Servilia (opera)

"Servilia" ( _ru. Сервилия, "Serviliya", the name of a main character), is an opera in five acts by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The work was completed in 1901, and was first performed in 1902 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The composer wrote the libretto, which is based on the drama by Lev Alexandrovich Mey. The story is set in Ancient Rome during Nero's reign.

Performance history

The world premiere took place in St. Petersburg on 14 October (O.S. 1 October) 1902 at the Mariinsky Theatre and conducted by Feliks Blumenfeld.

ynopsis

Servilia, daughter of the senator Soranus, is desired by her father to contract an alliance with Trasea, but the latter, hearing of her preference for his adopted son Valerius, withdraws his suit. Egnatius, the freedman of Soranus, being enamoured of Servilia, conspires against his master and Trasea, and intimates to Servilia that her submission alone will secure their safety. Valerius has mysteriously disappeared, and Servilia, becoming a convert to Christianity, renounces the World. Called before the tribunal, Trasea and Soranus are sentenced to banishment, while Servilia is awarded to Egnatius. Valerius now returns, bearing a proclamation from Nero that the tribunal is dissolved. The sudden reappearance of her lover causes Servilia's death, and Valerius is only prevented from destroying himself by the intervention of his foster-father. Egnatius, in his woe, invokes the Divine Being, and the rest join him in acclaiming the Christian God. [ [http://opera.stanford.edu/main.html Source: "The Opera Glass", Stanford University, from M. Montagu Nathan, "Rimsky-Korsakof", Duffield & Co., New York, 1917] ]

References

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