Rock opera "Juno and Avos": content and history

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

This was the first Soviet rock opera, which, however, due to the peculiarities of the regime, the creators - the author of the libretto Andrei Voznesensky and the author of the music Alexei Rybnikov - attributed to another genre, calling it the modern opera "Juno and Avos". Its content is based on real events. The plot is based on the tragic love story of the Russian count and navigator Nikolai Rezanov and the daughter of the Spanish governor of San Francisco, Conchita Argüello.

The story of the meeting - true and fictitious

The main storyline is true in all versions, it originates from the moment when, in 1806, two brigs landed on the coast of California under the flag of the Russian fleet and under the leadership of the Russian count and chamberlain of His Imperial Majesty - "Juno" and " Maybe." The content of the rest of the action allows for different, sometimes contradictory interpretations, if only because history has become the reason for the creation of numerous poems, operas, ballets and simply art history studies. And artistic creativity implies varying degrees of error before the truth, which the author of the poem "Avos" admittedAndrei Voznesensky. And in the production of the Lenkom Theater, in the creative collaboration of the music author Alexei Rybnikov and director Mark Zakharov, the work acquired its permanent name - "Juno and Avos".

Rock opera summary

Forty-two-year-old statesman and naval commander, widower and father of two children, Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov, dreaming of sailing to the shores of North America, but receiving refusal after refusal, seeks intercession from the icon of the Mother of God and confesses to her his unrighteous passion for her as woman. The Mother of God forgives him and promises her patronage. Soon, he really receives from the imperial court the highest command to go to the coast of California in order to deliver food to the Russian colonies in Alaska. And now the Russian ships Juno and Avos are anchoring in San Francisco Bay. The content of the action is now developing rapidly. At the ball at Don Argüello's in honor of the Russian expedition that had arrived, the count met the owner's daughter, 16-year-old Conchita. Here he learns that the house of Arguello is preparing for the wedding of the young Conchita and the young hidalgo Fernando. Fascinated by the beauty of the girl, Rezanov secretly enters her bedroom, begs her for love and takes possession of her. The voice of the Virgin again descends to them, and reciprocal love awakens in Conchita's soul.

But the count must pay a heavy price for his misdeed: the offended Fernando challenges him and dies at his hands. The Russian expedition hastily leaves California. Rezanovsecretly becomes engaged to his beloved, but for the wedding he needs to obtain permission from the Pope in St. Petersburg in order to marry a Catholic. However, they were not destined to see each other again. On the way, Rezanov falls seriously ill and dies near Krasnoyarsk. Conchita refuses to believe the terrible news and has been waiting for her lover for more than thirty years, after which she takes the veil as a nun and ends her days as a recluse. This is the schematic content of the opera Juno and Avos.

Incarnation on stage

In Lenkom, the production had a surprisingly happy fate. It was missed immediately, unlike other, less poignant performances. The performance "Juno and Avos" was shown on the stages of many countries, the content of each tour was invariably triumphant. Not the last, if not the first role was played by the immense talent, energy and charisma of the performers of the main roles. At different times, the role of Count Rezanov was played by Nikolai Karachentsov, Dmitry Pevtsov, you can see Viktor Rakov and other famous actors in this role. In the role of Conchita - Elena Shanina, Alla Yuganova. Other roles were taken by Alexander Abdulov, Irina Alferova, Larisa Porgina and others. With all the merits of the subsequent compositions, the duet of Nikolai Karachentsov with actress Elena Shanina, according to the majority of viewers, remained unsurpassed in its frantic energy. No wonder the hit of the genre of the musical "I will never forget you" in this performance is still not losing popularity.

Memory

Conchita Arguello (Maria Domingo in tonsure) died in 1857 and was buried in the monastery cemetery, from whereher ashes were transferred to St. Dominic's cemetery.

Count Nikolai Petrovich Rezanov in 1807 was buried in the cemetery of the city cathedral of Krasnoyarsk. Almost two centuries later, in 2000, a white marble cross was erected on his grave, on which it reads: “I will never forget you” on one side, and on the other side it says: “I will never see you.”