Cock-a-Doodle-Doo!
The Golden Cockerel
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Premiere
Barrie Kosky’s mystical and visually striking production sweeps the audience into the enigmatic world of fairy tales – and in doing so tells us more about our times than you’d think.
Tsar Dodon is plagued by worries, with his kingdom threatened by enemies all around. He’d rather just eat and sleep instead of looking after his country. An astrologer enters the scene with just the right solution: a golden cockerel that crows and flaps if danger looms. Dodon is delighted! Yet when war actually breaks out and the cockerel crows, he discovers that he must set out in person. Instead of a battlefield, however, he encounters the beautiful Queen of Shemakha. When Dodon falls rapturously in love with her, the disastrous course is set…
Rimsky-Korsakov’s final piece of music theatre paints the magic of Pushkin’s dark fairy tale with a fantastic spectrum of sonic colours. Barrie Kosky translates these into images that are as poetic as they are mysterious: at once comic, uncompromising, and sensuous.
Tsar Dodon is plagued by worries, with his kingdom threatened by enemies all around. He’d rather just eat and sleep instead of looking after his country. An astrologer enters the scene with just the right solution: a golden cockerel that crows and flaps if danger looms. Dodon is delighted! Yet when war actually breaks out and the cockerel crows, he discovers that he must set out in person. Instead of a battlefield, however, he encounters the beautiful Queen of Shemakha. When Dodon falls rapturously in love with her, the disastrous course is set…
Rimsky-Korsakov’s final piece of music theatre paints the magic of Pushkin’s dark fairy tale with a fantastic spectrum of sonic colours. Barrie Kosky translates these into images that are as poetic as they are mysterious: at once comic, uncompromising, and sensuous.
Prologue
The Astrologer enters and tells the audience that he's about to bring fairytale figures to life. »The tale is made up, but it contains a lesson for all good people.«
Act 1
King Dodon has had enough of wars. All he wants to do is sleep and enjoy life. Unfortunately, hostile neighbours mean his country is in danger. His sons, the princes Gvidon and Afron, outdo each other with idiotic suggestions on what action should be taken. His general Polkan brusquely dismiss- es their plans and warns of the perils they present, which annoys Dodon.
The Astrologer enters and tells the audience that he's about to bring fairytale figures to life. »The tale is made up, but it contains a lesson for all good people.«
Act 1
King Dodon has had enough of wars. All he wants to do is sleep and enjoy life. Unfortunately, hostile neighbours mean his country is in danger. His sons, the princes Gvidon and Afron, outdo each other with idiotic suggestions on what action should be taken. His general Polkan brusquely dismiss- es their plans and warns of the perils they present, which annoys Dodon.
Salvation then appears in the form of the Astrologer, who introduces himself as an old aquaintance of Dodon's father. He offers Dodon a golden cockerel which crows a warning in the event of danger: »Beware, be vigilant!« Dodon is delighted when the cockerel instead cries, »Rule from your couch!« As a reward for the golden cockerel, he promises to grant the Astrologer anything he wishes, though he will not confirm it in writing; after all, the Astrologer has the King's word.
Now Dodon can doze in good conscience, beguiled by a lullaby sung by his attendant Amelfa. Suddenly, the cockerel crows: danger is near! Dodon sends his two extremely reluctant sons off to war, but what bothers him most is being woken from his dreams. When he challenges Amelfa to guess what he has been dreaming, she soon surmises correctly that a beautiful woman was involved. Once again, the cockerel's crow signals imminent danger. Polkan explains to the King that this time, all the old men must go to war. Dodon unwillingly sets off as well.
Act II
Dodon mourns the death of his two sons, who did not fall in combat however – but rather killed each other. He then discovers the reason why: he encounters the mysterious Queen of Shemakha, who so bewitched both men that they killed each other out of jealousy. Before long, the Queen has Dodon under her spell, too. She even tells him to his face that she will rob him of his kingdom – without any army and solely with the aid of her beauty. Nevertheless, the infatuated King is happy to sing and dance for her, and doesn't realise he is making himself ridiculous. Completely captivated by her, he tells the Queen that he and his kingdom now belong to her. When she says she wishes the sceptical Polkan to be punished for his opposition, Dodon proposes having the general's head cut off. The Queen's retinue laugh at the doting old King.
Act III
The people are uneasy. Since the golden cockerel hasn't crowed for a long time, there is presumably no danger, but nobody knows what has happened in the meantime. In the King's absence, Amelfa has become a haughty despot. She pretends to know more than the others – that the King has defeated a dragon and rescued a princess, who he is bringing home as his bride; and he had to have his sons executed, she says. When Dodon appears with the Queen and her retinue, the Astrologer suddenly emerges from the crowd and declares he would now like to claim his reward for the golden cockerel: the Queen of Shemakha. Indignant, the King refuses and offers him other gifts instead. The Astrologer does not back down and Dodon strikes him dead. The Queen turns away from him full of contempt; the golden cockerel then swoops on him and kills him. The people are forlorn and fear what the future holds without the good King.
Epilogue
The Astrologer enters once more and reminds the audience that it was all just a fairy tale. The only real people, he says, were himself and the Queen of Shemakha …
Opera in three acts [1907]
Libretto by Vladimir I. Belsky, based on a fairy tale by Alexander S. Pushkin
Libretto by Vladimir I. Belsky, based on a fairy tale by Alexander S. Pushkin
Premiere on 28 January 2024
A co-production with the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Lyon Opera House
Recommended from grade 9
Russian
2hr, no intermission
Seats with a slightly restricted view are available via the telephone service and the opera box office.