The Golden Cockerel

Ivan Bilibin: King Dodon and the Queen of Shemakha

King Dodon: Nikolai Stoilov
Prince Guidon: Liubomir Bodurov
Prince Afron: Emil Ougrinov
Commander Polkan: Konstantin Videv
Housekeeper Amelfa: Evgenia Babacheva
Astrologer: Lubomir Diakovski
Queen of Shemakha: Elena Stoyanova
Golden Cockerel: Yavora Stoilova

Conductor: Dimiter Manolov

Sofia, 1992, sung in Russian

Act 1 The council chamber of King Dodon's court.

05:04 The King seeks advice on his neighbors' repeated incursions into his land. Guidon, his elder son, suggests withdrawing to develop a plan. Afron, the younger, recommends infiltrating the army behind the invaders. Polkan belittles both plans.

14:50 The Astrologer gives the king a golden watch-cockerel which will alert on any invasion. He asks that the king's offer be extended later: to grant him any reward he may name.

22:35 Assured by the cockerel that he need not watch, the King falls asleep under the watchful eye of Amelfa.

30:15 The cockerel alerts the King who orders mobilization, then returns to his slumber. The cockerel awakens him even more insistently. Donning ill-fitting armor, the King goes off to defend his country.

Act 2 A moonlit night on the battlefield. Among the dead are the two Princes.

03:00 Dodon mourns the loss of his sons. A tent appears and the soldiers fire a cannon at it.

08:30 The Queen appears from the undamaged tent and sings the "Hymn to the Sun". The troops and Polkan leave as the Queen seduces the King with her song.

26:30 Entranced, Dodon dances to exhaustion, then offers to make her his queen.

41:10 Dodon's army returns to escort the pair from the battlefield.

Act 3 In the capital, the crowd awaits the King's return.

04:45 The procession arrives, but the Astrologer interrupts to demand his reward: the Queen's hand. Rejecting the demand, the King strikes the Astrologer and kills him.

15:00 The sky darkens ominously. Dodon admits his fault and the Queen rejects him. The cockerel attacks the King, but falls dead. When light returns, both Queen and cockerel have vanished.

20:45 The Astrologer reappears to assure all that in Dodon's realm, only the Queen and he were mortal.

Act 1	The council chamber of King Dodon's court.
05:04	The King seeks advice on his neighbors' repeated incursions into his land. Guidon, his elder son, suggests withdrawing to develop a plan. Afron, the younger, recommends infiltrating the army behind the invaders. Polkan belittles both plans.
14:50	The Astrologer gives the king a golden watch-cockerel which will alert on any invasion. He asks that the king's offer be extended later: to grant him any reward he may name.
22:35	Assured by the cockerel that he need not watch, the King falls asleep under the watchful eye of Amelfa.
30:15	The cockerel alerts the King who orders mobilization, then returns to his slumber. The cockerel awakens him even more insistently. Donning ill-fitting armor, the King goes off to defend his country.

Act 2	A moonlit night on the battlefield. Among the dead are the two Princes.
03:00	Dodon mourns the loss of his sons. A tent appears and the soldiers fire a cannon at it.
08:30	The Queen appears from the undamaged tent and sings the "Hymn to the Sun". The troops and Polkan leave as the Queen seduces the King with her song.
26:30	Entranced, Dodon dances to exhaustion, then offers to make her his queen.
41:10	Dodon's army returns to escort the pair from the battlefield.

Act 3	In the capital, the crowd awaits the King's return.
04:45	The procession arrives, but the Astrologer interrupts to demand his reward: the Queen's hand. Rejecting the demand, the King strikes the Astrologer and kills him.
15:00	The sky darkens ominously. Dodon admits his fault and the Queen rejects him. The cockerel attacks the King, but falls dead. When light returns, both Queen and cockerel have vanished.
20:45	The Astrologer reappears to assure all that in Dodon's realm, only the Queen and he were mortal.