Sadko (opera)

Sadko
Sadko
Opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
	Feodor Chaliapin as the Varangian Guest, in 1897
Native title	Russian: Садко
Librettist	Rimsky-Korsakov; Vladimir Belsky; Vladimir Stasov
Language	Russian
Premiere	7 January 1898; Solodovnikov Theatre, Moscow

Sadko (Russian: Садко, romanized: Sadkó listen^ⓘ, the name of the main character) is an 1898 opera in seven scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by the composer, with assistance from Vladimir Belsky, Vladimir Stasov, and others.^[1] Rimsky-Korsakov was first inspired by the bylina of Sadko in 1867, when he completed a tone poem on the subject, his Op. 5. After finishing his second revision of this work in 1891, he decided to turn it into a dramatic work.^[2]

The music is highly evocative, and Rimsky-Korsakov's famed powers of orchestration are abundantly evident throughout the score. According to the Soviet critic Boris Asafyev, writing in 1922,^[3] Sadko constitutes the summit of Rimsky-Korsakov's craft. From the opus 5 tone poem the composer quoted its most memorable passages, including the opening theme of the swelling sea,^[1] and other themes as leitmotives^[4] – he himself set out to "utilize for this opera the material of my symphonic poem, and, in any event, to make use of its motives as leading motives for the opera".^[5]

^ ^a ^b Taruskin 1997
^ Abraham, Gerald. Rimsky Korsakov – A Short Biography. Duckworth, London, 1945, pp. 87–88.
^ Quoted in Morrison 2001, p. 263
^ Abraham, pp. 96–97.^{[incomplete short citation]}
^ Rimsky-Korsakoff 1924, p. 292.

[groveop-1] Taruskin 1997

[2] Abraham, Gerald. Rimsky Korsakov – A Short Biography. Duckworth, London, 1945, pp. 87–88.

[3] Quoted in Morrison 2001, p. 263

[4] Abraham, pp. 96–97.^{[incomplete short citation]}

[FOOTNOTERimsky-Korsakoff1924292-5] Rimsky-Korsakoff 1924, p. 292.

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