Pleased, the Tsar offers the Astrologer a reward of his choosing. After a disappointing meeting with his confidant Polkan (Kevin Burdette) and the council as to how to resolve the imminent danger, the Astrologer reappears with a magic Golden Cockerel (sung from the pit by soprano Kasia Borowiec), which promises to warn the kingdom of an oncoming attack. The action then jumps to the kingdom of Tsar Dodon (Tim Mix), an infantile ruler whose kingdom is threatened by invasion from the neighboring Shemakha.

The prologue introduces an Astronomer (English tenor Barry Banks), who tells the audiences of the precarious story about to take place. The plot itself is told as a story within a story. However, the Tsar depicted in “The Golden Cockerel” isn’t necessarily more evil or radical than he is an idiot ― and it was this allegory that seemed to resonate the most with much of the Santa Fe audience. In his program notes, Curran states that at its 1909 premiere, the allegories between the show and the nation were “too provocative” and that the work “banned instantly” by the government in question. Rimsky-Korsakov himself was a political advocate in the early-twentieth century, who fought for freedom of speech without the threat of capital punishment. And though the show itself features some unnervingly resonant political themes, “ The Golden Cockerel” is mostly a slapstick comedy ― or else that’s how Curran sees it. Years ago, when Santa Fe Opera sought to organize its 2017 season, surely the organizers couldn’t realize just how relatable it would be to American audiences today. On August 3, 2017, the Santa Fe Opera presented Rimsky-Korsakov’s seldom-performed “ The Golden Cockerel ,” marking its SFO debut. At the podium was conductor Emmanuel Villaume, paired with famed English director Paul Curran. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov probably knew that a tale of an appallingly incompetent royal would still resonate with audiences almost 108 years after its Moscow premiere.

Santa fe opera 2017