Alexander Antonovsky in the premiere of the opera Pan Voyevoda by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov

Abstract

The article is dedicated to Alexander Petrovich Antonovsky (1863−1939), the first bass of the Imperial Theaters, a graduate of the Moscow Conservatory (class of Professor Giacomo Galvani). The publication examines the singer’s participation in the premiere performance of the opera Pan Voyevoda by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. This is not the singer’s first experience in the composer’s performances. Having received good practice in Sadko (the part of the Varangian Guest), The Tsar’s Bride (the part of Malyuta Skuratov), A. Antonovsky once again coped with the task superbly. References to newspaper materials and archival documents reveal the attitude of criticism to the stage images created by A. Antonovsky, to his performance of the role of Pan Voyevoda. The drama of the musical image of the main character is revealed through the analysis of the tonal plan for the development of the Voyevoda’s leittheme in Act IV, which is full of special tension and poignancy. The semantics of the dark tonalities used by the composer help to reveal the diversity of the hero’s feelings and deep penetration into the psychology of his experiences.