'Tsar Saltan'
Conductor, ALBERT COATES
Relayed from Sadler's WeUs
Prologue
The scene is laid in the humble dwelling of three sisters. The two elder sisters, proud and ambitious, and encouraged by the wicked Barbaricka, compel Militrissa-the youngest sister-to perform the menial duties of the house, while they spend the time in idleness. The question arises, what each would offer the Tsar, if chosen by him in marriage. The eldest would prepare a huge banquet; the second would weave enough material to clothe the land; but Militrissa says she would present him with a son. Tsar Saltan, who happens to be passing the house at the time, overhears the conversation and enters. He immediately chooses Militrissa as his bride, leads her away and appoints the two elder sisters to be mistress of the linen and head cook at the palace, respectively. With the help of Barbaricka the envious sisters form a plan of revenge. As the hot-headed Saltan is shortly setting out for war, it is agreed that if a son is born to him in his absence, the messenger entrusted with the happy tidings shall be drugged, and Militrissa's letter be made to read that she has given birth to an inhuman monster.
Act I
Militrissa, surrounded by her attendants, anxiously [awaits the Tsar's reply to the news that a boy-hero, Guidon, has been born. The jests of the Court Fool, and the fables of the Royal Narrator, and her sisters' skill in weaving and cooking fail to distract the Tsarina. Suddenly the messenger arrives, and with the help of the Scriveners, Saltan's answer is deciphered. It is that his loathsome wife and the monster-child are to be set adrift on the sea in a barrel. The people cannot believe the message genuine ; but Barbaricka insists that the Tsar's command must be obeyed, and amid general grief the unfortunate mother and her son are rolled into the sea, leaving the two sisters and the spiteful Barbaricka to enjoy their triumph.
(An article on the Opera appears on page 168)