Russian futurist opera to be revived at Vassar

Liza Darwin Assistant Arts Editor

The Russian futurist opera “Victory Over the Sun,” first performed in 1913, will come to life at Vassar on Thursday, May 3. Rooted in the idea of transcending the visible world for a better one in the future, the opera plays with the concept of breaking down the monotony of past traditions and creating a new self. Much like other important artistic works of the time, the original opera was lost during communist rebellions in Russia during the 20th century.

The opera’s title originates from the western convention that the sun symbolizes rationality. During the early 20th century, people chose to reject old reasoning in favor of new innovations, thus the notion behind the name, “Victory Over the Sun.”

During the opera, the Strong Men of the Future tear the sun from the sky, lock it in a concrete box, and give it a funeral. In 1923, avant-garde artist El Lissitsky analyzed the work as a celebration of man’s capabilities. He said that the sun was an expression of old-world energy, torn down from the heavens by modern man, who creates his own new energy source with technological innovations.

Vassar’s production of the opera will include new music by renowned St. Petersburg composer Georgiy Firtich, a vibrant, extravagant contemporary composer and father of Vassar Professor of Music Nikolai Firtich. Professor Firtich will perform with Vassar singers and musicians.

Musical Director Lidiya Yankovskaya ’08 was excited to hear that the play was coming to Vassar. “I was immediately hooked when I heard that [director Kate Marvin ’07] was planning to resurrect the work with the help of Firtich,” she said.

Yankovskaya’s special interest is in 20th-century music, and she is currently in her second year as the choral conductor of the Vassar Mahagonny Ensemble. For Yankovskaya, “Victory Over the Sun” is doubly fascinating. “It deals with both the musical and artistic movements of the very beginning of the 20th century, along with a premiere of a completely new score written by a living composer of the second generation of modernists,” she said.

In its 1913 opening performance, Kazimir Malevich—now considered one of the leaders of the 19th-century avant-garde movement in Russia—was asked to produce a series of costumes and set designs for the show. Malevich created radical, anti-realist designs, combining body coverings in shocking colors with geometric shapes and unique textures. Yankovskaya said that they will use some of those original cubist designs as a springboard for the vision of their set.

The original production was noted for its innovation, and the Vassar performance will be no different. “This production is especially unique in its thorough incorporation of a number of different modern art movements all under the Russian Futurist umbrella,” Yankovskaya said.

According to Yankovskaya, the greatest hurdle was the production’s lack of guidelines or precedent. “For me, the biggest challenge is that facing any premiere: There is no previous musical performance of this work that we can use as a guideline; there are compositional elements that still need to be worked out, and unforeseen changes that may arise.”

Yankovskaya said that she and Marvin spent considerable time on the opera’s musical aspect. “Kate and I have spent a lot of time thinking about how we want this work to unfold and especially how we want to interpret and convey the musical aspect of the show,” she said.

For an opera as challenging and arcane as “Victory Over the Sun,” the actors and crew have used their efforts and to make the opera as palatable as possible. Yankovskaya said that one of the biggest challenges was incorporating this Russian background into the performance. “I have especially spent a lot of time working with the singers on creating a deeper Russian sound, a different style of singing from what most of us are used to,” she said.

Yankovskaya noted that it is rare that a college even attempts to undertake this kind of ambitious venture with such a special composer and a talented cast and crew. “This should come out as a very unique and unusual experience, a performance not to be missed,” she said.