Christmas Eve (opera) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Christmas Eve |
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| by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | |
Yevgeniya Mravina as Oksana in the premiere
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| Native title | Russian: Ночь перед Рождеством |
| Librettist | Rimsky-Korsakov |
| Language | Russian |
| Premiere | 1895: Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg |
Christmas Eve (in Russian: Ночь перед Рождеством, which means Nóch péred Rozhdestvóm) is an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. An opera is a play where the story is told mostly through singing. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote both the music and the words (called the libretto) for this opera.
He created Christmas Eve between 1894 and 1895. The story comes from a short tale also called "Christmas Eve" by Nikolai Gogol. This tale was part of Gogol's 1832 book, Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka. It's a fun, magical story about a village on Christmas Eve.
Contents
When Was Christmas Eve First Performed?
The very first time Christmas Eve was shown to an audience was on December 10, 1895. This special event happened at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Later, in 1988, the opera had its first performance in Britain. This took place in London at the English National Opera.
Who Are the Main Characters?
This opera has many interesting characters. Here are some of the most important ones:
| Character | Voice Type | First Performed By |
|---|---|---|
| Tsaritsa | mezzo-soprano (a female voice, lower than soprano) | Maria-Vilgelmina Piltz |
| Village-head | baritone (a male voice, between tenor and bass) | Vladimir Mayboroda |
| Chub, an older Cossack | bass (the lowest male voice) | Mikhail Koryakin |
| Oksana, Chub's daughter | soprano (the highest female voice) | Yevgeniya Mravina |
| Solokha, a widow who some say is a witch | contralto (a female voice, lower than mezzo-soprano) | Mariya Kamenskaya |
| Vakula the smith, Solokha's son | tenor (a high male voice) | Ivan Yershov |
| Panas, Chub's friend | bass | Fyodor Stravinsky |
| Deacon Osip Nikiforovich | tenor | Grigoriy Ugrinovich |
| Patsyuk, an old Zaporozhets and a sorcerer | bass | Nikolay Klimov |
| Devil | tenor | Mitrofan Chuprīnnikov |
| There are also many other people in the opera, like village girls and boys, other Cossacks, witches, wizards, and spirits. Even the morning star and other stars are characters! | ||
Other Works Based on the Same Story
The story of Christmas Eve by Nikolai Gogol was so popular that other composers also turned it into operas.
- Tchaikovsky, another famous Russian composer, wrote an opera called Vakula the Smith in 1874.
- Tchaikovsky later changed Vakula the Smith and renamed it The Slippers in 1885.
So, Christmas Eve by Rimsky-Korsakov, Vakula the Smith, and The Slippers by Tchaikovsky are all different operas based on the same magical Christmas story by Gogol!
See also
In Spanish: La noche de Navidad (ópera) para niños
