Rothschild's Violin (opera)

Rothschild's Violin (Russian: Скрипка Ротшильда) is a one-act opera by Russian composer Veniamin Fleishman (1913–1941) set to the Russian libretto by the composer after the short story "Rothschild's Fiddle" by Anton Chekhov.

The opera centres on the bitter central character, Yakov Ivanov, a coffin-maker and amateur fiddler, his gradual understanding of life and his bequest of his violin to Rothschild, who also plays in the Jewish band with Ivanov and whom he has treated with contempt.

History of creation

Between 1939 and 1941, the young Fleishman was one of Dmitri Shostakovich's most promising students at the Leningrad Conservatory, where he composed his first work, a one-act opera entitled Rothschild's Violin. His mentor had suggested Anton Chekhov's story as the basis for the libretto. Setting his tale in an Eastern Europe shtetl at the end of the 19th century, Fleishman paid a musical homage to a world on the verge of extinction.

During World War II Fleishman joined the civil brigades formed to defend Leningrad and was among the first to be killed in action. Evacuating Leningrad on Stalin's order, Shostakovich managed to salvage Fleishman's unfinished score. In memory of his talented student, Shostakovich completed it and orchestrated it in 1943/1944. Shostakovich dated his completion of the score February 5, 1944. Later, he exerted influence so that the opera should be published and performed.

First performances

Roles

Scoring

Baritone, 2 tenors, mezzo soprano; male chorus of 6–8 voices 3 flutes, (III = piccolo), 3 oboes (III = cor anglais), 3 clarinets (III = E-flat clarinet/bass clarinet), 3 bassoons (III = contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, 3 percussion (side drum, bass drum, crash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tambourine, glockenspiel, xylophone), 2 harps, strings.

This work is represented by Boosey & Hawkes in the UK, Commonwealth of Nations (excluding Canada), Republic of Ireland, mainland China, Korea and Taiwan; and by Hans Sikorski for Europe.

Arrangement

For chamber ensemble (1.0.1.1 – 0.1.1.0 – piano, strings (1.1.1.1.1) by Gerd Jünemann.

Synopsis

Time and Place: A small town somewhere in Russia

There is a wedding in a merchant's house. A band of local musicians are playing in the street, but a quarrel breaks out between them. The old coffin-maker, Ivanov (known as 'Bronza'), accuses the young Rothschild of spoiling the music. But the others turn against him and eventually, in disgust, Bronza packs his violin and goes home. Alone, Bronza laments his poverty and the lack of respect that others show him. His wife Marfa returns from the river with a bucket of water and collapses from exhaustion. While the remaining musicians go into the merchant's house, Rothschild stays in the street outside, playing his flute. Marta, lying in bed, reminds Bronza of their little fair-haired daughter who died fifty years ago while still a child. Bronza knows he will have to make a coffin for his wife this day. The musicians reappear and strike up a lively dance. They send Rothschild to persuade Bronza to come and join them, but Bronza throws Rothschild out of his house. Children in the street chase after the young musician, shouting: 'Jew! Jew!' In a long monologue, Bronza grieves for the waste of his life, for the destruction of the former woods around the town, and for his own mistreatment of his wife and of Rothschild. Staring at his violin, he hopes that after his death it will 'sing new songs of happiness', for he cannot take it with him to his grave. Rothschild returns once again to implore Bronza to come and join the musicians. Instead the old Russian coffin-maker gives him his violin and the young Jewish man begins to play.

A performance takes about 42 minutes.

Quotations

Recordings

There are recordings on Avie (2006) and on RCA (1995). The live recording from 2006 on Avie Records (AV 2121)[2] received an Editor's Choice[3][4] recommendation in Gramophone.

Rothschild's Violin, CD cover, RCA Red Seal 09026 68434-2

Rothschild's Violin with Sergei Leiferkus, Konstantin Pluzhnikov, Ilya Levinsky, Marina Shaguch, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, RCA Red Seal 09026 68434-2

  1. Wedding Band
  2. What Are You Playing
  3. This Small Town Is Worse Than A Village
  4. Band Music
  5. Do You Remember Iakov Do You Recall
  6. God Had Given Us A Little Girl
  7. Band Music/Make That Trumpet Merrier
  8. Down Here On Earth Everything Flies So Fast
  9. Rothschild Runs Away
  10. Loss One Coffin For Marfa Ivanova
  11. If They Could Live Without Hatred Or Evil
  12. It's Better To Die
  13. Be Kind To Me Don't Hit Me
  14. Rothschild Plays The Violin

Film

The film is about this opera and the dramatic circumstances in which this little-known work was composed. Both a historical work and a piece of operatic fiction, Rothschild's Violin describes a work of art and the context in which was composed. The reconstitution of Fleishman's opera is the core of the film, which Cozarinsky chose to film using post-synchronization so as to leave himself the greatest possible leeway in filming the opera's dramatic and visual elements.

Reference List

  1. ↑ Volkov, Solomon. “Letter from Solomon Volkov.” Tempo, New Series 207 (December 1998): 55.
  2. ↑ http://www.avie-records.com/album_detail.php?id=400 Archived April 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Name/Benjamin-Fleischmann/Composer/3844-1
  4. ↑ http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/July%202007/8/759143/TRACK+5+SHOSTAKOVICH+The+Gamblers.+FLEISH+MAN+Rothschilds+Violin
  5. ↑ Le violon de Rothschild at the Internet Movie Database
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