Moses (Skoryk)

For other operas with "Moses" in title, see Moses (disambiguation).

Moses (Ukrainian Мойсей) is an opera by Myroslav Skoryk after on the 1905 poem of the same name by Ivan Franko. The libretto is by the composer and Bogdan Stelmakh; the opera in two acts and five scenes, with a prologue and epilogue. The opera was first performed at the Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet on May 20 2001, to coincide with the visit of Pope John Paul II to Ukraine (23-27 June 2001).[1]

Roles
Myroslav Skoryk
Role Voice type Premiere cast, May 20 2001
Moisei (Moses) bass Oleksander Hromysh
Aviron (Abiram) baritone
Datan baritone
Azazel tenor
Yegoshua (Joshua) tenor
Liya soprano
Yohaveda (Jochebed) contralto
Voice of Jehovah bass
Poet baritone

Synopsis

Franko's poem was conceived as an allegory of the Ukrainian people, which he conceived as having a great potential but weakened by political division. The poem, based on the Moses of the Bible, sees Moses, after forty years leading the Children of Israel in the desert, under attack from a revolt by Dathan and Abiram . Moses leaves the camp to meditate; in his absence the Israelites worship the Golden Calf. In the desert Moses is tempted by an evil spirit, Azazel, and also by the ghost of his mother Jochebed, who seek to get him to renounce God (Jehovah). Jehovah creates a storm in which Moses is swept away. The Israelites immediately panic and condemn Dathan and Abiram to death. Joshua prepares to lead them to the Promised Land.[2]

The prologue and epilogue of the original poem are an address by the Poet to the Ukrainian people making the parallels of the story explicit,[3] and they are retained in shortened form in the opera. The only significant story-line change in the opera is to introduce Joshua and his wife (who does not appear at all in the poem) Liya early in the story as defenders of Moses against Dathan and Abiram.

References
Notes
  1. "Opera "Moses" Archived 2013-09-10 at the Wayback Machine on ArtUkraine website, accessed 7 September 2015.
  2. Anon (2010), 12-14
  3. Franko (2010), 39-43, 225-231
Sources
  • Anon (2010). Programme, "Moses". Lviv: Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet
  • Franko, Ivan, tr. Iryna Husar (2010).Мойсей (edition in Ukrainian and German). Lviv: Ivan Franko University. ISBN 978 966 613 804 3.
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