Media holding MAER supported the premiere of Prokofiev's opera "Semyon Kotko"

The libretto for the opera production was written by Valentin Kataev in collaboration with Sergei Prokofiev, based on Kataev's own story "I, the Son of the Working People". The idea of ​​creating an opera on a current Soviet theme came to Sergei Prokofiev after his return to the Soviet Union. In 1938, Alexei Tolstoy mentioned Kataev's story in a conversation, and he enthusiastically agreed to adapt it for the opera stage. The premiere took place on September 20, 1940, at the Stanislavsky Opera Theater, with S. Birman as director, M. Zhukov as conductor, and A. Tyshler as artist.

The musical director and conductor for the new production was Valery Gergiev, and the stage director was Sergei Novikov.

Sergei Novikov said that it was very important to him that the Bolshoi Theater in the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland is presenting the opera "Semyon Kotko", written as if about today's events. Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev, being a native of Donbass, deeply felt the flavor of these places, says the director. According to him, the melodies and musical motifs instantly penetrate the consciousness and remain in the memory for a long time, and the opera is understandable even to those who visit the theater for the first time. It evokes a wide range of feelings: from admiration for a southern night to deep disappointment due to failure to learn lessons from history.

“A soldier was walking from the front and now he’s back to the front!” – this is how the main character sings in the finale, happy with complete confidence in his rightness and the inevitable victory of good over evil,” said Sergei Novikov about his work on the opera.

Valentin Kataev's story describes the events of the civil war that unfolded in Ukraine. Demobilized soldier Semyon Kotko returns from the front to his native village and finds himself drawn into the fight against the White Guards and German occupiers, turning into a fighter for the revolution. This new and largely unconventional production caused heated debate. Some critics claimed that the opera was characterized by "modernist complexity" and a lack of "easily perceived melodies", while others admired the freshness of the musical language, the precision of the characters' characterizations, and the expressiveness of the dramatic scenes.

The premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre took place on April 4, 1970, and 15 years later the production was revived. The last performance took place on July 26, 1985. Since then, the opera has disappeared from the Bolshoi Theatre repertoire and now, forty years later, it is returning to the Historical Stage.