''MR (Marina and Rainer)'' is a chamber

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in one act (5 scenes) by the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Nikolai Korndorf Nikolai Sergeevich Korndorf (russian: Николáй Серге́евич Корндóрф, January 23, 1947 – May 30, 2001) was a Russian and Canadian (from 1991) composer and conductor. He was prolific both in Moscow, Russia, and in Vancouve ...

(1947–2001). The libretto by Yuri Lourié is in Russian,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

and Japanese). Commissioned by the Munich Biennial,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, it was composed in 1989.

Premiere

The first performance was on May 20, 1994, at the Muffathalle in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, Germany, with the Munich Biennial Singers, Ulm Orchestra, and S. Bachli, conductor.

Structure

The opera consists of five scenes: *1. Tsvetayeva and Rilke *2. Sapho and Alcaeus *3. Tsvetayeva and Rilke again *4. Yakamochi and Sakanoue *5. Tsvetayeva and Rilke again.

Roles

Marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

* Rainer *Sapho *Alcaeus * Yakamochi * Sakanoue Three pantomime actors symbolizing the illness and fate as well as the poets’ relations in a real life.

Plot

This is a moving story told in letters between two great poets, the Russian Marina Tsvetaeva and the Austrian

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

. They never met but their fiery relationship lasted for several months. At that time Rilke was severely ill with leukaemia and had already not written for two years. However the letters of Tsvetaeva returned him to poetry. The love of Tsvetayeva for Rilke's poetry grew to the love of him as a person. She was ready to come and meet him in real life, but when her last letter to him was written, Rilke was already dead. As a background to this story, two other pairs of poets were added: the Ancient Greek poets Sapho and Alcaeus, and the 8th-century Japanese poets

Otomo no Yakamochi Otomo or Ōtomo may refer to: People * Ōtomo Chikaie (1561–1641), daimyō * Ōtomo Chikasada (died 1570), samurai * Ōtomo no Kuronushi (9th century), poet * Ōtomo no Otomaro (731–809), samurai * Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume (c. 700–750) ...

and Lady Otomo no Sakanoue.

Scoring

*Singers: soprano, coloratura soprano, contralto, tenor, baritone, bass, 3 pantomime actors *Orchestra: Flute (= piccolo, basso, flauto dolce soprano), oboe, 2 clarinets (I = piccolo, alt saxophone; II = bass clarinet), bassoon, 1(= contrabassoon), 2 horns, trumpet, trombone, percussion 2 players, harp, celesta (= cembalo), piano I prepared (= piano II normal), electric guitar (= bass guitar) 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass. Duration = 90 minutes

Bibliography

*Baker's ''Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 7th edition, Schirmer books, A Division of Macmillan, Inc. New York. Maxwell MacMillan, Canada, Toronto, 1984. 8th edition, 1992. *''Contemporary Composers'', St. James Press, Chicago, London, 1992. *Kuzina, Olga: ''Nikolai Korndorf. Kompozitory Moskvy (Moscow’s Composers)'', 4th issue, Moscow, Kompozitor, 1994. pp. 142–165 (in Russian). *Guljanitskaja, Natalia: ''On the style of contemporary spiritual musical compositions'', Musykalnaya Arademi' No. 1, 1994. pp. 18–25 (in Russian). *Dubinets, Elena: ''In memory of Nikolai Korndorf'', Musykalnaya Arademia, 2002, No. 2 (see also the link below)

External links

Official website
from the Classical Archives
Canadian Music Centre
Multiple-language operas German-language operas Russian-language operas Operas Chamber operas 1994 operas Operas by Nikolai Korndorf Cultural depictions of Sappho