A RUSSIAN TSAR ON THE STAGE OF MONTE CARLO: RAOUL GUNSBOURG'S OPERA IVAN THE TERRIBLE

The article is dedicated to the personality and work of Raoul Gunzbourg - an impresario of the Monte-Carlo Opera, which he directed for over 50 years. Gunzbourg felt a special love for Russia, Russian history and culture. Gunzbourg was connected by artistic friendship with Feodor Chaliapin, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Felia Sergei Diaghilev and the artists of 'Saisons Russes,' who often performed on the stage of the Monaco theater. In the early 1910s, Gunzbourg decided to try himself as a composer. The plot of the opera Ivan the Terrible is saturated by the composer (who is also a librettist) with vivid episodes, which, according to him, were meant to provide the production with effectivity and emotional intensity. On the stage of the theater, Russian Tsar Ivan IV organized bloody orgies, played chess, served a liturgy, instigated a fire, repented his sins, and even died. However, all these twists and turns of the plot also provided an opportunity to show the archaic color of ancient Russia. The article analyzes the techniques used by the composer to create a Russian flavor. Among them are Russian words and interjections present in the text, imitation of church service and bells, and the wild dances of the Tatars at a feast in the Moscow Kremlin.