| Christmas Eve | |
|---|---|
| Opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | |
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Nikolai_Rimsky-Korsakov_-_Christmas_Eve_-_Yevgeniya_Mravina_as_Oxana,_1895.png) Yevgeniya Mravina as Oksana in the premiere | |
| Native title | Russian: Ночь перед Рождеством |
| Librettist | Rimsky-Korsakov |
| Language | Russian |
| Based on | "Christmas Eve" by Nikolai Gogol |
| Premiere | 1895 Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg |
Christmas Eve or The Night Before Christmas (Russian: Ночь перед Рождеством, romanized: Nóch péred Rozhdestvóm )[a] is an opera in four acts with music and libretto by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Composed between 1894 and 1895, Rimsky-Korsakov based his opera on a short story, "Christmas Eve", from Nikolai Gogol's 1832 collection Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.[2] The story had been used as the basis for an opera at least three times previously, including for Tchaikovsky's Vakula the Smith (1874).[3] Oliver Knussen writes that "Rimsky is only interested in recreating the atmosphere of the folk-tale, fleshing it out for his stage pageant in a comparable way to Humperdinck in Hansel.[4] Gerald Abraham, on the other hand, praises the vivid humanity and humour of Rimsky's setting, as well as its atmospheric strength.[5]
- ^ "Russian – ISO 9 transliteration system". transliteration.com. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
- ^ Abraham, Gerald E.H., "Rimsky-Korsakov's Gogol Operas" (July 1931). Music & Letters, 12 (3): pp. 242-252.
- ^ Taruskin, Richard (2007). L. Macy (ed.). "Christmas Eve [Noch' pered rozhdestvom]". [New Grove Dictionary of Opera / Grove Music Online]. Archived from the original on 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
- ^ Knussen, Oliver. A favourite fairy-tale synthesist. English National Opera programme book, London, 1988.
- ^ Abraham, ibid.
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