Mlada (Rimsky-Korsakov)
| Mlada | |
|---|---|
| Opera-ballet by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov | |
Fyodor Stravinsky as Mstivoy in the premiere | |
| Native title | Russian: Млада |
| Librettist | Viktor Krylov |
| Language | Russian |
| Premiere | 1892 Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg |
Mlada (Russian: Млада, romanized: Mláda ⓘ) is an opera-ballet in four acts, composed between 1889 and 1890 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, to a libretto by Viktor Krylov that was originally employed for an aborted project of the same name from 1872.
In the middle of Mlada, a fantasy tale about ancient pagan Slavs, Cleopatra emerges in a scene that exudes sensuality. Rimsky-Korsakov said "Among my musical impressions of Paris [at the World Exhibition, summer 1889] I reflect on music in Hungarian and Algerian cafes. The virtuoso playing of a Hungarian orchestra on tsevnitsas (Pan flutes) gave me the idea of introducing this ancient instrument... during the dances at Cleopatra's. In an Algerian cafe, I was attracted to the beat of a large drum... This effect I also borrowed for the scene of Cleopatra."