Mazeppa by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Remember the film "Amadeus?" Great movie, no doubt. Of course, any resemblance between the character Tom Hulce plays in it and Mozart, the remarkable genius who altered the course of music, is pure coincidence. Judging by the writings he left, not to mention his music, the real Mozart was a highly-intelligent man -- witty, well-read, sophisticated. The Mozart in the film seems more like an idiot savant - a doofus who wrote brilliant music without really thinking about it, and spent the rest of his time behaving like a spoiled adolescent.

Then again, this doesn't make "Amadeus" much different than most movies, books, plays, whatever, that fall into the category of "historical fiction." Mainly, they're more fiction than history. Even so, audiences eat this stuff up. You frequently find historical fiction on the best-seller lists and box-office charts. (For example, was Shakespeare really in love?) You also find it in the opera house - where historical fiction is no more accurate than it is anywhere else. This week on At the Opera, Lou Santacroce and his guests will look at one good example of that. It's MAZEPPA, by Tchaikovsky, and it purportedly tells the story of a famous - and historical - Ukrainian separatist leader.

But does it really? Lou will be asking people who should know. He'll talk with professor Frank Sysyn, an expert on Ukrainian history, who'll tell us who Ivan Stepanovich Mazeppa really was. (As your might expect, it depends on whom you ask ...) Also, Harvard professor Julie Buckler tells us about Alexander Pushkin, another purveyor of historical fiction, whose poetry inspired Tchaikovsky's opera. We'll also prepare you for MAZEPPA with a discussion of the Great American "Western," soda bottles in Africa, and one of America's 'founding fathers.' What's all that got to do with Tchaikovsky? Trust us. Tune in to this week's At the Opera, and it'll all make perfect sense.

Then, join Steve Curwood for NPR World of Opera, and hear Tchaikovsky's slice of Russian history for yourself, from a truly historic opera house, LA SCALA, in Milan.

Links: