For this assignment, I chose to watch Prince Igor composed by Alexander Borodin. This Russian opera was first performed in 1890, but Borodin had passed away and left the opera unfinished in 1887. The opera was completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov (“Prince Igor”). The story is somewhat grim. It begins with the titular Prince Igor and his son preparing to launch a military campaign against another city-state. When this army is set to embark, a solar eclipse occurs, which everyone - except Igor and his son - interpret as a sign that they should postpone their war plans. Igor’s wife is devastated, sure that there is bad luck to come. However, Igor is stubborn and proceeds regardless. This ends up being a bad move as Igor’s army is ravaged by the opposing Polovtsians and he is ultimately taken as a prisoner.
In the first act, while Igor is prisoner, he fantasizes about returning to people who are important to him like his wife. He envisions his captor offering his friendship and assistance, and dreams of his freedom and living an amazing life.
Meanwhile, at the palace, Igor’s wife is in a panic. She is deeply upset and worried about not having heard any news about her husband. Her brother, Galitsky, is beginning to take control in his absence. He wants to replace Igor, and Igor’s noblemen are beginning to back Galitsky up. Igor’s wife’s maidens are concerned because Galitsky has kidnapped one of their own and Igor’s wife does not have the power to do anything about it. However, when men finally arrive at the palace with the news of Igor’s imprisonment and the annihilation of his army, this causes a wide panic. Igor’s wife is distraught, and the frenzy caused among the people is so great that Galitsky is actually killed.
Igor’s wife is completely depressed and devastated and his city is destroyed. Igor finally makes it back to town only to see this destruction. The opera ends with Igor apologizing to the people of the town and taking responsibility for all of the devastation. He calls upon the people to rise above the sad state they are in and to try to come together as a community and rebuild the place. This is overall a pretty glum message.
While the opera is sung in Russian, meaning can be gathered from the mise en scene. Mise en scene is defined by the dictionary as “the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play.” The lighting, scenery, costumes, and stage devices all help to convey the messages. For example, the solar eclipse is created by the manipulation of stage lights. All of the actors suddenly freeze in place, as though shocked and frightened, looking toward the sky. The stage lights then gradually grow more and more dim, pausing in maximum darkness before moving on, creating the effect of a town under a solar eclipse. The darkness does not just help create the illusion of an eclipse, but it impacts the mood of the scene. Prince Igor goes from being under a warm, golden light to the entire town shrouded in darkness. This helps to explain why everyone reacted by interpreting the eclipse as a bad omen; the audience is able to see and feel the dark mood that creeps in as a result of the eclipse. This mood remains for the duration of the opera, the theme of which becomes very metaphorically dark after this scene. Additionally throughout the opera, painted backgrounds serve to create the illusion of depth. These sceneries not only help the audience to understand where a particular scene is taking place, but it helps to make it look more real. Other elements can then be introduced to cooperate with this illusion. Large groups of dancers are frequently used throughout. There is rhythmic, slow dancing at somber parts; frenzied, wild dancing in high adrenaline scenes; and the imagery created by these dances are notable.
If I were to turn this opera into a modern day videogame, I would probably create a multiplayer game where different players can choose to be Igor, Galitsky, or the Polovtian chief. Each player is fighting for the throne and must go through a series of trials and challenges to reach this position of power. For example, Igor’s character would have to figure out how to escape imprisonment. This could be through finding clues in his hallucinations. When the user has gathered all the clues, they unlock the ability to advance to the next step. Galitsky’s character would have to make it through a frenzied riot situation without being killed. Each character can try to undermine the others’, but too much focus on sabotaging other people will lead to failure to complete one’s own task, so it would be a challenging balance.
Works Cited
Gergiev, Valery, director. Kirov Opera: Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor / Князь Игорь. Youtube, Mariinsky Theatre, 21 Mar. 2017, un1rtMjtYzM.
“Prince Igor.” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Igor.
“Synopsis: Prince Igor.” Metropolitan Opera | Prince Igor, www.metopera.org/Discover/Synposes-Archive/Prince-Igor/.
