THE ENCHANTRESS (Tchaikovsky) (DVD)

A rarity among Tchaikovsky’s operas, The Enchantress (also known as The Sorceress) is presented here in a live performance by the esteemed Nizhegorodsky State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet; Pavel Reznikov, conductor (Moscow, 1984). Sung in Russian; Subtitles in English, French, and Russian.
Color, 156 minutes, 4:3, All regions

Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress was composed during a happily reclusive period in the composer’s life. Living in a country house in Maidanovo, he described himself as “contented, cheerful, and quiet.” In the spring of 1885, Tchaikovsky discovered Shpazhinsky’s play The Enchantress, which greatly attracted him as an operatic subject, affording him the chance to express dramatically a long-cherished phrase in Goethe’s Faust, “Das Ewig-Weibliche zieht uns hinan” [the eternal-feminine draws us upwards]. Indeed, his characterization of the good-hearted and passionate inn-keeper Nastasya (affectionately called “Kuma” – literally, “godmother” – by her admirers, and branded an “enchantress” by her enemies) is one of his most fascinating operatic portraits. This 1984 production, performed by an excellent cast fully committed to the work, makes a strong case for The Enchantress as an unjustly neglected masterpiece.

THE ENCHANTRESS
Opera in Four Acts
Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchiakovsky
Original libretto by Ippolit Shpazhinsky
Revised libretto by Sergey Gorodetsky

Cast:
Nastasya (“Kuma”), keeper of a wayside inn - Larissa Zyryanova
Prince Nikita Kurlyatev, the Grand Prince’s deputy - Vladimir Stepanov
Princess Yevpraksiya Romanovna, his wife - Lyudmila Korzhakova
Prince Yuriy, their son - Vadim Valyuta
Mamirov, an old deacon - Alexander Pravilov
Nenila, his sister, a lady-in-waiting to the princess - A. Perfilova
Ivan Zhuran, valet of Prince Yuriy - E. Sedov
Foka, Nastasya’s uncle - Dimitri Sukhanov
Polya, Nastasya’s friend - L. Lebedovskaya
Payisy, a vagabond in the guise of a monk - N. Bogutsky
Balakin, a guest from Nizhniy-Novgorod - A. Burlatsky
Potap, a merchant guest - M. Sanotsky
Lukash, a merchant guest - Mikhail Larin
Kichiga, a pugilist - A. Perfilov

Nizhegorodsky State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet
Pavel Reznikov, conductor

Live performance, Moscow, 1984