UDC 793.3
DOI: 10.36871/hon.202301089

Authors

Inna M. Romashchuk,
State Music and Pedagogical Institute named after M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, Moscow, 109147, Russian Federation

Abstract

The phenomenon of the "lifeworld" (E. Husserl) in its national branches and cultural realities is revealed in the operas of M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov largely due to the extended mass scenes. A special place here is occupied by dance episodes and scenes in which characteristic elements of different folk traditions, both those previously experienced in Russian music (oriental, Spanish themes) and those introduced by Ippolitov-Ivanov in accordance with the conditions of plot realities (Norwegian theme), are presented in a sharp and expressive way. It has always been important for the composer to emphasize in operas the authentic, the present, which has a timeless value, focusing on the forms of musical folklore. Folk dances, which are represented in many mass scenes of the composer's operas, provided him such an opportunity, as did extended ballet scenes (for example, in the opera "The Last Barricade"). With an obvious aspiration to the ballet genre, the score of "Nestan Darejan" based on Shota Rustaveli's poem "The Knight in the Tiger Skin" was created: the composer called this composition a ballet, then an opera-ballet. The archive of Ippolitov-Ivanov holds the libretto of the ballet "The Scythians", which could probably have interested the composer because of his special attitude to the ballet genre. There are dance scenes in all of the composer's operas, including "Ruth", based on a Biblical plot. There are also dance scenes in the libretti of operas he conceived, but did not realize ("Chrysanthemum", "Miriam", "The Dressmaker").
Dance scenes emphasize the national flavor, create the realities of everyday scenes ("Azra", "Treason"), enhance the contrast between the external and deeply psychological internal action ("Ole from Nordland"), characterize the characters and determine the main figurative and semantic "tonality" of the work ("Asya"). Thanks to the dance, "windows" are opened into another world of culture and folklore traditions, an interest in which the composer has preserved throughout his life.

Keywords

dances and "ballet" in the operas by M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, foreign national basis, drama role of dance scenes, opera-ballet "Nestan Darejan", libretto of the ballet "Scythians"