Roles
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast St. Petersburg 6 December 1876 (Conductor: Eduard Nápravník |
|---|---|---|
| Vakula, a smith | tenor | Fyodor Komissarzhevsky |
| Solokha, Vakula's mother, a witch | mezzo-soprano | Anna Bichurina |
| A devil from Hell, a fantastic character | bass | Ivan Melnikov |
| Chub, an elderly Cossack | bass | I. Matchinsky |
| Oksana, Chub's daughter | soprano | Wilhelmina Raab |
| Pan Golova | bass | Osip Petrov |
| Panas, Chub's crony | tenor | V. Vasiliev |
| Schoolmaster | tenor | N. von Derviz |
| His Highness | bass | Fyodor Stravinsky |
| Master of Ceremonies | bass | |
| Attendant | tenor | Pavel Dyuzhikov |
| Old Cossack | bass | |
| Wood Goblin | bass | |
| Chorus, silent roles: Lads, lasses, elders, gusli-players, rusalki, wood-sprites, echo, spirits, court ladies and gentlemen, Zaporozhtsï | ||
The stage history of the opera was short. The opera was given 18 times over several seasons at the Mariinsky Theatre, but Tchaikovsky did not permit it to be performed at other theatres. Dissatisfied with the opera, Tchaikovsky revised it in 1885 as Cherevichki (The Slippers).
Read more about this topic: Vakula The Smith
Famous quotes containing the word roles:
“There is a striking dichotomy between the behavior of many women in their lives at work and in their lives as mothers. Many of the same women who are battling stereotypes on the job, who are up against unspoken assumptions about the roles of men and women, seem to accept—and in their acceptance seem to reinforce—these roles at home with both their sons and their daughters.”
—Ellen Lewis (20th century)
“It was always the work that was the gyroscope in my life. I don’t know who could have lived with me. As an architect you’re absolutely devoured. A woman’s cast in a lot of roles and a man isn’t. I couldn’t be an architect and be a wife and mother.”
—Eleanore Kendall Pettersen (b. 1916)
“Productive collaborations between family and school, therefore, will demand that parents and teachers recognize the critical importance of each other’s participation in the life of the child. This mutuality of knowledge, understanding, and empathy comes not only with a recognition of the child as the central purpose for the collaboration but also with a recognition of the need to maintain roles and relationships with children that are comprehensive, dynamic, and differentiated.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)