SEEDS KOTCO
Opera in five acts (seven scenes)
Libretto by V. Kataev and S. Prokofiev
Characters:
Semyon Kotko, demobilized soldier Mother Seeds Frosya, Sister Seeds Remenyuk, chairman of the village council and commander Partisan detachment Tkachenko, a former sergeant-major Khivrya, his wife Sofya, the daughter of Tkachenko Tsarev the sailor Lyubka, the bride of Tsarev Ivasenko, the old man Mykola, the son of Ivasenko Worker, he is a landowner Klembovsky Von Virchow, Lieutenant of the German Army Interpreter 1st old man 2nd old man 1st woman 2-nd woman 3rd woman 1st Haidamak 2nd Haidamak 1st peer 2nd peer Guy Bandura player | Tenor Mezzo soprano Mezzo soprano Bass Bass Mezzo soprano Soprano Baritone Soprano Bass Tenor Tenor Baritone-bass Tenor Bass Bass Soprano Soprano Mezzo soprano Bass Tenor Baritone Tenor Bass Baritone |
Peasants, partisans, Haidamaks, Red Army men, White Guards.
The action takes place in 1918 in Ukraine.
HISTORY OF CREATION
The plot of the opera is borrowed from V. Kataev’s novel “I am the son of the working people” (1937), telling about the events of the civil war in Ukraine, about the destiny of the poor peasant Semen Kotko, who, defending his share, went to battle for the power of the Soviets. Libretto Prokofiev wrote together with Kataev. It was based on prosaic dialogues of the story. Among the few poetic texts of “Zapovit” T. Shevchenko, a comic folk song “And noisy and buzzing”, ritual wedding choirs.
The Ukrainian flavor of Kataev’s prose resurrected in Prokofiev’s memory the unforgettable impressions of his childhood spent in Sontsovka (Donbass). It is no accident that he began composing the opera from the second picture of the first act – a meeting between Semyon and his fellow villagers. Later, Prokofiev parted the framework of the historical and everyday story, sated with a lyrical and psychological content. Again scenes of love meetings were created; The events connected with the devastation of the village by the Germans and Haidamaks became the dramatic culmination of the opera.
Work on her clavier lasted from March to June 1939. In the summer of the same year negotiations were held on the production of the opera at the Theater. Stanislavsky in Moscow. In the autumn the score was completed. The premiere took place on June 23, 1940.