The Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad from Mussorgsky's opera Sorochinsky Fair, completed by Shebalin
Anatoli Kotscherga - Bass-baritone
Claudio Abbado conducting the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Rundfunkchor Berlin, and the Südtiroler Kinderchor, 1997
Program notes:
0:00 A hilly desolate area. An approaching subterranean choir of infernal forces.
1:29 The curtain rises. The peasant lad sleeps at the foot of a hill.
1:40 Witches and devils surround the sleeping peasant lad.
2:57 On a hill appear fiery serpents. The approach of Chernobog.
3:18 Chernobog rises from underground. Following him are Kashchey, Cherv, Chuma, Topelets, Smert, and the rest of his retinue.
4:23 Worship of Chernobog.
5:47 Sabbath.
6:08 Ballet.
8:07 Stroke of a matins bell. Satan and his retinue vanish. The scene is covered by clouds.
10:39 The peasant lad awakens and stands up, stretching and looking around wildly.
10:45 The clouds disperse. The scene is illuminated by the rising sun.
"The 'Night on the Bare Mountain' is one of Mussorgsky's best-known works. Less well-known is the fact that the composer worked at this 'musical painting' four different times over the course of 20 years. The two earliest versions have been lost; all that survive are the famous orchestral version of 1866/67 and a vocal version for soloist and chorus, as recorded here. The literary model for the orchestral version is Georgi Mengden's play 'The Witch', while the vocal version of this midsummer's night music is associated with Nikolai Gogol's story 'The Sorochintsy Fair'. As early as 1874, Mussorgsky had planned to write an opera based on this story. In 1880, he reworked the pre-existing orchestra piece into an entr'acte in which a farmer boy named Grisko dreams about witches, magic, and about Chernobog, the devil in Russian folklore. In a note to his friend, mentor, and advisor, Vladimir Stasov, Mussorgsky gave a detailed report about the program of this entr'acte,
"'A Boy's Dream': A boy dreams at the bottom of a hill some distance from the house where he is to stay. In the dream the following appear to him:
1.) An underground murmur of inhuman voices which speak inhuman words.
2.) The underground Realm of Shadows asserts its authority and makes fun of the sleeping boy.
3.) Prophecy of the appearance of Chernobog and the Devil.
4.) The spirits of the shadows leave the boy. Chernobog appears.
5.) Glorification of Chernobog and the Black Mass.
6.) Witches' Sabbath.
7.) At the height of the Sabbath's madness --- the peal of a village church bell. Chernobog vanishes.
8.) Agony of the demons.
9.) Voices of the clerics.
10.) Demons vanish and the boy awakes.""
- Melanie Unseld
