Tsaritsa of Shemakha
Designed by Howard Tsvi Kaplan
Collection of Sarasota Opera Association, Inc.
Collection of Sarasota Opera Association, Inc.
In The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, Tsar Dodon is ultimately defeated not on the battlefield but by a beguiling queen, the Tsaritsa of Shemakha. Pushkin tells us very little about this enigmatic ruler. The term “tsaritsa” usually applies to a woman who is married to a tsar or who is a tsar’s widow.
A detail from an illustration by Ivan Bilibin showing the queen emerging from her tent
The fictional tsaritsa rules a land called Shemakha, based on a real place located near western shores the Caspian Sea. It has been suggested that Pushkin was influenced by the work of the famed American writer Washington Irving. Irving’s Tales of the Alhambra were set in the Moorish surroundings of Andalusia and included such stories as The Legend of the Arabian Astrologer.
An early 20th-century illustrated copy of Tales of the Alhambra
For Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, the setting of the Golden Cockerel gave him an opportunity to return to a favorite subject, the alluring and mysterious East as described in literature. One of his most famous compositions, Scheherazade, is an orchestral piece based on One Thousand and One Arabian Nights, in which a beautiful young woman seduces a bloodthirsty sultan with her fantastic stories to stay alive.
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The Tsaritsa of Shemakha is a character that allows a costume designer to use their imagination. For this costume, Howard Kaplan chose materials and colors that evoke far away places. The design of the multi-layered gown includes Eastern influences which create an imposing and colorful figure on the stage.
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This costume is full of intricate detail, much of which would not be visible to an audience. Beneath the layered dress and outer garment is a pair of Arabian style pants that are very similar to the ones worn by the Astrologer in this scene from Ivan Bilibin’s illustration.
You can see the similarity between the pants worn here by the Astrologer and the fabric used in the costume on view here.
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Closeup of the pants under the tsaritsa's gown
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