroine of "The Brothers Karamazov": "I was always afraid that Katerina Ivanovna will turn out to be an opera villain. That is why it was so important to write an aria for her, a magnificent and heartfelt aria". Indeed, throughout the opera the audience see Katerina Ivanovna as rather a hysterical person, flowing into ecstatic extremes in the scene with Grushenka (piece No. 4 "Both together"), with Ivan, Khokhlakova and Alyosha (piece No. 7 "Anguish in the drawing room"). In the finale of the opera (piece No. 24 "All rise! Court is in session.") it is she who passes the note to the jury, the note playing a crucial role in Mitya's conviction. The only piece, disclosing a world of "fatal Katya's" complex emotional experiences, is a solo scene No. 19 "What I need exists not on earth." with the lines from Z. Gippius' poem.
The aria is preceded with a monologue ending with the words "Mitya could not kill" (figure 242). They sound particularly weighty against the background of the previous scene in Mokroe which ends with Mitya's arrest and charge of his father's murder.
Yet, the final two lines of the text of the aria very accurately reflect the point of complex bonds, connecting Katerina Ivanovna and two brothers -Dmitri and Ivan. Counting herself obliged to the elder, the heroine actually, as Alyosha notes, "was in love with Ivan, and only deceived herself through some sort of pose, from 'self-laceration', and tortured herself by her pretended love for Dmitri from some fancied duty of gratitude" (Dostoevsky, 1976: 170). It is significant that the heroine's solo is "framed" with the above-mentioned scene in Mokroe (piece No. 18) with Dmitri's participation and piece No. 20 "Not you, not you who killed..." with Ivan as a character in the scene. However, A.P. Smelkov's creative intuition is even more striking. His choice fell on a poem written by Z.N. Gippius during the development of her relations with Nikolai Minsky, a poetsymbolist, and Fyodor Chervinsky, a dramatist and novelist. They are reflected in "The Diary of Love Stories", the beginning of which is dated February 19, 1893, when Zinaida Nikolaevna writes: "My time now is killed by two people to whom I am deeply different and yet I would equally like to see them both not born, dead or whatever" (Gippius, 1999: 36).
Being quite frank in the description of her relations to both admirers, the poetess notes: "Minsky is again by my side after all his breaks. And I am no longer in love even in myself through him. I keep him nearby just because others find him wonderful, for flowers and perfume, too. I powerlessly turn a blind eye to the dirt in his eyes.
Chervinsky is different.
This winter, in November 17, we talked about love for a long time. I thought:
"No, I can fall in love not with everyone. I am hopeless in this".
"I could love you only if you treated me... But I'm afraid of you". I laughed. Yes I'm already in love with you!.. He kissed the tips of my hair, was not enthusiastic but I felt that I could..." (Ibid.: 39-40; the italics are the author's).
After a month of emotional stress and anxiety the lines of "The Song", written in the notes dated March 19, 1893, are born. The poem was addressed to God. This makes the power of confession, implying Z.N. Gippius' true experience, stronger and more honest: "I wrote poems today after many years have passed by. Though they might be bad, but I write them and repeat afterwards as if praying. There is an unknown feeling of tender emotion and impulse deep inside" (Ibid.: 43-44).
Katerina Ivanovna is also torn with the same lyrical impulse, tenderness and emotional stress. They are reflected in a sad heartfelt aria, consisting of several small sections. Emotional intensity increases with each phrase. This is reflected in vocal and instrumental parts. Thematic unity of the aria is achieved through multiple repetition of a melodic idiom in the volume of reduced quarts. It was probably meant to convey the feelings of the heroine, who was as if in a closed circle and unable to make a choice: "I need something that does not exist in the world". The timbre of the harp, responsible for the guiding motif at the beginning of the recitative and the aria, gives it a hint of incorporeity, weightlessness, and, at the same time, some detachment, and petrification. This idiom is also a part of Katerina Ivanovna's leitmotif that first sounded in piece No. 4 "Both together" and was running through the scene under consideration. The style of the aria can be defined as neo-romantic, which is consistent with the experiences of noble Katya. On the other hand,
this brings the heroine's aria and Grushenka's arioso together, the characteristic of which is composed "in the spirit of Tchaikovsky" and suggests a number of interesting conclusions.
Despite all the differences of the opera female characters, their musical implementation provides sufficient reasons to believe that Katerina Ivanovna and Grushenka are created by the authors of the opera as lyrical heroines. This is evidenced by the choice or creation of the poetic text for their solo characteristics, reference to neo-romantic stylistics in musical layout. The rivals' female conflict for love to Mitya is aggravated by the internal conflict of each of them who are in a situation of being divided between two men. They are Mitya and Ivan for Katerina Ivanovna and Mitya and Mussyalovich for Grushenka. It is also interesting that female characters are involved in 6 opera pieces out of 25. To prove this it is worth while mentioning only the heroines among all the characters in the table below (Table 2).
The time of the scene is obviously distributed between female characters equally. At that the
opera pieces are arranged symmetrically. Piece No. 4 and piece No. 24 serve a sort of "arch" marking the beginning and the end of the conflict between two rivals; piece No. 7 and piece No. 19 reveal the internal conflict of Katerina Ivanovna who makes a final choice in favor of Ivan in the final scene; piece No. 10 and piece No. 18 are associated with Grushenka's rushing heart, reduction of idealizations and awareness of true love for Mitya.
Analytical observations of the opera libretto in comparison with the literary source result in the following conclusion. Keeping particular characteristics of the novel dramaturgy and specifics of its conflicts, the authors of the opera complement the text of "The Brothers Karamazov" with the other's words which are not only far from destroying the unity of the whole, but serve a deeper disclosure of the characters. This is indicative of the composer's and the librettist's sensitivity to the text of the novel and their understanding of the plot and greatness of F.M. Dostoevsky's last creation.
Table 2
Part I Part II
No. 4 "Both together" No. 7 "Anguish in the drawing room" No. 10 "Relay from Mokroe" No. 18 "Take me away, far away" No. 19 "What I need exists not on earth." No. 24 "All rise! Court is in session."
Katerina Ivanovna, Grushenka Katerina Ivanovna Grushenka Grushenka Katerina Ivanovna Grushenka, Katerina Ivanovna
1 For more details and reviews on the opera, see [Voitkevich, 2014a: 100-101].
2 Nataliia Semenovna Seregina is Doctor of Art, Professor, leading research associate of music sector at the Russian Institute of Art History of the Russian Academy of Science (St. Petersburg).
References
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APA Style (2014). Available at: http://www.tchaikov.ru/dostoyevsky.html (accessed 22 August 2014)
Dostoevsky F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 30 tomakh. Tom 14 [Complete set of works in 30 vol. V. 14]. Leningrad, 1976. 514 p.
Dostoevsky F.M. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 30 tomakh. Tom 26. [Complete set of works in 30 vol. V. 26]. Leningrad, 1986. 522 p.
Gippius Z.N. Dnevniki: v 2 knigakh. Kn.1 [The diary: in 2 parts. Part 1]. Moscow, 1999. 736 p.
Gozenpud A.A. Dostoevskii i muzikal 'no-teatral 'noe iskusstvo [Dostoevsky and the Art of music and theatre]. Leningrad, 1981. 224 p.
Vaidman P.E. Chaikovskii i Dostoevskii. Available at: http://www.tchaikov.ru/dostoyevsky.html (accessed 22 August 2014)
Voitkevich S.G. (2014a). Obnimutsia li milliony?.. (o retseptsii betkhovenskoi "temy radosti" v opere A. Smelkova "Brat'ia Karamazovy" [Whether the millions will embrace?.. (On the reception of Beethoven's "theme of joy"' in A. Smelkov's opera "The Brothers Karamazov"]. Bulletin of Kemerovo State University of Culture and Arts, 27, 97-106.
Voitkevich S.G. (2014b). Works by F.M. Dostoyevsky on drama and music tage. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 7, 43-49.
О некоторых особенностях либретто оперы А. Смелкова и Ю. Димитрина «Братья Карамазовы»
С.Г. Войткевич
Красноярский государственный институт искусств Россия, 660049, Красноярск, Ленина, 22
Опера петербургского композитора Александра Смелкова «Братья Карамазовы», созданная в сотрудничестве с драматургом Юрием Димитриным, рассматривается сквозь призму соотношения «литературный первоисточник - оперное либретто». На основе сравнительного анализа оперного и романного текстов, предпринимаемого впервые, делаются выводы о том, какие изменения были внесены авторами оперы-мистерии в литературный первоисточник. Особенно отмечаются два номера, связанные с образами Грушеньки и Катерины Ивановны. Текст сольных характеристик женских персонажей оперы принадлежит Ю. Димитрину и З. Гиппиус. Раскрываются причины, обусловившие привлечение «чужих» текстов при создании либретто, а также суть заимствований, помогающих раскрыть авторский замысел создателей оперы. Благодаря появлению в сцене Грушеньки темы «в духе Чайковского» возникают аналогии с оперой «Евгений Онегин», романом А.С. Пушкина и Пушкинской речью Ф.М. Достоевского. Обнаруживаются интересные параллели между обстоятельствами личной жизни З.Н. Гиппиус и судьбой Катерины Ивановны. Делается вывод о глубинных знаниях композитора и либреттиста, которые касаются не только понимания сути литературного первоисточника, но и становятся рефлексией над всем творческим наследием писателя.
Ключевые слова: Ф.М. Достоевский, А.П. Смелков, Ю.Г. Димитрин, «Братья Карамазовы», опера, либретто, З.Н. Гиппиус, «Евгений Онегин».
Научная специальность: 24.00.00 - культурология.
