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FULL The execution of Stepan Razin (Shostakovich) Moscow 2026 Mikhail Petrenko
Information on the Performance
- Work Title: The execution of Stepan Razin
- Composer: Shostakovich Dmitri
- Libretto: Yevgeny Yevtushenko
- Venue & Opera Company: Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, Russia
- Recorded: September 25, 2026
- Type: Concert Live
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIS PERFORMANCE
The Execution of Stepan Razin (Russian «Казнь Степана Разина») (Op. 119) is a cantata composed by Dimitri Shostakovich to a libretto by Yevgeny Yevtushenko in 1964. The subject is the execution of Stepan Razin, a Cossack leader who headed a major uprising (1670–71) against the nobility and tsarist bureaucracy in southern Russia.
Lyrics
The opening section of Yevtushenko’s poem depicts Razin’s fate in front of the uncaring crowd:
КАЗНЬ СТЕНЬКИ РАЗИНА : Как во стольной Москве белокаменной вор по улице бежит с булкой маковой. Не страшит его сегодня самосуд. Не до булок… Стеньку Разина везут! Царь бутылочку мальвазии выдаивает, перед зеркалом свейским прыщ выдавливает, Примеряет новый перстень-изумруд – и на площадь… Стеньку Разина везут!
As the thief runs in Moscow’s white-stone streets, with his poppy-seed bun, today’s execution does not frighten him. Stenka Razin is led out! The tsar gives out a bottle of wine, squeezes his pimples in front of the mirror, tries on a new emerald ring. And to the square, Stenka Razin is led out!
In the middle section, Razin reflects on his fate: “Fool! Stenka, you die for nothing!” The final section describes the execution itself, in very short, choppy lines: the crowd falls silent, and Razin’s head, still living – laughs his triumph over the watching tsar.
Quoted from Wikipedia