The Tale of Tsar Saltan (Russian: Сказка о царе Салтане, romanized as Skazka o Tsare Saltane) is an opera in four acts with a prologue (a total of seven scenes) by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written by Vladimir Belsky, and is based on the 1831 poem of the same name by Aleksandr Pushkin. The opera was composed in 1899–1900 to coincide with Pushkin's centenary, and was first performed in 1900 in Moscow, Russia.
A suite featuring some excerpts of the opera, known as the Suite from the Opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57, was published in 1903. The best known piece featured in the opera is the instrumental interlude Flight of the Bumblebee, which is frequently performed as a stand-alone concert piece.
It was used in the Season 1 episodes, The Northern Night Light and Rocket Safari.
Summary[]
In Season 1[]
In The Northern Night Light, Flight of the Bumblebee was used for the silly song. It is sung by the Little Einsteins and other arctic creatures, mostly to overcome their fear and make the environment silly.
In Rocket Safari, Flight of the Bumblebee was used as the Bumblebee Song. It is also used for helping to find all of the big and strong animals to help pull Rocket out of the waterfall.
Structure[]
The opera is structured in four acts:
The Tale of Tsar Saltan[]
- Act 1: Introduction – The Tsar's Departure And Farewell
- Act 2: Introduction – The Tsaritsa and Her Son Afloat in the Barrel
- Act 3: Flight of the Bumblebee
- Act 4: Introduction to Scene 2 – The Three Wonders
The Suite features three concert excerpts from the opera:
Suite from the Opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Op. 57[]
- Introduction to Act I: "The Tsar's Departure And Farewell"
- Introduction to Act II: "The Tsaritsa and Her Son Afloat in the Barrel"
- Introduction to Act IV, Tableau 2: "The Three Wonders" («Три чуда»)
Flight of the Bumblebee is usually performed at various concerts and recitals, but its not listed as part of the Suite.
Episode Appearances[]
Season 1[]
Songs adapted from The Tale of Tsar Saltan[]
Songs adapted from Flight of the Bumblebee[]
The Northern Night Light[]
Rocket Safari[]
Trivia[]
- The lengthy full title of both the opera and the poem is The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of his Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan (Russian: Сказка о царе Салтане, о сыне его славном и могучем богатыре князе Гвидоне Салтановиче и о прекрасной царевне Лебеди, romanized as Skazka o tsare Saltane, o syne yego slavnom i moguchem bogatyre knyaze Gvidone Saltanoviche i o prekrasnoy tsarevne Lebedi).
