''Lolita'' () is an

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 two acts by composer

Rodion Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin ( rus, Родион Константинович Щедрин, , rədʲɪˈon kənstɐnʲˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ɕːɪˈdrʲin; born 16 December 1932) is a Soviet and Russian composer and pianist, winner of USSR State ...

. Composed in 1992, it uses a Russian language

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by the composer which is based on

Vladimir Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...

's 1955

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

of the same name, written in English. The opera premiered in 1994 at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

, Stockholm, using a Swedish language translation of the original libretto.

Composition history

''Lolita'' is Shchedrin's fourth work for the stage based on literary works by Russian writers. He had already been his own librettist in composing a film score and a ballet based on

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writte ...

'' (1972), an opera based on

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...

's ''

Dead Souls ''Dead Souls'' (russian: «Мёртвые души», ''Mjórtvyje dúshi'') is a novel by Nikolai Gogol, first published in 1842, and widely regarded as an exemplar of 19th-century Russian literature. The novel chronicles the travels and adv ...

'' (1976) and a ballet based on

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...

'' (1979).''Lolita''

Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden ('Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden') is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. Known also as the ...

2011 It was followed by ''Enchanted Wanderer'' in 2002, based on

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (russian: Никола́й Семёнович Леско́в; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique w ...

's 1873

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

''The Enchanted Wanderer'', and ''Boyarinya Morozova'' in 2006, based on texts from ''The Life of Protopope Avvakum'' and ''The Life of Boyarina Morozova''. In 2001 Shchedrin extracted "symphonic fragments" for orchestra from the opera score, which were published as ''Lolita-Serenade'', dedicated to

Mariss Jansons Mariss Ivars Georgs Jansons (14 January 1943 – 1 December 2019) was a Latvian conductor best known for his interpretations of Mahler, Strauss and Russian composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff and Shostakovich. During his lifetime he w ...

Performance history

The opera ''Lolita'' was commissioned by

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian cellist and conductor. He is considered by many to be the greatest cellist of the 20th century. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was wel ...

. It was first intended for the

Opéra Bastille The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern opera house in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President François Mitterrand's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris N ...

, the new opera house in Paris, inaugurated in 1989.Galina Stolyarova
A match made in music
, '' The St. Petersburg Times'' 31 October 2008 Instead, it was premiered on 14 December 1994 at the

, staged by Ann-Margret Petterson and conducted by Rostropovich. The performance ran four hours, and was considered well-staged but musically monotonous. Lasse Zilliacus had translated the work into Swedish.''Lolita'' (Opera)
vtheatre.net The first performance in Russian was on 12 May 2003 at the

Perm Opera and Ballet Theatre The Perm Tchaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre is an opera and ballet theatre in the city of Perm in Russia. It is one of the oldest theatres in the country, and it has remained a major musical centre during its history, in which many significant ...

, conducted by Valery Platonov. It was also given in 2004 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

at the Novaya Opera.Neil McGowan
''Lolita'' by R.Schedrin
expat.ru, 8 April 2004 The opera was nominated for Russia's Golden Mask award. In 2008 the second act of the opera was performed in concert at St. Petersburg's

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...

, conducted by

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (russian: Вале́рий Абиса́лович Ге́ргиев, ; os, Гергиты Абисалы фырт Валери, Gergity Abisaly fyrt Valeri; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conductor and opera company d ...

, together with Messiaen's '' L'ascension'' and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

's ''Four Notations'', as part of the Second New Horizons festival. The premiere of a German version in a translation of Ariane Csonka Comstock was given on 30 April 2011 at the opening night of the

Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden The Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden (International May Festival, IMF) is a theater festival in Wiesbaden, Germany. Established in the late 19th century after the Bayreuth Festival, the festival is one of the most distinguished internationa ...

in a production of the

, in the presence of the composer and his wife,

Maya Plisetskaya Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya (russian: link=no, Майя Михайловна Плисецкая; 20 November 1925 – 2 May 2015) was a Soviet and Russian ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet director, and actress. In post-Soviet times, she he ...

. It was staged by Konstanze Lauterbach, conducted by Wolfgang Ott, with Emma Pearson in the title role and Sébastien Soulès as Humbert. By agreement with the composer, the opera was shortened by a third.Peter P. Pachs
"In ungewöhnlicher Dichte: Deutsche Erstaufführung von Shchedrins ''Lolita'' in Wiesbaden
'' Neue Musikzeitung'' 1 May 2011 Volker Milch
Oper ''Lolita'' – Deutschlandpremiere bei den 115. Maifestspielen in Wiesbaden
''

Wiesbadener Tagblatt The ''Wiesbadener Tagblatt'' (also known as the WT) was a regional daily newspaper for the area in and around the state capital of Hesse, Wiesbaden in Germany. The newspaper was established in the 1840s by August Schellenberg under the name ''Wie ...

'' 1 May 2011 Sandra Trauner
Oper ''Lolita'' eröffnet Maifestspiele in Wiesbaden
dpa 1 May 2011 A workshop before the premiere, called ''Opernforum'' (Opera Forum), introduced the history and music of the work. ''Lolita'' was published by Schott; it is available in Russian, Swedish, English and German. Ariane Comstock translated it to English. The performance time is given as three hours.

Roles

Synopsis

''Lolita'' is the only staged opera after Nabokov's novel, which was written in English in the United States. The story of the "famous and infamous novel" is told by Humbert Humbert, a 37-year-old literary scholar, who becomes obsessed and sexually involved with his landlady's daughter Lolita, who is 12 years old at the beginning of the story. Shchedrin called the novel "a wonderful thriller begging to be transformed into an opera". He commented further: "It feels like a nostalgia for beauty; it is a symbol, really. ... For me personally, Lolita as a character is less of a human being but rather an archetype, a symbol of beauty but a fleeting beauty." He kept most of the plot, but moved the beginning to a court where Humbert is sentenced. The publisher summarizes: "Humbert Humbert, professor of literature and sophisticate, is obsessed with 12-year-old fatherless Lolita. He seduces the girl and lives with her for some time after marrying pro forma her mother (who dies shortly after). Three years after the end of their increasingly fraught relationship, Humbert meets Lolita again, now married to another man and expecting his baby. Humbert's jealousy, however, is not directed towards Lolita or her husband, but towards the Mephistophelian film director Quilty, who has used Lolita for porn films. Humbert takes bloody revenge on Quilty – and is sentenced to death in the electric chair." A review of the German premiere has more details: Humbert marries Charlotte, Lolita's mother, to get closer to Lolita. When Charlotte detects Humbert's passion for her daughter, she panics and dies in a car accident. Humbert keeps her death a secret to Lolita and travels with her through the United States. The girl escapes to an affair with Quilty, who abuses her for porn films and is killed by Humbert. Humbert dies in prison; Lolita, again in a new affair, dies giving birth. Lolita's death was in the novel, but originally not in the opera until the German premiere.

Music

The opera is scored for a large orchestra consisting of 4

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s (3rd doubling

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

, 4th doubling

piccolo The piccolo ( ; Italian for 'small') is a half-size flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" the modern piccolo has similar fingerings as the standard transverse flute, but the so ...

), 2

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

English horn The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...

, 3

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

s (3rd doubling

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...

), 2

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

contrabassoon The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower. Its technique is similar to its smaller cousin, with a few notable differences. Differences from the bassoon The reed is consi ...

, 4

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s, 3

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

s, 3

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

s, bass

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

, a

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

section requiring 3 players (instruments include a.o. glass chimes, siren,

wind chime Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rod ...

tin whistle The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is a type of fipple flute, putting it in the same class as the recorder, Native American flute, and other woodwind instruments that meet such criteria. ...

and xylophone),

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...

and

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

. In addition to several minor roles, the opera requires a

boys' choir A boys' choir is a choir primarily made up of choirboys who have yet to begin puberty or are in the early to middle stages of puberty and so retain their more highly pitched childhood voice type. Members of a boys' choir are technically known as '' ...

and a "choir of judges" who all sing bass. The music of ''Lolita-Serenade'', which is part of the opera, has been compared to that of

Alban Berg Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...

's ''

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

'':

Despite the darkness and violence – Lolita is, after all, the story of a predatory, obsessed, self-deluded murderer and the lost childhood and early death of an orphaned 13-year-old girl – Shchedrin's ''Lolita Serenade'' has many moments of affecting tenderness, from the gently intertwining flute tendrils that begin it to the sweetly sad epilogue that ends the piece. The scoring is striking and memorable, especially in the use of spare, unadorned harpsichord figures to impart a sense of fragility and lost innocence. Anyone who (as I do) responds to Berg's ''Lulu Suite'' should hear this remarkable composition, which is drawn from the same well.Shchedrin: ''Lolita Serenade''; ''Anna Karenina''; Orchestra Concerto 1; 2 Tangos
goliath.ecnext.com 1 January 2003

The opera begins with only flutes and cellos playing, symbolizing the difference in age of the protagonists. The scene opens with Humbert accusing himself at a court. A "choir of judges", all "Russian" basses reminiscent of the chant in the

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

calls him a "beast". Shchedrin's music has been termed

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

for extended parts of the opera, reflecting the psyche of the protagonists with compassion, also some comic characters such as two singing Advertising Girls. In a scene between Humbert and Lolita reminiscent of ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

'', Shchedrin quotes

Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...

. In the end Humbert stammers syllables of Lolita's name against a boys' choir chanting ''Ora pro nobis'' (Pray for us).

References

External links

*Jörn Florian Fuchs
Lolita stirbt bei den Maifestspielen
''

Wiener Zeitung ''Wiener Zeitung'' is an Austrian newspaper. It is one of the oldest, still published newspapers in the world. It is the official publication used by the Government of the Republic of Austria for legally-required announcements, such as company r ...

'' 6 May 2011 *Bryan Karetnyk
Staging ''Lolita'' (and ‘Saving’ Humbert): Nabokov, Shchedrin and the Art of Adaptation
Slavonic and East European Review, JSTOR *Birgit Schmidt
Shchedrins Oper Lolita: Beeindruckende Deutschlandpremiere
suite101.de 1 May 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lolita Operas by Rodion Shchedrin Russian-language operas Swedish-language operas English-language operas German-language operas 1994 operas Operas based on novels Operas Music commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich