scholarly journals Little-known forerunner of «Turandot» of Giacomo Puccini – «Turanda» of Antonio Bazzini

Author(s):  
Yu Wang

Тhe image of Turandot that has almost the greatest number of interpretations in a variety of genres, particularly, in opera, ushered in the masterpiece of G. Puccini. Still, rather little-known remain over ten of her opera forerunners among which a special place belongs to the opera of the king of verismo – the well-known violin virtuoso, composer, social-cultural figure, professor of Milano conservatoire Antonio Bazzini, in whose class G. Puccini was a student. His only opera ―Turanda‖ of 1867 became the subject of the study in this article whose objective is to outline the imagologeme of the cruel princess character in the interpretation of A. Bazzini. Using the imagologic methodologies oriented toward all-round outlining of the Other – particularly in the context of the oriental themes, the author proceeds from the comparative analysis that gives ground for determination of the common and distinctive traits in the interpretation of the heroine character in the context of the Italian and general European cultural paradigm. Created almost 100 years after Carlo Gozzi’s fiaba and 50 years before G. Puccini’s ―Turandot‖ A. Bazzini finds new unexpected dimensions of the work on such theme in the opera genre. Departing from the elements of commedia dell’arte that are the cornerstones in Gozzi’s favola, Bazzini, though staying in the sphere of the fairytale plot defines the genre of his opera as the ―Asian fantasy‖, gravitating despite the decorative-harem and state-imperial image of the Orient to the principles of the lyrical opera French models and looking at the lyrical drama of V. Bellini. The main lady character is the type of the femme fatale, who in the course of unwinding of the dramatic action acquires some sentimental traits, reinvents herself from the princess-killer to the loving lady. Bazzini’s eclecticism was manifested in the departure from the Chinese content and extension of the geocultural boundaries: the action takes place in Persia (Turandot’s ancestral homeland, whose combined prototype image is described in the poem of Nizami ―Seven Beauties‖), Prince Calaf becomes the Indian Prince Nadir, preserving the role of the lyrical-dramatic hero. Bazzinin refuses from the masks and instead brings in the new bright character – magician Ormut who represents the evil forces, for he is hopelessly in love with Turandot, inspires her to killings with the aid of sorcery. The exalted mystical-orgiastic scene of worshipping Ahriman is one of the best in the presentation of the spectacular-theatrical exotica. And though over a dozen of composers-romanticists attempted to adapt the character of Turandot, the heroine found her optimal embodiment in the aura of the high verism, one of the steps on the way to which can be regarded ―Turanda‖ of A. Bazzini.

2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
HATEM ZGHAL

This study consists in a commentary on some passages from Avicenna, which deal with the category of the relative. The commentary points out the promotion of the relative to the role of an exclusive determining factor. An attempt is made here to show how Avicenna tries to detach the relative accident from its subject, in order to transform it into the exclusive determining factor of a pure thingness. The relative determination of this thingness must be able to receive specifications, which may extend as far as the infimae species. These specifications are obtained by the consideration of the other attributes of the subject of the relative attribution, which are henceforth no more than the “modes of advent” of the relation.


Author(s):  
Vladislava Igorevna Makeeva

This article describes the Ancient Greek mythological characters who were attributed with murdering children: Lamia (Λάμια), Mormo (μορμώ) and Gello (γελλώ).The ssuperstitions associated with these demons remain in Greece to this day, although their images have undergone certain transformation. The object of this research is the mythological representations of the Ancient Greeks, while the subject is demons who murdered children. The goal of this article is to determine the role of children's horror stories in life of the Ancient Greek society. The author reviews the facts testifying to the existence of characters as Lamia, Mormo, Gello and Empusa in the Greek and Roman texts, as well gives characteristics to their images based on the comparative analysis. The conducted analysis reveals the common traits of the demons who murdered children: frightening appearance, combination of human and animal traits, ability to transform, identification with Hecate, as well as the story of the failed motherhood underlying the history of emergence of the demon. The key functions of these mythological characters consisted in explanation of the sudden infant and maternal mortality typical to the ancient times, as well as teaching children and adults a lesson. The first could be frightened with such stories, and the latter had to learn from the tale that demonstrates the harm of reckless following the temptations or refusal of fulfilling the prescribed social roles, socially acceptable behavior.


Author(s):  
Hui Zhang

The subject of this research is the image of Boris Godunov viewed in three different aspects in the eponymous drama by A. S. Pushkin and in the opera by M. P. Mussorgsky. The goal consist in description of multifacetedness and complexity of image of the Tsar, as well as his main traits in representation of the poet and the composer, which helps the performers in staging the opera “Boris Godunov”. A comparative analysis of drama and opera is conducted in accordance with the tree main categories: philosophical-aesthetic foundation, psychological portrait, peculiarities of social environment and place of the hero therein. The main conclusions consist in determination of the important sides of possible interpretation of the image of Tsar as: 1) basic philosophical idea that underlies the entire play, and thus defines the role of Godunov in the artistic concept of stage director and actor; 2) key psychological traits that set the emotional tone for the image of Tsar Boris Godunov; 3) nature and specificity of relations between the protagonist and other characters. The scientific novelty of this article is defined by an attempt to determine the key trends in creating an artistic image of the hero by means of theoretical analysis of representations on protagonist in the drama by A. S. Pushkin and opera by M. P. Mussorgsky. The author believes that the range of qualities and traits imposed by these prominent upon Boris Godunov would help the novice actors to find the key to their unique interpretation of this character.


Author(s):  
Daria Khokhlova

The object of this research is the plot of D. D. Shostakovich’s ballet “The Limpid Stream”. The subject is the interpretation of this plot in the versions of F. G Lopukhov (1935) and A. O. Ratmansky (2003), as well as peer review on these spectacles. The goal of this work consists in determination of the crucial for the concepts of ballet masters differences of libretto (as a literary foundation of the plot) in the three versions of the ballet, and comparison of perception of the plot in the year of its first staging and at the present. The considered problematic required application of historical approach – attraction of the materials and articles for the period of 1935-1936. The historiographical analysis allowed translating and examining one of the most recent peer reviews on the spectacle – the English-language reviews on the “Limpid Stream” of Ratmansky, presented on the London tour of Bolshoi Theatre in August 2019. The article also utilizes practical experience of author’s work with Ratmansky and participation in the aforementioned tours (performing the role of Zina).The main tool for solution of the set problem became the comparative analysis of the varieties of libretto (authors – Lopukhov and Piotrovsky) of the three versions of ballet “The Limpid Stream”. It is concluded that the first versions of ballet were popular among the public, but aroused negative or ambiguous feedback, which led to the removal of spectacle from the repertoire. The last version is regularly performed in the repertoire of Bolshoi Theatre, including on the tour, being well regarded by the public and sophisticated British critics.


2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-361
Author(s):  
Boghos Levon Zekiyan

AbstractThe mutual interaction of culture and policy, and its influence on scholarship is attested in history. Even today this influence is often remarkable in the various fields of humanities, especially in extra-European contexts.The topics, which most frequently became the object of analogous polemics in Caucasian and Subcaucasian studies, can be summed up as follows: a) the question of identities, that is how to define the ethnic, cultural, political, and religious belonging of persons, regions, and objects; b) the question of cultural influences and interactions, that is the question, who and which side influenced the other in those cases in which similar historical phenomena or artistic expressions are discernible in different ethnic or religious groups, or state structures.Obviously, in all these questions strong predicaments of various natures, which can be combined under the common denominator of extra-scholarly factors, play a big role: namely they do not allow or make very difficult a passionless approach and a balanced discussion of the subject.Since the field of discussion is extremely large, the present inquiry takes into consideration only some specific cases in which the role of extra-scholarly factors seems to have major relevance. Moreover, these cases put in a clearer light the gaps of the conceptual frame and of the methodological procedures used in approaching the subject.


Author(s):  
Iryna Rusnak

The author of the article analyses the problem of the female emancipation in the little-known feuilleton “Amazonia: A Very Inept Story” (1924) by Mykola Chirsky. The author determines the genre affiliation of the work and examines its compositional structure. Three parts are distinguished in the architectonics of associative feuilleton: associative conception; deployment of a “small” topic; conclusion. The author of the article clarifies the role of intertextual elements and the method of constantly switching the tone from serious to comic to reveal the thematic direction of the work. Mykola Chirsky’s interest in the problem of female emancipation is corresponded to the general mood of the era. The subject of ridicule in provocative feuilleton is the woman’s radical metamorphoses, since repulsive manifestations of emancipation becomes commonplace. At the same time, the writer shows respect for the woman, appreciates her femininity, internal and external beauty, personality. He associates the positive in women with the functions of a faithful wife, a caring mother, and a skilled housewife. In feuilleton, the writer does not bypass the problem of the modern man role in a family, but analyses the value and moral and ethical guidelines of his character. The husband’s bad habits receive a caricatured interpretation in the strange behaviour of relatives. On the one hand, the writer does not perceive the extremes brought by female emancipation, and on the other, he mercilessly criticises the male “virtues” of contemporaries far from the standard. The artistic heritage of Mykola Chirsky remains little studied. The urgent task of modern literary studies is the introduction of Mykola Chirsky’s unknown works into the scientific circulation and their thorough scientific understanding.


1832 ◽  
Vol 122 ◽  
pp. 539-574 ◽  

I have for some time entertained an opinion, in common with some others who have turned their attention tot he subject, that a good series of observations with a Water-Barometer, accurately constructed, might throw some light upon several important points of physical science: amongst others, upon the tides of the atmosphere; the horary oscillations of the counterpoising column; the ascending and descending rate of its greater oscillations; and the tension of vapour at different atmospheric temperatures. I have sought in vain in various scientific works, and in the Transactions of Philosophical Societies, for the record of any such observations, or for a description of an instrument calculated to afford the required information with anything approaching to precision. In the first volume of the History of the French Academy of Sciences, a cursory reference is made, in the following words, to some experiments of M. Mariotte upon the subject, of which no particulars appear to have been preserved. “Le même M. Mariotte fit aussi à l’observatoire des experiences sur le baromètre ordinaire à mercure comparé au baromètre à eau. Dans l’un le mercure s’eléva à 28 polices, et dans Fautre l’eau fut a 31 pieds Cequi donne le rapport du mercure à l’eau de 13½ à 1.” Histoire de I'Acadérmie, tom. i. p. 234. It also appears that Otto Guricke constructed a philosophical toy for the amusement of himself and friends, upon the principle of the water-barometer; but the column of water probably in this, as in all the other instances which I have met with, was raised by the imperfect rarefaction of the air in the tube above it, or by filling with water a metallic tube, of sufficient length, cemented to a glass one at its upper extremity, and fitted with a stop-cock at each end; so that when full the upper one might be closed and the lower opened, when the water would fall till it afforded an equipoise to the pressure of the atmo­sphere. The imperfections of such an instrument, it is quite clear, would render it totally unfit for the delicate investigations required in the present state of science; as, to render the observations of any value, it is absolutely necessary that the water should be thoroughly purged of air, by boiling, and its insinuation or reabsorption effectually guarded against. I was convinced that the only chance of securing these two necessary ends, was to form the whole length of tube of one piece of glass, and to boil the water in it, as is done with mercury in the common barometer. The practical difficulties which opposed themselves to such a construction long appeared to me insurmount­able; but I at length contrived a plan for the purpose, which, having been honoured with the approval of the late Meteorological Committee of this Society, was ordered to be carried into execution by the President and Council.


Litera ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 38-55
Author(s):  
Rivaa Mukhammad Salem Alsalibi

The subject of this research is the specifics, forms and functions of interaction in social media groups between the representatives of ethnic communities. The goal consists in determination of the role of social networks in adaptation of ethnocultural communities of St. Petersburg. The research is based on the polling technique for acquisition of information on the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral state of a person. The survey was conducted via distribution of questionnaires among the representatives of ethnic groups. The article also employs the method of systematic scientific observation over the social media groups, topic raised therein, as well as reading and analysis of the comments. The scientific novelty of this work consists in outlining of the nature, trends and development prospects of cross-cultural communications as the channel for ethnocultural interaction.  The main conclusions, which touch upon users from various ethnic communities who do not have enough experience in organization of activity of social media groups, demonstrate that it causes the loss of the sense of security, accumulation of prejudices and escalation of interethnic conflicts, as well as preference of the with restricted access, which contributes to lock down of the group and impedes adaptation in the accepting society. Stabilization of situation can be achieved by improvement of the quality of content posted in the social media, as well as level of their administration.


Author(s):  
Elena Petrovna Berezkina ◽  
Mariya Nikolaevna Zhornikova

This article is dedicated to the autobiographical discourse in the compilation of poems “The Empress Life” by the national poet of Buryatia Andrey Rumyantsev.  The subject of research is the key images and motifs of Rumyantsev’s autobiographicallyrics, while the object is the poet’s lyrical biography. The author analyzes Andrey Rumyantsev’s poetry for the purpose of determination of the means of expression of autobiographical images and motifs in the texts created in form of poetic reminiscences. Most careful attention is given to the compositions dedicated to parents, grandparents, and sister of the poet. Methodology leans on the basic principle of biographical method, according to which personality of the writer defines the specificity of his works. The scientific novelty consists in conducting a motif-imagery analysis of Rumyantsev’s poetry from the perspectives of biographical method. The conclusion is formulated that the main motifs of Andrey Rumyantsev’s autobiographical lyrics is “great guilt”, “repentance”, and “responsibility” that encompass all poetic reminiscences of his loved ones – the key images of autobiographical lyrics. The specific approaches in creation of autobiographical images and motifs are revealed. Thus, the common for all images is the stance on labor and possession of physical fortitude. All female images are united by the motif of the hardship of being a woman, as well as righteousness semanticized through the concepts of “patience” and “love”. The mail images resemble bogatyrs (heroes of the Russian epic poems); the author also emphasizes their unity with the native nature.


Author(s):  
Delyash N. Muzraevа ◽  

Introduction. The written heritage of Kalmyk Buddhist priests, their daily practices, liturgical repertoire still remain a poorly studied page in the history of Buddhism among Mongolic peoples in the 20th century. The survived collections, clusters of religious texts prove instrumental in revealing most interesting aspects of their activities, efforts aimed at preservation of Buddhist teachings, their popularization and dissemination among believers. Goals. The paper examines two Oirat copies of the Precepts of the Omniscient [Manjushri] from N. D. Kichikov’s collection, transliterates and translates the original texts, provides a comparative analysis, and notes differences therein that had resulted from the scribe’s work, thereby introducing the narratives into scientific circulation. Materials. The article describes two Oirat manuscripts bound in the form of a notebook and contained in different bundles/collections of Buddhist religious texts stored at Ketchenery Museum of Local History and Lore. As is known, the collection is largely compiled from texts that belonged to the famous Kalmyk Buddhist monk Namka (N. D. Kichikov). Results. The analysis of the two Oirat texts with identical titles — Precepts of the Omniscient [Manjushri] — shows that their contents coincide generally but both the texts contain fragmented omissions (separate words, one or several sentences) that are present in the other. At the same time, when omitting fragments of the text addressed to the monastic community, the scribe was obviously guided by that those would be superfluous for the laity. Thus, our comparative analysis of the two manuscript copies demonstrates the sometimes dramatic role of the scribe in transmitting Buddhist teachings.


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