The Mandarin's Son (Сын мандарина in Cyrillic; Syn mandarina in transliteration) is comic opera in one act by César Cui, composed in 1859. The libretto, which includes spoken dialogue, was written by V.A. Krylov.
No small influence for this work came from the French composer Daniel Auber, particularly his Le cheval de bronze, which had a similar setting, and was being performed in Saint Petersburg at the time.
Cui dedicated this opera to his brid...
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The Mandarin's Son (Сын мандарина in Cyrillic; Syn mandarina in transliteration) is comic opera in one act by César Cui, composed in 1859. The libretto, which includes spoken dialogue, was written by V.A. Krylov.
No small influence for this work came from the French composer Daniel Auber, particularly his Le cheval de bronze, which had a similar setting, and was being performed in Saint Petersburg at the time.
Cui dedicated this opera to his bride, Mal'vina Bamberg. (They had married the previous year.) The orchestration is credited to Mily Balakirev.
The first performance of The Mandarin's Son was "domestic," so to speak. It occurred on 22 February 1859 at the apartment of Cui's in-laws in Saint Petersburg, with piano accompaniment. The cast for this performance included Mussorgsky in the role of the Mandarin and Mal'vina as the Innkeeper's daughter.
The first public performance was given on 7 December 1878 in St. Petersburg, by the Клуб художников [Artists' Club]. Thereafter it...
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