The Tsar's Bride — Premiere

The Tsar's Bride (Tsarskaya nevesta)

Description of the work

The Tsar's Bride was composed in 1898 and premiered in 1899 in Moscow. The libretto was written by Ilja Tjumenjev, based on the drama by Lav Meja. The opera was first performed in Serbia in 1925 at the National Theatre in Belgrade, and with the new production by the Opera of SNP this work will be performed in Novi Sad for the first time.

Plot

The opera has four acts, and the action is set in 16th-century Russia, during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. At the center of the story is Marfa Sobakina, a young woman the tsar chooses as his bride, although she is already engaged to Ivan Lykov. The oprichnik Grigory Gryaznoy is obsessed with Marfa, and a tragic chain of events leads to Marfa's madness and death.