2.2. Opera is always on modern lines active words

1. ardent [‘Rdqnt]	горячий, пылкий
2. attitude [‘xtItjud]	позиция, отношение
3. chimes pl [tSQImz]	колокола, подбор колоколов, перезвон
4. cunning [‘kAnIN]	хитрый, коварный
5. dubious [‘djHbjqs]	сомнительный, подозрительный
6. gloomy [‘glHmI]	мрачный, угрюмый, печальный, хмурый
7. graciously [‘greISqslI]	милостливо
8. hut	хижина, лачуга
9. light up	оживляться, загораться
10. mainstay [,meIn’steI]	главная поддержка, опора, оплот
11. match	подходить, соответствовать
12. melt	таять
13. oldbeliever	староверец
14. partial [‘pRSql]	пристрастный
15. portray [pO: ’treI]	изображать, описывать
16. precisely [pri’sQIslI]	точно, именно, совершенно верно
17. production	постановка
18. prophet [‘prOfIt]	пророк, предсказатель
19. ruthlessness [‘rHTlIsnIs]	безжалостность, жестокость
20. sacred [‘seIkrId]	священный, святой
21. scenery [‘sJnqrI]	декорации
22. score [skL]	партитура
23. soverein [‘sOvrIn]	монарх, повелитель
24. stage-management	режиссура
25. statement	изложение, формулировка
26. succulent [‘sAkjulqnt]	сочный
27. suffering	страдание
28. topical [‘tOpIkql]	актуальный, животрепещущий
29. top-notch	наивысшая точка
30. vain [vein]	тщетный, суетный, показной, тщеславный

Before you read the text

1. Review the three forms of the following irregular verbs.

burn – burnt – burnt

forgive – forgave – forgiven

ring – rang – rung

fall – fell – fa1len

light – lit – lit

2. Practise aloud.

conduct – conductor, produce – production, suffer – suffering, compose – composer, believe – believer, rule – ruler, state – statement, discover – discovery, listen – listener, partial – partiality, melodious – melodiousness, expressive –expressiveness; like – dislike; craft – crafty, topic – topical, truth – truthful, spirit – spiritual; gracious – graciously, condition – conditional – conditionally, symbol – symbolical – symbolically, drama – dramatical – dramatically, wonder – wonderful – wonderfully, precise – precisely; like – unlike

3. Pronounce correctly.

premiere, modern, opera, aria, address, party, manner, melody, sympathy, ambition, monastery, group, innovation, metaphor, hero, chorus, soloist, detail, intonation, conflict, elegance, conception, author, prophet, conceptualize, note, improvise, portray, aggressive, orchestral, elegant, harmonious, ascetic, realistic, pretentious

4. Read the sentences and translate them paying special attention to the italicized words.

1. Our seats are in the first right-hand box. 2. He addresses his poetry to his beloved Mary. 3. The work consists of three parts. 4. Stradivari was the most crafty of all Amati's pupils. 5. This is a book of wise thoughts. 6. The people did not like his “overseas” manners. 7. These were the carriers of sacred faith. 8. The way he did it can't be justified. 9. She burnt the old papers. 10. The rulers of Byzantium greatly admired organs. 11. The playing of the orchestra is thought-out, lined and polished. 12. The aria is superb. 13. On the stage we see an old monastery. 14. The production turned out to be dull.

5. Translate into Russian analysing the Possessive Case of the nouns.

1. The aria about Russia's sufferings is the high point of the opera. 2. The composer's idea is incarnated truthfully. 3. Maestro Rostropovich’s statements were fulfilled exactly. 4. Surab Sotkilava in the title role was the рrоducеr’s discovery. 5. He disliked the production's conception. 6. I was deeply moved by Susanin's last aria. 7. The little balalaika can do justice to Liszt's virtuoso “Hungarian Rhapsody”, Chopin's waltzes and so on. 8. On his accordion he played Bach's “Toccata”, originally written for the organ. 9. On Yakupov's initiative, the college was transformed into a соnservatory. 10. Glinka's name is sacred in Russian art and culture.

6. Look through text A and tell in a few words what it is about.

7. Read text A carefully.

TEXT A

“KHOVANSHCHINA” PREMIERE AT THE BOLSHOI

Mstislav Rostropovich, the conductor of the new production of “Khovanshchina” at the Bolshoi Theater says: “This is a modern opera. Shaklovity's aria about Russia's sufferings may be sung, addressing the government's box”. Modest Moussorgsky, the composer of the opera's text and music, said the same in the 19th century.

The composer's score consists of three forces. The first is the Russian boyars and their mainstay “streltzy” (soldiers). The second force is the party of the sovereign with young Peter. The first among them, Vasily Golitsyn, is cunning, wise and crafty. The people dislike him, his “overseas” manners. And the third force consists of oldbelievers (Raskolniki), people of high spirit and sacred faith. This is how Moussorgsky hears them all. Only the Raskolniki Dosifei and Marfa have been honored with a “living melody” which is “conceptualized and justified”, as Moussorgsky called it.

There is no doubt about the composer's sympathies for the oldbelievers. They don't sing from some foreign voice, their hearts are free from ruthlessness and vain ambitions. They must end their lives by burning themselves in a small monastery. At the same time the streltsy who are aggressive and always drunk are graciously forgiven. Can this be anything but an eternal Russian picture? What are the rulers afraid of? They are afraid of people who are honest and thinking.

The Bolshoi Theater followed Maestro Rostropovich's statements and made the opera modern and topical. There is not a single dubious note, everything is thought-out, lined and polished. The beauty of the sound is superb: each orchestral group is heard, the string instruments sing, the wind instruments melt, the chimes ring, the Russian melody spreads out. Everything is elegant, harmonious, charming. Teimuraz Murvanidse, the artist, did his best in the field of expressive innovations. He has determined his part of the production conditionally and symbolically. As we look at the stage we see a grey monastery and gloomy izbas (huts), the metaphor of Russia.

The singers were top-notch. The best of Moussorgsky was played and sung by his main hero – the people, the chorus. The soloists sang dramatically, pronouncing every sound and word with details. Vasily Golitsyn – Zurab Sotkilava is the opera's discovery. He found in every aria, in every melodious moment a truthful intonation.

Everyone worked wonderfully well and each one succeeded in everything in his own way. But the ascetic scenery conflicted with the succulent stage-management and the realistic singing did not match the orchestral elegance. The opera turned to be long, dull and pretentious. Composer Modest Moussorgsky fell out of the production's conception.

“Author!” cries the soul of a spectator, of a listener. He is delighted by separate sounds, but not lit up by the spiritual fire of the conductor and the singers. There is no expressly pronounced attitude of the author. Modest Moussorgsky was precisely such an author and thinker. He is partial and he is not ashamed of his partiality. He hates the wild horde of the streltsy, he loves the prophet Marfa, the ardent Dosifei, ascetic Raskolniki, their improvised free speech with its melodiousness and expressiveness.

The authors of the production, unlike the composer of the opera, show but do not convince, portray but do not love.