The Golden Cockerel

The Golden Cockerel (??????? ??????? in Russian, Zolotoy Petuschok in transliteration) is an opera in three acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to a Russian libretto by Vladimir Ivanovich Belsky, based on the 1834 poem by Pushkin. First performance: Nezlobin Theatre in Moscow on September 24, 1909.

Composer's Remarks (1907, N. Rimsky-Korsakov)

1 The composer does not sanction any "cuts."

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2 Operatic singers are in the habit of introducing ejaculations, spoken words, etc. into the music, hoping thereby to produce dramatic, comic or realistic effect. Far from adding significance to the music, these additions and emendations merely disfigure it. The composer desires that the singers in all his works keep strictly to the music written for them.

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3 Metronome marks must be followed accurately. This does not imply that artists should sing like clock-work, they are given full artistic scope, but they must keep within bounds.

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4 The composer feels it necessary to reiterate the following remark in lyrical passages, those actors who are on the stage, but not singing at the moment, must refrain from drawing the attention of the spectators to themselves by unnecessary by-play. An opera is first and foremost a musical work.

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5 The part of the Astrologer is written for a voice seldom met with, that of tenor-altino. It may however be entrusted to a lyric tenor possessing a strong alsetto, for the part is written in the extremely high register.

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6 The Golden Cockerel demands a strong soprano or high mezzosoprano voice.

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7 The dances performed by the King and Queen in the second act, must be carried out so as not to interfere with the singers breathing by too sudden or too violent movement.

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