Sorochintsy Fair

Performers

Conductor:

Solopy Cherevik: Stanislav Trofimov
Khivrya: Anna Kiknadze
Parasya: Violetta Lukyanenko
Kum: Yuri Vlasov
Gritsko: Ilya Selivanov
Afanasy Ivanovich: Andrei Zorin
A Gypsy: Maxim Daminov
Chernobog: Egor Sotov

Premiere of this production: 25 July 2025

Running time 2 hours 20 minutes
The performance has one interval

Age category 12+

Credits

Music by Modest Musorgsky
Libretto by the composer with the participation of A. A. Golenithsev-Kutusov after the tale of the same name by Nikolai Gogol

Musical Director: Valery Gergiev
Stage Director: Ilya Ustyantsev
Choreographer: Ilya Ustyantsev
Set Designer: Yekaterina Malinina
Costume Technician: Maria Sedykh
Lighting Designer: Vadim Brodsky
Musical Preparation: Yana Grankvist
Principal Chorus Master: Konstantin Rylov

SYNOPSIS

Act I
A hot summer’s day. A noisy market is underway. Cherevik has come here to sell wheat and a mare. His daughter, the beautiful Parasya, is with him. Intending to scare the buyers and get the goods he needs cheaper, the Gypsy tells the crowd that not far off, a Red Coven has settled in an old barn; it belongs to the Devil and brings destruction on people. In the meantime, the peasant lad Gritsko is murmuring sweet nothings to Parasya, whose beauty has captured his heart. Cherevik is initially incensed at the lad’s bold amorousness, but on discovering that
Gritsko is the son of his old friend he has nothing against the marriage. Now it is time to go into the tavern. Cherevik emerges to go home late together with Kum. Khivrya meets her husband in fury. There is no end to her wrath when she discovers that the bridegroom is none other than the very same peasant lad who recently made fun of her. Hearing this talk, Gritsko is deeply saddened. However, the Gypsy declares he will help on the condition that the lad will sell him his oxen cheaply.

Act II
Khivrya has thrown her husband out of the house for the night under some specious excuse, and is eagerly awaiting her lover Afanasy Ivanovich. At last, the priest’s son appears, generously showering her with high-flown compliments. Tirelessly Khivrya entertains her guest. But the priest’s son’s declarations of love are interrupted by a knock at the gate – it is Cherevik and Kum with some guests. Shaking in fear, Khivrya’s lover hides on the sleeping bench. The unexpected arrivals are scared to death by the Red Coven, which rumour has it came to the fair. Only once having drunk some liquor do they calm down somewhat. Kum leads a talk about the Devil, who has pawned the inn-keeper his Red Coven, and now, disguised as a pig, is searching for it all over the fair. The sudden appearance of a pig’s snout at the window throws everyone into indescribable terror. The guests and master and mistress flee to safety.

Act III
Headed by the Gypsy, the peasant lads seize Cherevik and Kum and tie them up, ostensibly for stealing the mare. In line with the Gypsy’s cunning plan, Gritsko appears in the role of their rescuer. As a reward, the lad demands the wedding take place immediately, and Cherevik agrees gladly enough. Dreaming of Parasya, the happy bridegroom falls asleep. He dreams Chernobog and his retinue are celebrating the Witches’ Sabbath that ceases only with the peal of the church bell.
Parasya misses her beloved. And so the lovers’ meeting is even more joyous. Taking advantage of Khivrya’s absence, Cherevik blesses the young couple. All dance a hopak in joy.

Sorochintsy Fair is Musorgsky’s brightest and most poetic work – full of humour and warm lyricism. The composer himself called the opera “comic”, and rightly so: everything in it – the bustle of the fair, the tender romantic turmoil between Parasya and the Lad, the marital squabbling between Khivrya and Cherevik, the “terrifying” fantasy of a demonic sabbath in the Lad’s dream, not to mention the scene between the Deacon and Khivrya – is coloured by the gentle humour of both Gogol and Musorgsky.
The use of the word “presented” is no accident: in the autograph score Musorgsky adds a playful note to the role of the Gypsy – “in charge of the comedy.” Indeed, many of the opera’s varied events unfold through the Gypsy’s instigation or active involvement as a kind of “director”, and he might later recount the story with the same flair as he does the tale of the Red Jacket.
Sorochintsy Fair remained unfinished. As with two of Musorgsky’s other operas – Salammbô and Khovanshchina – not everything he wrote has survived. For instance, two “excellent” gypsy choruses, as Vladimir Stasov described them, have been lost. Among the various completions attempted by different composers, the most enduring version is that of Vissarion Shebalin, who in 1931–1932 composed and orchestrated the missing portions. This is the version currently performed at the Mariinsky Theatre. Vladimir Goryachikh