[Stravinsky, Igor. (1882–1971)] [Ballets Russes]
MAVRA - 1922 Ballets Russes à l'Opéra Premiere Programs
Original souvenir program from the May–June 1922 season of the Ballets Russes, with program insert dated June 13, 1922. The cover features a watercolor by Natalie Gotcharova of a costume for Le Mariage de la Belle au Bois Dormant. The contents include photographs of La Nijinska, Igor Stravinsky, and Vera Trefilova, Lubov Tchernicheva and others; color costume and set designs by Gontcharova, Michel Larionow, and others; and several pages of advertisements. The dated insert lists the performers for the works performed on June 13: Le Sacre du Printemps, Stravinsky's one-act opera Mavra (described as the "Creation"), Le Mariage de la Belle au Bois Dormant (described as the "Creation a Paris"), and Contes de Fées. 36 pp. Some very light edge wear; toning to the insert; overall in very fine condition. 9.5 x 12.5 inches (24.3 x 31.7 cm).Together with a second concert program insert, dated May 29, 1922, listing Russian songs and arias by Glinka, Tchaikovsky, and Dargomyzhsky, followed by a chamber performance of Mavra with the composer at the piano. This performance was apparently a preview of the one-act opera buffa, which was premiered on June 13. Single-sheet, folded, with some soiling on the verso and toning; overall fine. 13 x 10 inches (33 x 25 cm).
Mavra is a one-act opera buffa composed by Igor Stravinsky, considered one of the earliest works of his 'neo-classical' period. The libretto of the opera, by Boris Kochno, is based on Alexander Pushkin's The Little House in Kolomna. The opera has been characterised as both an homage to Russian writers, and a satire of bourgeois manners and the Romeo and Juliet subgenre of romance. Philip Truman has also described the music as satirising 19th-century comic opera. Mavra premiered in Paris on 3 June 1922, staged under the auspices of Sergei Diaghilev, with Oda Slobdoskaya, Zoïa Rosovska and Bélina Skoupevski. The opera was a failure at the premiere, partly because the large space of the Paris Opéra overwhelmed the small scale of the opera. (15589)
Program, unsigned Dance