Mavra

Synopsis#

:Place: Russian village :Time: Circa 1840 Parasha is in love with her neighbour, Vassili, a young hussar, but they have difficulty in meeting. After they sing a duet, Vassili leaves, and then Parasha’s mother enters. She is lamenting the difficulty of finding a new maid-servant after their prior maid-servant, Thecla, died. The mother orders her daughter to find a new maid-servant. Parasha comes up with a scheme to smuggle Vassili into her house disguised as Mavra, a female maid-servant. The ruse initially succeeds, and Parasha and Vassili are happy at being under the same roof. Parasha and her mother go out for a walk. At one moment, Vassili shaves. The ladies return, disconcerted to see their new maid-servant shaving. Vassili escapes out the window, her mother faints, the next door neighbour rushes in to try to help, and Parasha laments the loss of her young love.

Numbers#

#Overture #Parasha’s song #Hussar’s gypsy song #Dialogue #The mother’s song #Dialogue #Duet #Dialogue #Quartet #Dialogue #Duet #Dialogue #Mavra’s song #Coda

Recordings#

• Columbia 72609: Susan Belinck, Mary Simmons, Patricia Rideout, Stanley Kolk; CBC Symphony Orchestra; Igor Stravinsky, conductor
• Decca: Joan Carlyle, Helen Watts, Monica Sinclair, Kenneth Macdonald; L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; Ernest Ansermet, conductor
• Chandos CHA 9488: Tatyana Kravtsova, Olga Korzhenskaya, Olga Markova-Mikhailenko, Alexei Martynov; Netherlands Wind Ensemble; Thierry Fischer, conductor
• BMC 118: Maria Fontosh, Ludmila Schemtschuk, Lili Paasikivi, Valerij Serkin; German Youth Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony; Péter Eötvös, conductor

External links#

• Scholten, Jaroen. 1999. “Mavra”. Retrieved January 27, 2006.
• Boosey & Hawkes Opera. “Mavra”. Retrieved January 27, 2006.