Composer

:

Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomizhsky

Genre

:

Opera

Style

:

Opera

Compose Date

:

1872

Average_duration

:

76:05

"The Stone Guest" is an opera composed by Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomizhsky in 1872. The plot is based on the final scene of Alexander Pushkin's play "The Stone Guest," which tells the story of Don Juan, a notorious womanizer who seduces and abandons women. In the final scene, Don Juan invites the statue of the man he killed to dinner, and the statue comes to life and drags Don Juan to hell. The opera is composed of three movements, each of which represents a different stage in Don Juan's downfall. The first movement, "The Invitation," begins with Don Juan inviting the statue to dinner. The statue accepts, and Don Juan begins to feel uneasy. The second movement, "The Dinner," takes place during the meal, as Don Juan tries to charm the statue and distract himself from his growing fear. The final movement, "The Punishment," sees the statue come to life and drag Don Juan to hell. The music of "The Stone Guest" is characterized by its use of leitmotifs, or recurring musical themes that represent different characters or ideas. The leitmotif for Don Juan is a lively, seductive melody, while the leitmotif for the statue is a slow, ominous theme. The opera also features a chorus, which represents the townspeople who are horrified by Don Juan's behavior. "The Stone Guest" premiered on February 16, 1872, at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. The opera was not well-received by critics, who found it too experimental and unconventional. However, it has since become recognized as a groundbreaking work that paved the way for modernist opera.

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