Golden Cockerel, The, is an opera in three acts by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (see Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai ). Its name in Russian is Zolotoy pyetushok, but it is often known by its French title Le Coq d’or. The libretto (text) was written by Vladimir Bielsky. It was based on an 1834 poem by the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, which was itself a reworking of an old folk tale that had already been used in a story by the American writer Washington Irving. It was Rimsky-Korsakov’s 14th and final opera. He completed it in 1907, and the opera was first performed on Oct. 7, 1909, about 16 months after the composer’s death. Russian censors refused to approve the performance of the work during Rimsky-Korsakov’s lifetime because of what they considered criticisms of Czar Nicholas II.
King Dodon (bass) receives a fine golden cockerel—that is, a young rooster—from a mysterious astrologer (tenor). The miraculous bird crows every time danger threatens the kingdom. Dodon goes on a foreign expedition and comes home to his capital with the beautiful queen of Shemakha (soprano). In the middle of the magnificent wedding procession, the astrologer suddenly reappears to demand payment, but King Dodon kills him. The cockerel then kills King Dodon.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was one of the finest orchestrators and composers of melody in the history of classical music. In The Golden Cockerel, he uses a recurring, urgent musical theme, like a fanfare, to depict the crowing of the bird. The most lavish music in the opera is used to depict the wedding procession at the end. An orchestral suite drawn from The Golden Cockerel is a popular concert composition.
