Fedul and his Children
opera by V. Pashkevich
  • Dmitry Otyakovsky
    stage director
    Russian operas written before M. Glinka has long been of burning interest to me. The Russian Baroque heritage includes stunning examples of vaudeville opera, lyrical chamber opuses and even epic canvases for hundreds of artists. I have already staged the first Russian opera The miller who was a wizard, a cheat and a matchmaker by M. M. Sokolovsky and A. N. Verstovsky's vaudeville Quarantine, forgotten for 200 years. But I have always had a desire to turn to one of the operas written to a libretto by Empress Catherine the Great.

    The comic opera Fedul and his Children was composed by composer Vasily Pashkevich at the request of the Empress in 1791. Its plot tells of a peasant who was left a widower with fifteen children. Fedul's daughter has grown up, and it is time to give her in marriage, but her strict father is not ready to give her to just anyone. A city boy has fallen in love with Dunyasha, but he is not her equal, so Dunyasha is in no hurry to introduce her to her father. Fedul himself has also decided to get married. The children try to dissuade their father; they are afraid that their future stepmother may treat them differently from the strict but loving Fedul.
Cast:
Fedul — Mikhail Nikanorov
Dunyasha — Alina Otyakovskaya
Detina — Dmitry Khromov

Russian chamber orchestra Usadba under the direction of Roman Khokhryakov

Credits:
Composer — Vasily Pashkevich
Arranger — Rustam Sagdiyev
Stage director — Dmitry Otyakovsky

The premiere took place on November 26, 2023 at the Znamenskoye-Gubailovo estate
Made on
Tilda