Opera Ruslan and Lyudmila Program Notes, Sheet Music and Recordings

Program Notes & Analysis

"Coachman's Music" That Birthed a Nation's Art

The 1842 premiere of Ruslan and Lyudmila was, by most accounts, a chaotic failure. The St. Petersburg audience, raised on the elegant, predictable forms of Italian opera, was utterly baffled. The libretto was a messy, five-act sprawl based on Alexander Pushkin's famously unstageable poem. The music was filled with "crude" folk harmonies, and the plot was a bizarre, episodic fairy tale. One aristocrat famously grumbled that it was nothing but "coachman's music." This insult was, in fact, the greatest compliment Glinka could have received. His first opera, A Life for the Tsar, had been patriotic, but Ruslan was profoundly Russian. Glinka had thrown down a gauntlet. He was no longer just imitating Italian forms; he was inventing a new musical language, one that would define his nation's art for the next century. The opera’s "failure" was, in reality, the birth of Russian classical music.

The Overture: A Perfect Beginning

Today, the Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila is one of the most famous orchestral pieces in the world. It is a brilliant, high-speed sonata-form movement that perfectly encapsulates the opera's spirit. It is a torrent of pure, joyful energy, propelled by a relentless string rhythm. The two main themes are taken directly from the opera: the first, a jubilant, folk-like tune, is Ruslan's theme, representing his heroic (if slightly bumbling) nature. The second, a graceful, falling melody, represents Lyudmila's love. The development section, however, gives a dark preview of the conflict, as a descending, menacing scale—the "magic" whole-tone music of the villain, Chernomor—briefly interrupts the celebration. It is a perfect, five-minute epic that sets the stage for the grand, magical adventure to come.

Glinka's "Whole-Tone" Magic

The single most important innovation in Ruslan is the sound Glinka invented for magic. To represent the evil, supernatural power of the dwarf Chernomor, Glinka needed a sound that was literally "unnatural." He found it by creating music based on the "whole-tone scale"—a scale made of only whole steps (e.g., C-D-E-F#-G#-A#-C), which has no "home" key and sounds disorienting, static, and rootless. When Chernomor appears, and when Lyudmila is in his enchanted, death-like sleep, this is the harmony we hear. It was a sound never before heard in Western music, and its effect was revolutionary. Decades later, French Impressionist composers, most notably Claude Debussy, would seize upon this very scale to create their own "dream-like" and ambiguous sound worlds. Glinka, in his quest to create a sound for a magic dwarf, had accidentally opened a portal to 20th-century music.

The "Russian" and the "Oriental"

Glinka’s great mission was to define a "Russian" sound. He built his opera on a fundamental contrast. The "good" characters—Ruslan, Lyudmila, and the Kievan court—are defined by music derived from the melodies and harmonies of Russian folk song. Their music is earthy, noble, and built on modal scales and simple, powerful rhythms. To represent the "exotic" or "other," Glinka essentially invented the genre of musical "Orientalism." For the Khazar prince Ratmir and his "Persian Chorus" in Naina's enchanted garden, Glinka wrote sinuous, chromatic melodies, used droning bass notes, and employed "spicy" harmonies. This musical-geographic divide (the "Russian" vs. the "Eastern") became a foundational concept for the next generation, most famously in Alexander Borodin’s opera Prince Igor, with its famous "Polovtsian Dances."

An Unwieldy Structure, A Glorious Score

It is true that Ruslan is a "dramaturgical disaster." The plot is an episodic, wandering quest with little character development. But this flaw is also its greatest strength. The opera is less a coherent drama and more of a "grand magical pageant," a series of magnificent "tableaux" that allowed Glinka to compose a string of perfect set-pieces. Glinka, who had studied in Italy, still wrote with bel canto brilliance. Lyudmila’s arias are dazzling displays of coloratura. Ratmir's aria (a "trouser role" for a contralto, a holdover from Mozart's era) is a piece of dark, "oriental" languor. The Act III "Persian Chorus" is a masterpiece of exotic sound. Even the opera's strangeness—like the Giant Head in Act II, or the non-singing role of Chernomor—contributes to its unique, folk-tale atmosphere. Glinka may have been a "dilettante" as a librettist and dramatist, but he was a supreme master as a musical architect.

The "Acorn" of Russian Music

The composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky would later declare that the entire "acorn" of Russian symphonic music was contained in Glinka's Kamarinskaya. If that is true, then the entire "acorn" of Russian opera is contained in Ruslan and Lyudmila. After its messy premiere, the opera became a "bible" for the generation that followed. The "Mighty Handful"—Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, Alexander Borodin, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov—adopted it as their foundational text. Rimsky-Korsakov, who would later re-orchestrate parts of the opera, built his entire career on Ruslan's model, creating a string of "fairy-tale" operas (Sadko, The Golden Cockerel, The Tale of Tsar Saltan) that are its direct spiritual descendants. Mussorgsky’s use of raw folk choruses in Boris Godunov and Borodin’s "oriental" epics are both unthinkable without Glinka. Even the great Franz Liszt, one of the few Western Europeans to "get it" early on, championed the opera and made brilliant piano transcriptions of its themes, spreading its fame abroad. Glinka's "coachman's music" had, in the end, driven the entire future of Russian art.

The Story of the Opera

Act I: The Abduction

In the grand banqueting hall of Svetozar, the Prince of Kiev, a feast is underway to celebrate the marriage of his daughter, Lyudmila, to the knight, Ruslan. Also present are Ruslan’s two rivals for Lyudmila’s hand: the passionate Khazar prince, Ratmir, and the cowardly Varangian warrior, Farlaf. A bard, Bayan, sings a prophecy: a shadow will fall upon their joy, but love will conquer all. Suddenly, the hall is plunged into darkness, a clap of thunder is heard, and everyone is frozen by a magic spell. When light returns, Lyudmila has vanished. Svetozar, in despair, promises her hand and half his kingdom to any man who can rescue her. Ruslan, Ratmir, and Farlaf all set off on the quest.

Act II: The Three Encounters

This act follows the three rivals. Ruslan finds a cave, home to the good, aged sorcerer Finn. Finn tells Ruslan that Lyudmila was abducted by the evil dwarf magician, Chernomor, whose power lies in his enormous, magical beard. Finn also warns Ruslan to beware the evil witch, Naina. Next, the cowardly Farlaf, seeking a shortcut, goes directly to Naina. She promises to help him defeat Ruslan and win Lyudmila. Ruslan, continuing his journey, comes to a misty, ancient battlefield. A giant, living, disembodied Head bars his path, guarding a magic sword. Ruslan, after a struggle, defeats the Head and takes the sword, which he learns is the only weapon capable of cutting Chernomor's beard.

Act III: Naina's Magical Castle

Naina's enchanted, "oriental" castle is a trap. She fills it with beautiful, seductive maidens (the "Persian Chorus") to derail the questing knights. The passionate Prince Ratmir is the first to be ensnared. He falls in love with the magic maidens and completely forgets his mission. Ruslan, too, is drawn into the enchanted garden and is almost trapped by the illusions. However, Finn, the good sorcerer, intervenes, breaking the castle's spell and freeing both Ruslan and a reluctant Ratmir from their magical diversions.

Act IV: Chernomor's Lair

Ruslan finally arrives at the magical, invisible palace of Chernomor. Lyudmila is there, a captive. She resists Chernomor's advances, mocking his non-singing, grotesque appearance. The dwarf, in a rage, uses his "whole-tone" magic to put her into a deep, enchanted, death-like sleep. At that moment, Ruslan arrives and challenges the dwarf. They battle, and Ruslan, using the magic sword from the battlefield, seizes Chernomor by his beard and cuts it off. The dwarf's power is broken, and his magic kingdom vanishes. Ruslan rushes to Lyudmila, but he cannot wake her from her magic slumber. He resolves to carry her, still sleeping, back to Kiev.

Act V: The Awakening in Kiev

Back in Kiev, Lyudmila still lies in her enchanted sleep, and no one can wake her. Taking advantage of Ruslan's brief absence, the cowardly Farlaf (with Naina's help) steals the sleeping princess, brings her to the palace, and claims he was the one who rescued her. Of course, he cannot break the spell either. Just as the court is in despair, Ruslan arrives. He touches Lyudmila's face with a magic ring, a gift from Finn. The spell is broken. Lyudmila awakens. Farlaf is exposed and begs for mercy, which is granted. The opera ends in a massive, joyous celebration, as the people of Kiev hail their heroes, Ruslan and Lyudmila, and their triumph over evil.