The opera “Siberia” by U. Giordano in the context of the composer’s creative work
Authors: Lyan Tszitao 
Published: June 2019

Formulation of the problem. The creative work of the bright representative of the Italian opera U. Giordano consists of eleven operas. Despite the fact that the composer is considered a bright representative of verismo, not all his operas belong to this direction. For example, in the late period of his creativity (1910–1920), U. Giordano departs from the traditions of verismo and aims his search for the comedy genre («La cena delle beffe», «Dinner with Jokes»), the genre of opera novels («The King»). But all the same, the main, repertoire operas (as early as «Mala Vita», «Marina», and the mature ones like «Andrea Chenier», «Fedora») are the quintessence of the tradition of verismo. The opera «Siberia» is also considered to be such. The emergence of new productions of the opera in the 21st century gives a reason to appeal to this opus and analyse it in terms of stability of the traits of the composing style of U. Giordano. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of the opera «Siberia» in the context of creativity by U. Giordano. Analysis of recent publications on the topic of the article. U. Giordano’s creative work is systematically presented in the study of M. Morini (1968), where he collected articles not only written by himself, but also by other researchers of the composer’s creative work. Today it is the most complete publication of his letters and reviews on the opera productions. Vincenzo Therenzio reflects on the basics of the style of U. Giordano, Giovanni Ugolini resorts to the analysis of the traditions of verismo in the creative work of the composer. Carmine Ruizzo’s research is devoted to the manifestations of verismo in the creative work of U. Giordano. In relation to creativity (general characteristics) of U. Giordano one should list the encyclopaedic articles and the book by Alan Mallach, which covers the path of the Italian opera on the border of the 20th – 21st centuries from verismo to modernism. Regarding the opera “Siberia”, we should mention the review article by M. Morini and the articles directly devoted to the productions in the «Helikon-opera». We do not find a detailed analysis of the score of the opera in any scientific sources. Statement of the main content of the article. The plot of the opera «Siberia» is the love story of the officer Vasyl and the courtesan Stefana, who, after Vasyl was arrested, follows him to Siberia. The pimp Hleb cannot quarrel the lovers, but after an unsuccessful escape the injured Stefana dies. This tragic story is presented by the composer and librettist (Illik) on the background of the Russian reality, which creates a certain context of the love line of the main heroes. And the interpretation of the plot, and the musical concept in general, corresponds to the guides of the opera creativity of U. Giordano. Thus, generalizing the observations of G. Marqezi, M. Morini, and V. Therenzio, one can determine the following features of the composer’s opera style, among which there is the theme of love in the centre of the plot, the ability to create bright and exciting portraits of the main characters, the «stylistic equilibrium» (V. Therenzio), the reliance on the traditions of the Italian musical theatre, the combination of the purity of the picture and expression, the inclusion of reminiscences, the severity of orchestration, the provision of the national character to the score (by incorporating the musical material of the region in which the action takes place). All of them are embodied in the opera «Siberia». The analysis of the main scenes of the opera “Siberia” with the participation of the protagonists – Stefana and Vasyl – is presented, and it is proved that this opera (along with «Fedora» and «Andrea Chenier») is the quintessence of the traditions of verismo. Conclusions. In the context of the creative work of U. Giordano, the opera «Siberia» takes up the prominent place. It, along with the operas of the mature style («Fedora», «Andrea Chenier»), embodies the typical features of the opera style of the composer. So, the images of the protagonists are vivid in their musical characteristics. In addition, the musical images of Vasyl and Stefana are presented by the composer in the development. The very Vasyl owns almost all the main motives of the opera, which often appear before the listener in a slightly transformed form. Often there is just a reminder of them with similar intonations and rhythm. It should be noted that the musical material characterizing the image of Vasyl, in its expressiveness and intonation wealth, is not inferior to the woman’s party of Stefana, in contrast to the “La Traviata” by G. Verdi, where the main emphasis is on the main character – Violet. As for the orchestration of the opera, in general, it has a strict character, although the composer includes the simulation of a characteristic instrument for the colour provision. Thus, the vivid contrast in the scene of Stefana’s death is a picture of folk feasts under the sounds of the balalaika (which in the orchestra is imitated by the mandolin). The instrument symbolizes that somewhere far away, life continues to go on its own. The orchestral score of the opera “Siberia” is distinguished by the transparency of the texture, most of the material is laid out in the string group and the group of the wooden brass instruments. The timbres of the copper wind instruments are rare, as well as the great dynamic nuances. The feature that gives the opera “Siberia” a similarity to the best examples of the Italian theatre is the intonation concept. For example, the typical resemblance to G. Verdi’s “La Traviata” is that all the musical material of this picture from the lives of ordinary people is permeated with household song and dance intonations and rhythms. They fill both the recitative episodes and the aria ones. If in “La Traviata” the main theme of Alfred is presented in a waltz manner, with a three-part size, the themes of the hero of the opera “Siberia” of Vasyl are described predominantly in four-part sizes (including 12/8), which is more attractive to the song-romance composition. The parallel with “La Traviata” is still that the hero Alfred had to fight not only with the public condemnation about the choice of his beloved woman who led an unworthy way of life but also with the personal condemnation from his father and family. Vasyl also struggled for his beloved woman, who was also a courtesan, but for him it was not so important what Stefana’s being was like, the problem was her financial dependence on another man. The prospect of further study of the topic. In the modern theatre (after a long oblivion) both the directors and performers return their interest to the opera “Siberia”, which makes it possible to analyse the composition by U. Giordano from the point of view of the performing analysis.