Yaroslav Mudriy

Yaroslav Mudriy (English: Yaroslav the Wise) is an opera in eight scenes, comprised in three acts, by the Ukrainian composer Heorhiy Maiboroda, written in 1973 and premiered in 1975. The composer himself adapted the libretto from a dramatic poem by Ivan Kocherga.

Conceived on a grand scale, and written in a straightforward diatonic style, the opera evokes comparisons (not entirely in its favour) to Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and (especially in its last two scenes) Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky.

11th century Kiev. Yaroslav is Great Prince of the Kievan Rus', married to the Swedish princess Ingigerda. The episodic plot of the opera - which contains a number of perplexing coincidences and bewildering changes of character by the leading roles, and scarcely testifies overall to the hero's wisdom - deals with Yaroslav's attempts to govern despite the destabilising influences of the town of Novgorod, the Viking Varangians, and the invading Pechenegs. Many of the characters are actual historical personages.

The palace. The scribe Sylvestr supervises his pupils, including Mykyta who is in fact the son of Kosnyatyn, the governor of Novgorod, imprisoned by Yaroslav. Both Mykyta and the visiting Harald of Norway are struck by the beauty of Yaroslav's daughter, Elizaveta; Mykyta sets aside his intention of assassinating Yaroslav.

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