Libretto Queen of Spades summary. Medley from the opera P.I.

ACT ONE

Scene one

Petersburg. There are a lot of people walking in the Summer Garden, children playing under the supervision of nannies and governesses. Surin and Chekalinsky talk about their friend German: he spends all night long, gloomy and silent, in a gambling house, but does not touch the cards. Count Tomsky is also surprised by Herman’s strange behavior. Herman reveals a secret to him: he is passionately in love with a beautiful stranger, but she is rich, noble, and cannot belong to him. Prince Yeletsky joins his friends. He announces his upcoming marriage. Accompanied by the old Countess, Lisa approaches, in whom Herman recognizes his chosen one; in despair, he becomes convinced that Lisa is Yeletsky’s fiancée.

At the sight of the gloomy figure of Herman, his gaze blazing with passion, ominous forebodings overwhelm the Countess and Lisa. Tomsky dispels the painful numbness. He tells a secular joke about the Countess. In her youth, she once lost her entire fortune in Paris. At the cost of a love date, the young beauty learned the secret of the three cards and, betting on them, returned her loss. Surin and Chekalinsky decide to play a joke on German - they invite him to learn the secret of the three cards from the old woman. But Herman’s thoughts are absorbed in Lisa. A thunderstorm begins. In a violent outburst of passion, Herman vows to achieve Lisa’s love or die.

Scene two

Lisa's room. It's getting dark. The girls entertain their saddened friend with a Russian dance. Left alone, Lisa tells the night that she loves Herman. Suddenly Herman appears on the balcony. He passionately confesses his love to Lisa. A knock on the door interrupts the date. The old Countess enters. Hiding on the balcony, Herman remembers the secret of the three cards. After the Countess's departure, the thirst for life and love with new strength awakens in him. Lisa is overwhelmed by the response.

ACT TWO

Scene three

A ball in the house of a rich metropolitan dignitary. A royal person arrives at the ball. Everyone greets the empress with enthusiasm. Prince Yeletsky, alarmed by the bride’s coldness, assures her of his love and devotion.

Herman is among the guests. The disguised Chekalinsky and Surin continue to make fun of their friend; their mysterious whispers about magic cards have a depressing effect on his frustrated imagination. The performance begins - the pastoral “The Sincerity of the Shepherdess”. At the end of the performance, Herman runs into the old Countess; again the thought of the wealth that three cards promise takes possession of Herman. Having received the keys to the secret door from Lisa, he decides to find out the secret from the old woman.

Scene four

Night. The Countess's empty bedroom. Herman enters; he peers with excitement at the portrait of the Countess in her youth, but, hearing approaching steps, hides. The Countess returns, accompanied by her hangers-on. Dissatisfied with the ball, she indulges in memories of the past and falls asleep. Suddenly Herman appears in front of her. He begs to reveal the secret of the three cards. The Countess is silent in horror. Enraged Herman threatens with a pistol; the frightened old woman falls dead. Herman is in despair. Close to madness, he does not hear the reproaches of Lisa, who came running in response to the noise. Only one thought dominates him: the Countess is dead, and he has not learned the secret.

ACT THREE

Scene five

Herman's room in the barracks. Late evening. Herman rereads Lisa’s letter: she asks him to come at midnight for a date. Herman again relives what happened, and pictures of the death and funeral of the old woman arise in his imagination. In the howling of the wind he hears funeral singing. Herman is terrified. He wants to run, but he sees the ghost of the Countess. She tells him the treasured cards: “Three, seven and ace.” Herman repeats them as if in delirium.

Scene six

Winter groove. Here Lisa must meet with Herman. She wants to believe that her beloved is not guilty of the death of the Countess. The tower clock strikes midnight. Lisa is losing her last hope. Herman arrives very late: neither Lisa nor her love no longer exists for him. In his distraught brain there is only one picture: a gambling house where he will get riches.
In a fit of madness, he pushes Lisa away from him and shouts: “To the gambling house!” - runs away.
Lisa throws herself into the river in despair.

Scene seven

Hall gambling house. Herman puts two cards, called Countess, one after another, and wins. Everyone is stunned. Intoxicated with victory, Herman puts all the winnings on the line. Prince Yeletsky accepts Herman's challenge. Herman announces an ace, but... instead of an ace, he has the queen of spades in his hands. In a frenzy, he looks at the map, in it he imagines the devilish grin of the old Countess. In a fit of madness, he commits suicide. IN last minute A bright image of Lisa appears in Herman’s mind. With her name on his lips he dies.

So, the action is transferred to the century of Catherine II. Main character not at all similar to its prototype. This is an enthusiastic romantic, endowed with a sublime soul. He idolizes Lisa, his “beauty, goddess,” without daring to kiss her footprint. All his ariosos in the first act are passionate declarations of love. The desire to get rich is not a goal, but a means to overcome the social abyss that separates him and Lisa (after all, Lisa in the opera is not a hanger-on, but the rich granddaughter of the Countess). “Know three cards and I’m rich,” he exclaims, “and with it I can run away from people.” This idea takes possession of him more and more, displacing his love for Lisa. Tragedy mental struggle Herman's life is aggravated by his encounter with the formidable force of fate. The embodiment of this power is the Countess. The hero dies, and yet love triumphs in Tchaikovsky’s music: in the finale of the opera the bright theme of love sounds, like a hymn to its beauty and powerful impulse human soul to light, joy and happiness. Herman's dying appeal to Lisa, as it were, atones for his guilt and inspires hope for the salvation of his rebellious soul. The plot of the story plays on the theme of unpredictable fate, fortune, and rock, beloved by Pushkin (as well as other romantics). A young military engineer, German Hermann, leads a modest life and amasses a fortune; he does not even play cards and limits himself only to watching the game. His friend Tomsky tells a story about how his grandmother, the countess, lost in Paris a large sum in cards under your word. She tried to borrow from the Count of Saint-Germain,
but instead of money, he told her a secret about how to guess three cards at once in a game. The Countess, thanks to the secret, completely won back.

Natalya Petrovna Golitsyna - prototype of the Countess from "The Queen of Spades"

Hermann, having seduced her pupil, Lisa, enters the countess’s bedroom and, with pleas and threats, tries to find out the cherished secret. Seeing an unloaded pistol in his hands, the Countess dies of a heart attack. At the funeral, Hermann imagines that the late countess opens her eyes and glances at him. In the evening her ghost appears to Hermann and says, that three cards (“three, seven, ace”) will bring him a win, but he should not bet more than one card per day. Three cards become an obsession for Hermann:

The famous millionaire gambler Chekalinsky comes to Moscow. Hermann bets all his capital on three, wins and doubles it. The next day he bets all his money on seven, wins and again doubles his capital. On the third day, Hermann bets money (already about two hundred thousand) on the ace, but the queen falls out. Hermann sees the smiling and winking queen of spades on the map, which reminds him Countess. The ruined Hermann ends up in a mental hospital, where he does not react to anything and constantly “mutters unusually quickly: “Three, seven, ace!” Three, seven, queen!..”

Prince Yeletsky (from the opera " Queen of Spades»)
I love you, I love you immensely,

I can’t imagine living a day without you.

And a feat of unparalleled strength

I'm ready to do it for you now,

Oh, I'm tormented by this distance,

I sympathize with you with all my heart,

I'm saddened by your sadness

And I cry with your tears...

I sympathize with you with all my heart!

The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: a drinking song of the guests, Tomsky’s frivolous song “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the appearance of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited.
The anxiously wary septet “Something is wrong here” conveys the excitement that gripped the players. The rapture of victory and cruel joy can be heard in Herman’s aria “What is our life? A game!". In the dying minute, his thoughts are again turned to Lisa - a reverently tender image of love appears in the orchestra.

Herman (from the opera "The Queen of Spades")

That our life is a game,

Good and evil, just dreams.

Work, honesty, old wives' tales,

Who is right, who is happy here, friends,

Today you, and tomorrow me.

So give up the fight

Seize the moment of luck

Let the loser cry

Let the loser cry

Cursing, cursing my fate.

What is true is that there is only death,

Like a seashore of bustle.

She is a refuge for us all,

Which of us is dearer to her, friends?

Today you, and tomorrow me.

So give up the fight

Seize the moment of luck

Let the loser cry

Let the loser cry

Cursing my fate.

Chorus of guests and players (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)

Youth doesn't last forever

Let's drink and have fun!

Let's play with life!
Old age is not long to wait!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!

Not long to wait.
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!
Let our youth drown
In bliss, cards and wine!

They are the only joy in the world,
Life will fly by like in a dream!
Youth doesn't last forever
Old age is not long to wait!
We don't have to wait long.
Old age is not long to wait!
Not long to wait.
Lisa and Polina (from the opera "The Queen of Spades")

Lisa's room. Door to balcony overlooking the garden.

The second picture falls into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa “It’s Evening” is shrouded in light sadness. Polina’s romance “Dear Friends” sounds gloomy and doomed. It is contrasted by the lively dance song “Come on, Little Svetik Mashenka.” The second half of the film opens with Lisa’s arioso “Where do these tears come from” - a heartfelt monologue full of deep feeling. Lisa’s melancholy gives way to an enthusiastic confession: “Oh, listen, night.”

Lisa at the harpsichord. Polina is near her; friends are here. Lisa and Polina sing an idyllic duet to the words of Zhukovsky (“It’s already evening... the edges of the clouds have darkened”). Friends express delight. Lisa asks Polina to sing alone. Polina sings. Her romance “Dear Friends” sounds gloomy and doomed. It seems to resurrect the good old days - it’s not for nothing that the accompaniment in it sounds on the harpsichord. Here the librettist used Batyushkov’s poem. It formulates an idea that was first expressed in the 17th century in the Latin phrase that then became popular: “Et in Arcadia ego”, meaning: “And in Arcadia (that is, in paradise) I (death) exist”;

The edges of the clouds have faded,

The last ray of dawn on the towers dies;

The last shining stream in the river

With the extinct sky it fades away,

Fading away.
Prilepa (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
My dear little friend,

Dear shepherd,

For whom I sigh

And I wish to open passion,

Oh, I didn't come to dance.
Milovzor (from the opera “The Queen of Spades”)
I'm here, but I'm boring, languid,

Look how much weight you've lost!

I won't be modest anymore

I hid my passion for a long time.

Will no longer be modest

He hid his passion for a long time.

Herman’s tenderly sad and passionate arioso “Sorry, heavenly creature" is interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; sharp, nervous rhythms and ominous orchestral colors emerge. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the bright theme of love. In the third scene (second act), scenes of metropolitan life become the backdrop of the developing drama. The opening chorus in the spirit of welcoming cantatas of Catherine’s era is a kind of screensaver of the picture. Prince Yeletsky’s aria “I love you” depicts his nobility and restraint. Pastoral "Sincerity"
shepherdesses" - a stylization of 18th century music; elegant, graceful songs and dances frame the idyllic love duet of Prilepa and Milovzor.

Forgive me, heavenly creature,

That I disturbed your peace.

Sorry, but don’t reject a passionate confession,

Don't reject with sadness...

Oh, have pity, I'm dying

I bring my prayer to you,

Look from the heights of heavenly paradise

To the death struggle

Souls tormented by torment

Love for you... In the finale, at the moment of the meeting of Lisa and Herman, a distorted melody of love sounds in the orchestra: a turning point has occurred in Herman’s consciousness, from now on he is guided not by love, but by the persistent thought of three cards. The fourth picture
central to the opera, full of anxiety and drama. It begins with an orchestral introduction, in which the intonations are guessed love confessions Herman. The chorus of hangers-on (“Our Benefactor”) and the Countess’s song (a melody from Grétry’s opera “Richard the Lionheart”) are replaced by music of an ominously hidden nature. It contrasts with Herman’s arioso, imbued with a passionate feeling, “If you ever knew the feeling of love”

History of creation

Tchaikovsky was repeatedly offered to write an opera based on Pushkin’s plot; even, as the composer recalled, “they pestered him for two years,” but he did not see the proper scenic quality in Pushkin’s story, and was not particularly captivated by its characters. Indeed, the story is written in a rather detached language and has a protagonist who does not evoke heartfelt sympathy. Pushkin’s Herman is cold and calculating, he will never “sacrifice what is necessary in the hope of acquiring what is superfluous,” Lisa for him is only a means on the path to enrichment - it is easy to agree that such a character could not captivate Tchaikovsky, who always needed to love his hero. And only when in my own words, he appreciated that “the scene in the countess’s bedroom is magnificent,” the creation of the opera “went on and on.”

Much in the opera does not correspond to Pushkin's story: the time of action, the characters of the characters. Tchaikovsky's Herman is ardent, romantic hero With strong passions and fiery imagination; he loves Lisa, and only gradually the secret three cards displaces her image from Herman’s consciousness. Tchaikovsky's Lisa is not poor pupil Lizaveta Ivanovna, she is the granddaughter and heir of the Old Countess - and this is already a social conflict. The events of the opera take place during the time of Catherine II (the director of the Imperial Theaters insisted on this, who was concerned about the splendor of the production), but Tchaikovsky’s heroes are not people of the 18th century, they are not even contemporaries of Pushkin, they are contemporaries of the composer himself, especially Herman, who was literally born of the spirit years when the opera was created.

“The Queen of Spades” was written in an unusually short time, in just 44 days, and is one of those great works in which the author managed to express himself and his time.

Characters

• Herman -
• Count Tomsky -
• Prince Yeletsky - baritone
• Chekalinsky - tenor
• Surin -
• Chaplitsky - tenor
• Arumov - bass
• Manager - tenor
• Countess -
• Lisa -
• Pauline -
• The Governess - mezzo-soprano
• Masha - soprano
• Boy Commander - no singing

Characters in the interlude:

• Prilepa - soprano
• Milovzor (Polina) - conralto
• Zlatogor (Count Tomsky) - baritone

Nannies, governesses, strollers, the master of the ball, guests, children, players.

Summary

The opera takes place in St. Petersburg in late XVIII V.

First action

First picture. Solar Summer garden, filled with a walking crowd. Officers Surin and Chekalinsky share their impressions of strange behavior his friend Herman: he spends nights in a gambling house, but does not even try his luck. Soon Herman himself appears, accompanied by Count Tomsky. Herman admits that he is passionately in love, although he does not know the name of his chosen one. Prince Yeletsky, who joined the company of officers, talks about his imminent marriage: “The bright angel agreed to combine his fate with mine!” Herman is horrified to learn that the prince’s bride is the object of his passion when the Countess passes by, accompanied by her granddaughter, Lisa.

Both women, who noticed the burning gaze of the unfortunate Herman, are overcome with heavy forebodings. Tomsky tells his friends a social anecdote about a countess who, as a young Moscow “lioness,” lost her entire fortune and “at the cost of one rendezvous,” having learned the fatal secret of three always winning cards, overcame fate: “Once she told her husband those cards, another time their handsome young man found out, but that same night, as soon as she was left alone, a ghost appeared to her and menacingly said: “You will get death blow you are from a third person, who, ardently, passionately loving, will come to forcefully ask you for three cards, three cards, three cards!” Herman listens to the story with particular tension. His friends make fun of him and offer to find out the secret of the cards from the old woman. A thunderstorm begins. The garden is emptying. Among the raging elements, Herman exclaims: “No, prince! While I’m alive, I won’t give it to you, I don’t know how, but I’ll take it away!”

Second picture. Twilight. The girls try to cheer up the saddened Lisa. Left alone, Lisa confides her secret to the night: “And my whole soul is in his power!” - she confesses her love for to a mysterious stranger. Suddenly Herman appears on the balcony. His passionate explanation captivates Lisa. The knock of the awakened Countess interrupts them. Herman, hiding behind the curtain, is excited by the very sight of the old woman, in whose face he imagines scary ghost of death. Unable to hide her feelings any longer, Lisa surrenders to Herman's power.

Second act

First picture. Ball. Yeletsky, alarmed by Lisa's coldness, assures her of his love. Friends in masks mock Herman: “Aren’t you the third one who, passionately loving, will come to learn from her three cards, three cards, three cards?” Herman is excited, their words excite his imagination. At the end of the interlude "The Sincerity of the Shepherdess", he encounters the Countess. Having received the keys to the Countess’s secret door from Lisa, German perceives this as an omen. Tonight he will learn the secret of the three cards.

Second picture. Herman sneaks into the Countess's bedroom. With trepidation, he peers at her portrait in her youth. The Countess herself appears, accompanied by her hangers-on. She remembers the past with longing and falls asleep in the chair. Suddenly, Herman appears in front of her, begging her to reveal the secret of the three cards: “You can make happiness whole life, and it won’t cost you anything!” But the Countess, numb with fright, remains motionless. Enraged Herman threatens with a pistol. The old woman falls. “She’s dead, but I didn’t find out the secret,” laments German, who is close to madness, in response to the reproaches of Lisa who has entered.

Third act

First picture. Herman in the barracks. He reads Lisa's letter, where she makes an appointment for him on the embankment. Pictures of the old woman’s funeral appear in my imagination, and funeral singing is heard. The ghost of the Countess appears in a white funeral shroud and says: “Save Lisa, marry her, and three cards will win in a row. Remember! Troika! Seven! Ace!" “Three... Seven... Ace...” - Herman repeats like a spell.

Second picture. Lisa is waiting for Herman on the embankment near the Winter Canal. She is torn by doubts: “Oh, I am tired, I have suffered.” When the clock strikes midnight and Lisa finally loses hope, Herman appears, at first repeating Lisa’s words of love, but already obsessed with another idea. Lisa becomes convinced that Herman is the culprit in the death of the Countess. He runs screaming into the gambling house. Lisa throws herself into the water in despair.

Third picture. Players are having fun at the card table. Tomsky entertains them with a playful song. In the midst of the game, an excited Herman appears. Twice in a row, offering big bets, he wins. “The devil himself is playing at the same time with you,” proclaim those present. Game continues. This time Prince Yeletsky is against Herman. And instead of a win-win ace, the queen of spades ends up in his hands. Herman sees the features of a dead old woman on the map: “Cursed! What do you need! My life? Take it, take it!” He stabs himself. In a cleared consciousness, the image of Lisa appears: “Beauty! Goddess! Angel!" With these words, Herman dies.

Amazingly, before P.I. Tchaikovsky created his tragic opera masterpiece, Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades” inspired Franz Suppe to write... an operetta (1864); and even earlier - in 1850 - opera of the same name wrote French composer Jacques François Fromental Halévy (however, little remains of Pushkin here: the libretto was written by Scribe, using the translation of “The Queen of Spades” into French, made in 1843 by Prosper Merimee; in this opera the hero's name is changed, the old countess is turned into a young Polish princess, and so on). These are, of course, curious circumstances, which can only be learned from music encyclopedias — artistic value these works do not represent.

The plot of “The Queen of Spades,” proposed to the composer by his brother, Modest Ilyich, did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky (as the plot of “Eugene Onegin” had done in his time), but when it finally captured his imagination, Tchaikovsky began working on the opera “with selflessness and pleasure" (as with "Eugene Onegin"), and the opera (in clavier) was written in amazing short term- in 44 days. In a letter to N.F. von Meck P.I. Tchaikovsky talks about how he came up with the idea of ​​writing an opera on this plot: “It happened this way: my brother Modest three years ago began composing a libretto for the plot of “The Queen of Spades” at the request of a certain Klenovsky, but this latter finally gave up composing music, for some reason he was unable to cope with his task. Meanwhile, the director of the theaters, Vsevolozhsky, was carried away by the idea that I should write an opera on this very plot, and certainly for the next season. He expressed this desire to me, and since it coincided with my decision to flee Russia in January and start writing, I agreed... I really want to work, and if I manage to get a good job somewhere in a cozy corner abroad, it seems to me , that I will master my task and by May I will present it to the directorate of the keyboard, and in the summer I will be instrumentalizing it.”

Tchaikovsky went to Florence and began working on The Queen of Spades on January 19, 1890. The surviving sketches give an idea of ​​how and in what sequence the work proceeded: this time the composer wrote almost “in a row.” The intensity of this work is amazing: from January 19 to 28, the first picture is composed, from January 29 to February 4, the second picture, from February 5 to 11, the fourth picture, from February 11 to 19, the third picture, etc.

Eletsky's aria "I love you, I love you immensely..." performed by Yuri Gulyaev

The libretto of the opera differs to a very large extent from the original. Pushkin's work is prosaic, the libretto is poetic, with poems not only by the librettist and the composer himself, but also by Derzhavin, Zhukovsky, Batyushkov. Pushkin’s Lisa is a poor pupil of a rich old countess; for Tchaikovsky she is his granddaughter. In addition, an unclear question arises about her parents - who, where they are, what happened to them. Pushkin’s Hermann is from the Germans, that’s why this is the spelling of his last name, Tchaikovsky’s about his German origin nothing is known, and in the opera “Herman” (with one “n”) is perceived simply as a name. Prince Yeletsky, who appears in the opera, is absent from Pushkin

Tomsky's couplets to Derzhavin's words "If only dear girls.." Please note: in these couplets the letter "r" does not appear at all! Sung by Sergei Leiferkus

Count Tomsky, whose relationship with the countess is not noted in any way in the opera, and where he was introduced by an outsider (just an acquaintance of Herman, like other players), is her grandson in Pushkin; this apparently explains his knowledge family secret. Pushkin's drama takes place in the era of Alexander I, while the opera takes us back to us - it was the director's idea imperial theaters I.A. Vsevolozhsky - in Catherine’s era. The endings of the drama in Pushkin and Tchaikovsky are also different: in Pushkin, Hermann, although he goes crazy (“He is sitting in the Obukhov hospital in room 17”), still does not die, and Liza, moreover, gets married relatively safely; in Tchaikovsky, both heroes die. One can give many more examples of differences - both external and internal - in the interpretation of events and characters by Pushkin and Tchaikovsky.

Modest Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Modest Tchaikovsky, ten years younger than his brother Peter, is not known as a playwright outside Russia except for the libretto of Pushkin's The Queen of Spades, set to music in early 1890. The plot of the opera was proposed by the directorate of the imperial St. Petersburg theaters, intending to present a grandiose performance from the era of Catherine II.

Aria of the Countess performed by Elena Obraztsova

When Tchaikovsky got to work, he made changes to the libretto and partially wrote the poetic text himself, also introducing poems from poets who were Pushkin’s contemporaries. The text of the scene with Lisa at the Winter Canal belongs entirely to the composer. The most spectacular scenes were shortened by him, but nevertheless they add effectiveness to the opera and form the background for the development of the action.

Scene at the Kanavka. Tamara Milashkina sings

Thus, he put a lot of effort into creating an authentic atmosphere of that time. In Florence, where sketches for the opera were written and part of the orchestration was done, Tchaikovsky did not part with music XVIII century of the era of the “Queen of Spades” (Grétry, Monsigny, Piccinni, Salieri).

Perhaps in the possessed Herman, who demands the countess name three cards and thereby dooms himself to death, he saw himself, and in the countess his patron, Baroness von Meck. Their strange, one-of-a-kind relationship, maintained only in letters, a relationship like two disembodied shadows, ended in a break just in 1890.

In Herman’s appearance in front of Lisa, the power of fate is felt; the countess brings in a grave cold, and the ominous thought of three cards poisons the young man’s consciousness.

In the scene of his meeting with the old woman, Herman's stormy, desperate recitative and aria, accompanied by angry, repetitive wooden sounds, mark the collapse of the unfortunate man, who loses his mind in the next scene with the ghost, truly expressionist, with echoes of "Boris Godunov" (but with a richer orchestra) . Then follows the death of Lisa: a very gentle, sympathetic melody sounds against a terrible funeral background. Herman's death is less majestic, but not without tragic dignity. As for “The Queen of Spades”, it was immediately accepted by the public as a great success for the composer

History of creation

The plot of Pushkin’s “The Queen of Spades” did not immediately interest Tchaikovsky. However, over time, this novel increasingly captured his imagination. Tchaikovsky was especially moved by the scene of Herman’s fatal meeting with the Countess. Its deep drama captured the composer, causing a burning desire to write an opera. The work was begun in Florence on February 19, 1890. The opera was created, according to the composer, “with selflessness and pleasure” and was completed in an extremely short time - forty-four days. The premiere took place in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater on December 7 (19), 1890 and was a huge success

Soon after the publication of his short story (1833), Pushkin wrote in his diary: “My “Queen of Spades” is in great fashion. Players punt on three, seven, ace.” The popularity of the story was explained not only by the entertaining plot, but also by the realistic reproduction of the types and morals of St. Petersburg society at the beginning XIX century. In the opera's libretto, written by the composer's brother M. I. Tchaikovsky (1850-1916), the content of Pushkin's story is largely rethought. Lisa turned from a poor pupil into the rich granddaughter of a countess. Pushkin's Herman, a cold, calculating egoist, seized only by the thirst for enrichment, appears in Tchaikovsky's music as a man with a fiery imagination and strong passions. Difference social status The characters introduced the theme of social inequality into the opera. With high tragic pathos, it reflects the fate of people in a society subordinated to the merciless power of money. Herman is a victim of this society; the desire for wealth imperceptibly becomes an obsession with him, overshadowing his love for Lisa and leading him to death.

Music

The opera "The Queen of Spades" is one of greatest works world realistic art. This musical tragedy amazes with the psychological truthfulness of the reproduction of the thoughts and feelings of the characters, their hopes, suffering and death, the brightness of the pictures of the era, and the intensity of musical and dramatic development. Character traits Tchaikovsky's style received its most complete and perfect expression here.

The orchestral introduction is based on three contrasting musical images: narrative, associated with Tomsky’s ballad, ominous, depicting the image of the old Countess, and passionately lyrical, characterizing Herman’s love for Lisa.

The first act opens with a bright everyday scene. Choirs of nannies, governesses, and the perky march of boys clearly highlight the drama of subsequent events. Herman’s arioso “I don’t know her name,” sometimes elegiacally tender, sometimes impetuously excited, captures the purity and strength of his feelings.

The second picture falls into two halves - everyday and love-lyrical. The idyllic duet of Polina and Lisa “It’s Evening” is shrouded in light sadness. Polina’s romance “Dear Friends” sounds gloomy and doomed. The second half of the film opens with Lisa’s arioso “Where do these tears come from” - a heartfelt monologue full of deep feeling.

Galina Vishnevskaya sings. "Where do these tears come from..."

Lisa’s melancholy gives way to an enthusiastic confession: “Oh, listen, night.” German’s tenderly sad and passionate arioso “Forgive me, heavenly creature”

Georgiy Nelepp is the best German, sings “Forgive me, heavenly creature”

interrupted by the appearance of the Countess: the music takes on a tragic tone; sharp, nervous rhythms and ominous orchestral colors emerge. The second picture ends with the affirmation of the bright theme of love. Prince Yeletsky’s aria “I love you” depicts his nobility and restraint. The fourth scene, central to the opera, is full of anxiety and drama.

At the beginning of the fifth scene (third act), against the background of funeral singing and the howling of a storm, Herman’s excited monologue appears, “All the same thoughts, still the same horrible dream" The music that accompanies the appearance of the Countess's ghost fascinates with its deathly stillness.

The orchestral introduction of the sixth scene is painted in gloomy tones of doom. The wide, freely flowing melody of Lisa’s aria “Ah, I’m tired, I’m tired” is close to Russian drawn-out songs; the second part of the aria “So it’s true, with a villain” is full of despair and anger. The lyrical duet of Herman and Lisa “Oh yes, the suffering is over” is the only bright episode of the film.

The seventh picture begins with everyday episodes: a drinking song of the guests, Tomsky’s frivolous song “If only dear girls” (to the words of G. R. Derzhavin). With the appearance of Herman, the music becomes nervously excited. The anxiously wary septet “Something is wrong here” conveys the excitement that gripped the players. The rapture of victory and cruel joy can be heard in Herman’s aria “What is our life? A game!". In the dying minute, his thoughts are again turned to Lisa - a reverently tender image of love appears in the orchestra.

Herman's aria "What is ours Life is a game"performed by Vladimir Atlantov

Tchaikovsky was so deeply captured by the entire atmosphere of the action and images characters“Queen of Spades”, which perceived them as real living people. Having completed the draft recording of the opera with feverish speed(The entire work was completed in 44 days - from January 19 to March 3, 1890. The orchestration was completed in June of the same year.), he wrote to his brother Modest Ilyich, the author of the libretto: “... when I got to the death of Herman and the final chorus, I felt so sorry for Herman that I suddenly began to cry a lot<...>It turns out that Herman was not just an excuse for me to write this or that music, but all the time a living person...”

In Pushkin, German is a man of one passion, straightforward, calculating and tough, ready to put his own and other people’s lives on the line to achieve his goal. In Tchaikovsky, he is internally broken, in the grip of contradictory feelings and drives, the tragic irreconcilability of which leads him to inevitable death. The image of Lisa was subjected to a radical rethinking: Pushkin’s ordinary, colorless Lizaveta Ivanovna became a strong and passionate person, selflessly devoted to her feelings, continuing the gallery of pure poetically sublime female images in Tchaikovsky's operas from The Oprichnik to The Enchantress. At the request of the director of the imperial theaters I. A. Vsevolozhsky, the action of the opera was moved from the 30s of the 19th century to the second half XVIII century, which gave rise to the inclusion of a picture of a magnificent ball in the palace of Catherine’s nobleman with an interlude stylized in the spirit of the “gallant age”, but did not have an impact on the overall flavor of the action and the characters of its main participants. In terms of the richness and complexity of their spiritual world, the sharpness and intensity of experience, these are the composer’s contemporaries, in many ways akin to the heroes psychological novels Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

And another performance of Herman's aria "What is our life? A game!" Sung by Zurab Andzhaparidze. Recorded in 1965, Bolshoi Theatre.

In the film-opera “The Queen of Spades” the main roles were performed by Oleg Strizhenov-German, Olga-Krasina-Liza. Vocal parts were performed by Zurab Andzhaparidze and Tamara Milashkina.