Dargomïzhsky: The Stone Guest

Day 201

Dargomïzhsky The Stone Guest

Soloists

Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra

Andrey Chistiakov

This is a version of the Don Giovanni legend dating from 1869. Like so many of the Russian Operas of the time more than one person had a hand in the finished version. The composer died before he completed the piece: it was completed by Cui and then orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov. I do remember The Stone Guest being discussed in the University history of music class - one of our lecturers was an expert in mid 19th century Russian music. The piece has its place in history as an experiment in setting the whole of the text of a play in what amounts to a continuous arioso, with hardly anything which can be considered pure recitative and no real set piece numbers other than one song, where the character on stage is, within the drama, actually singing a song. It provoked mixed reactions at the time: the composers of the five were very keen to see it performed. Tchaikovsky on the other hand was dismissive, calling it the lamentable fruit of a dry, purely rational process of invention.

I have to say that I am rather with Tchaikovsky here. It did seem very turgid in places and had very little sense of light and shade or the contrast between moments of action and moment of reflection that are so important in opera. Music of the music seemed laboured without much to attract the ear. It was only in the final confrontation between Don Giovanni and the Commander that the opera sprung to life. But then if a composer couldn't make something of that then all would be lost. But by then it was too late. I had made my mind up.   For me it was an experiment that did not come off and I think represents a dead end in operatic thinking.