Fair at the Sorothintsi Synopsys

Time: Beginning of the 19th centuryTime: Beginning of the 19th century

Place: The village of Velikiye Sorochyntsі, near Poltava

Scenes where Mussorgsky did not compose the music are bracketed and marked in italics. The ordering of scenes follows Shebalin's completion.

The opera begins with an overture suggestive of early morning. This is usually accompanied visually by a scene depicting the fair stalls being set up and visitors arriving.

Act 1

Merchants peddle their wares to crowds of visitors arriving from all around. The Gypsy makes reference to a red jacket that the devil is looking for, while the lad Gritsko woos Parasya. Her father, Cherevik, at first is indignant at this forwardness, but, after realizing that Gritsko is the son of a close friend, he agrees to let Gritsko marry his daughter. The two men go into the tavern to celebrate, as evening settles and the people disperse.

Cherevik and his buddy, Kum, come out of the tavern in a drunken state. After they wander around in the dark, [Khrivya, Cherevik's wife, comes out of their house, and he announces Parasya's engagement. But Khivrya objects, and, while Gritsko overhears, drunken Cherevik concedes that the wedding will not happen. Gritsko, alone, bemoans his sadness. The Gypsy enters, and the two make a pact: Gritsko will give the Gypsy his oxen for fifteen rubles if the latter can make Cherevik change his mind.

Act 2

Kum's Hut

Inside Kum's house, where they are lodging, Khivrya quarrels with Cherevik, getting him to leave, so that she may keep her secret rendezvous with Afanasy Ivanovich, the son of the village priest. When the latter arrives, she offers him her culinary delicacies, which he devours. In the midst of their amorous encounter a knock is heard at the door. Afanasy hides on a shelf, and Cherevik and Kum walk in,alarmed by a rumor that someone has seen the red jacket and the devil. Kum tells the full story of the red jacket, [concluding with the remark that the devil appears every year at the fair with a pig's face, looking for the red jacket. Suddenly a pig's snout is seen in the window, and everyone runs about in confusion.

Act 3

Scene 1: The Street before Kum's Hut

On a street, as a result of the superstitious confusion of the previous scene, Cherevik and Kum are being chased by the Gypsy and some people. Gypsy accuses the two older men of stealing a mare, and ties them up. Gritsko enters, extracting a promise from Cherevik to have the wedding to Parasya the next day, and the two older men are released.

Alone, Gritsko falls asleep and has a dream involving witches and devils. They are dispelled by church bells.

Scene 2: The Street before Kum's Hut

On a street in front of Kum's house, Parasya at first is sad about Gritsko, but then cheers herself up with a little hopak, in which Cherevik joins without her noticing. Kum and Gritsko enter, and Cherevik blesses the two lovers, only to be met by Khivrya's rage, which prompts the Gypsy to call on the people to restrain her. The people celebrate the wedding with a hopak.