The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya (Russian: Сказание о невидимом граде Китеже и деве Февронии, Skazaniye o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii) is an opera in four acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on a combination of two Russian legends: that of St. Fevroniya of Murom, and the city of Kitezh, which became invisible when attacked by the Tatars. The opera was completed in 1905, and the premiere performance took place at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, on February 7, 1907.

Rimsky-Korsakov and Belsky first became interested in writing an opera on the Kitezh legend during the winter of 1898-1899, while they were working on the libretto to The Tale of Tsar Saltan. The idea of combining the legend of St. Fevroniya into the story was part of the project from the beginning. The project remained in the minds of both composer and the librettist, but would have to wait until 1903 until serious work could begin. During the period between 1898 and the beginning of 1903, the composer was occupied with the composition of the operas The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Servilia, Kashchey the Immortal and Pan Voyevoda. In his My Musical Life, Rimsky-Korsakov mentions "In the midst of work on Pan Voyevoda Belsky and I pondered intensively the subject of The Tale of the Invisible City of Kityezh and of the Maiden Fyevroniya." Rimsky-Korsakov had written a rough draft of the first act by the end of summer, and Belsky had completed the libretto by spring. By summer of 1904, Rimsky-Korsakov had finished the composition of the second tableau of Act III and was orchestrating the opera. During the summer of 1905, while writing his Principles of Orchestration, Rimsky-Korsakov also polished the orchestral score to Kitezh, and made a clean final copy to send to the printers.

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