51st Season 2006–2007 |
The Queen of Spades (Pikovaya Dama) Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Libretto by Modest Tchaikovsky Based on a story by Aleksandr Pushkin |
Act I
Scene 1: The action is set in a square in the Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg, during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762–96). Boy soldiers march and drill, amusing the adults. Two soldiers, Surin and Chekalinsky, discuss the penniless Gherman, a mutual friend, who sits night after night at the card table, watching them gamble. Gherman appears with Tomsky, who says his friend hardly seems like his old self. Gherman admits he is madly in love with a girl whose name he does not even know. Prince Yeletsky enters and is congratulated by Chekalinsky and Surin on his recent engagement. Yeletsky points out his fiancée, Liza, strolling with her guardian, the old Countess. Gherman recognizes in Liza the object of his desire, and despairs. The two women are frightened of Gherman, whom they’ve seen before, staring intensely at them from afar. After Yeletsky and the women leave, Tomsky explains that in her youth the Countess, the “Queen of Spades,” had visited the French court in Versailles, where she was known as the Venus Muscovite. Having gambled away her fortune, she recovered it from Count Saint Germain, who, in exchange for a night of passion, revealed to her a secret winning formula. Tomsky says only two men ever learned her secret, and that an apparition had warned her she would die at the hands of a third man, who would try to force the secret out of her. Chekalinsky suggests that the secret would solve Gherman’s financial problems. As peals of thunder empty the park, Gherman vows to learn the Countess’ secret.
Scene 2 : At home, Liza sings with her friend Polina at the harpsichord. Their friends ask to hear more, and join Polina in a lively Russian dance and song. Liza remains pensively apart. Liza’s governess interrupts them, chiding the girls for indulging in Russian folk dancing, and ushers the visitors out. Polina, the last to go, urges Liza to cheer up. Alone, Liza gives voice to the distress she is experiencing, torn between the Prince and the unaccountable feelings of attraction that Gherman’s odd intensity have aroused in her. To her shock, Gherman appears on her balcony. Claiming he is about to shoot himself over her betrothal to the Prince, he begs her to take pity on him. They are interrupted by the Countess, who hears noises and knocks on Liza’s door, ordering her back to bed. Returning to the balcony, Liza insists that he leave, but ultimately falls into Gherman’s embrace.
Act II
Scene 1: At a masked ball, Gherman’s comrades comment on his obsession with the secret of the winning cards. Prince Yeletsky strolls by with the pensive Liza, trying to reassure her of his love. Gherman receives a note from Liza, asking him to meet her later. When they meet, Liza slips him the key to the secret garden door leading to her room through the Countess’ bedroom. She says the old woman will not be there the next day, but Gherman insists on visiting her that very night. Unable to deny him anything, she consents. The Major Domo announces the arrival of Catherine the Great, who is greeted with a magnificent ovation.
Scene 2: Later that night, Gherman slips into the Countess’ room. As he walks towards Liza’s room, he is fascinated by the portrait of the Countess as a young woman. He understands one of them will die because of the other. He conceals himself as the old lady approaches, accompanied by her doting servants. The Countess deplores the manners of the modern world, reminisces about her youth, and sings an old French song. She sends her servants away and dozes off, then awakens to find Gherman standing next to her. He pleads with her to tell him the secret of the three cards, but she is speechless. Desperate, he pulls out a gun and threatens her. She dies of fright. Liza rushes in, finds the Countess dead, and confronts Gherman, who protests he did not mean to harm her, but just wanted the secret of the three cards. Liza orders him out and falls sobbing on the body of the Countess.
Act III
Scene 1: In his room at the barracks, as the winter wind howls outside, Gherman reads a letter from Liza, who wants to meet him at midnight by the Winter Canal. He imagines he hears the chorus chanting at the Countess’ funeral, and then is startled by a knock on the window. The old woman’s ghost appears, announcing that against her will she must tell him the secret so that he can marry Liza and save her from dishonor. Dazed, Gherman repeats the formula of the three cards she gives him — three, seven, ace.
Scene 2: By the Winter Canal, Liza waits for Gherman. It is already near midnight. She hopes he will come and reassure her of his innocence in the death of the Countess. She bemoans her lost happiness. Appearing at last, Gherman first reassures her, then ends up admitting, to Liza’s horror, that the Countess died because of him. Delirious, he talks about the visit from the ghost of the Countess and, no longer even recognizing Liza, he rushes off to gamble. Realizing that all is lost, Liza drowns herself in the icy water.
Scene 3: At a gambling house, Gherman’s fellow officers are dining and playing cards. Prince Yeletsky arrives seeking solace for his broken engagement and proclaims, “unlucky in love, lucky at cards.” Gherman arrives, wild and distracted, sending Yeletsky into a jealous fury. The Prince senses an impending confrontation, and asks Tomsky to be his second if a duel should ensue. Gherman, intent only on betting, starts with 40,000 rubles. He bets the three and wins. Next he bets the seven and wins again. Raising his glass in triumph, he declares that life is but a game and seeks a challenger for the next round. The crowd has grown suspicious of Gherman, but the Prince accepts his challenge, saying he needs to settle a pending account with him. Gherman bets the ace, but it is the queen of spades that is turned up. Having lost everything, Gherman shoots himself. Before dying, he has a vision of Liza and asks the Prince to forgive him.
