View source for The Story of a Real Man

{{Short description|Opera by Sergei Prokofiev}}
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{{More citations needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Original research|date=December 2023}}
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{{Infobox opera 
| name              = The Story of a Real Man
| composer          = [[Sergei Prokofiev]]
| image_upright     = 0.8
| image             =
| caption           = Sergei Prokofiev in 1946
| native_name       = {{langx|ru|Повесть о настоящем человеке}} (''Povest' o nastoyashchem cheloveke'')
| librettist        = {{plainlist|
* Sergei Prokofiev
* [[Mira Mendelson]]
}}
| language          = Russian
| based_on          = Novel by [[Boris Polevoy]]
| premiere_date     = {{Start date|1948|12|03|df=y}}
| premiere_location = [[Kirov Theatre]], Leningrad
}}
'''''The Story of a Real Man''''' ({{langx|ru|Повесть о настоящем человеке|translit=Povest' o nastoyashchem cheloveke|link=no}}) is an [[opera]] in four acts by the Russian composer [[Sergei Prokofiev]], his [[opus number|opus]] 117.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.schirmer.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2420&State_2874=2&workId_2874=31753|title=Prokofiev Opera Opus 117|publisher=[[G. Schirmer]]|accessdate=2009-01-04}}.</ref> It was written from 1947 to 1948,<ref>Nestyev, Israel V.; transl. Jonas, Florence (1961). {{Google books|LUisAAAAIAAJ|Prokofiev}}. Stanford University Press. pp. 402–404, 411, 512. {{ISBN|0-8047-0585-2}}.</ref> and was his last opera. 

The [[libretto]], by the composer and his wife [[Mira Mendelson]], is based on the eponymous novel by [[Boris Polevoy]]; this in turn was based on the story of pilot [[Aleksey Maresyev]]. The opera received its premiere on 3 December 1948 at the [[Kirov Theatre]] in [[Leningrad]]. The audience was made up of Soviet cultural officials who gave the work a poor reception. This was a great disappointment to the composer who had intended the opera to rehabilitate his reputation with the Communist authorities after he had been accused of "[[Formalism (music)|formalism]]" earlier in the year. As a result, performances of ''The Story of a Real Man'' were forbidden to the general public until after Prokofiev's death. It received its public premiere on 7 October 1960 at the [[Bolshoi Theatre]], Moscow.

==Roles==
{| class="wikitable"
|+{{sronly|Roles, voice types, premiere casts}}
!Role
![[Voice type]]
!Premiere cast, closed rehearsal<br>3 December 1948<ref>{{Almanacco|dmy=03-12-1948|match=Povesth o nastojascim celovjeke}}</ref><br>Conductor: [[Boris Khaykin]]<br>Leningrad, Kirov
!Bolshoi cast, public premiere<br>8 October 1960<br>Conductor: [[Mark Ermler]]<br>Studio recording, 1961
|-
| [[Aleksey Maresyev]], pilot 
|[[baritone]] 
|
| [[Yevgeny Kibkalo]]
|-	 
| Andrei Dzhegtyarenko, pilot
|[[bass (voice type)|bass]]
|
| Georgi Pankov
|-	 
| Klaudiya Michailovna, nurse 
|[[contralto]]
|
| Kira Leonova
|-	 
| Konstantin Kukushkin, pilot  
|[[tenor]]
|
| [[Aleksei Maslennikov]]
|-	 
| Grandfather Mihailov 
|tenor
|
| Georgi Shulpin
|-	 
| Olga, Aleksey's fiancée
|[[soprano]]
|
| [[Glafira Deomidova]]
|-	 
| Commissar Semyon Vorobyev 
|baritone / bass
|
| [[Arthur Eisen]]
|-	 
| Sinocka 
|soprano
|
| Maria Zvenzdina
|-	 
| Varya 
|[[mezzo-soprano]]
|
| [[Margarita Miglau]]
|-	 
| Surgeon Vasilyevich 
|bass
|
| Mark Reshetin
|-	 
| Grandmother Vasilissa 
|contralto
|
| Vera Smirnova
|-
|}

==Synopsis==
The story is set during the [[Second World War]]. Aleksey, a Soviet fighter pilot, is shot down in combat against the Germans and badly wounded. He is rescued and cared for by villagers from a [[collective farm]] before being transferred to a hospital, where both his legs are amputated. He is inspired by the thought of his girlfriend and the support of his fellow patients, one of whom tells him the story of a First World War ace who continued to fly after losing one of his legs. The opera ends with Aleksey taking to the air again in his new plane.

==Recordings==
* [[Yevgeny Kibkalo]] (as Aleksey), [[Glafira Deomidova]] (as Olga). Chorus and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, dir. [[Mark Ermler]]. Studio recording, 1961, Moscow, based on 1960 Bolshoi Theatre production; CHANDOS CHAN 10002 (2CD, with libretto in Cyrillic, and translations).<ref>[http://www.operadis-opera-discography.org.uk/CLPRSTOR.HTM  Recordings of ''The Story of a Real Man''], operadis-opera-discography.org.uk</ref> The recording is abridged.<ref>See [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2003/Feb03/Prokofiev_real.htm Review by Rob Barnett]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*[[Amanda Holden (writer)|Holden, Amanda]] (Ed.), ''The New Penguin Opera Guide'', New York: Penguin Putnam, 2001. {{ISBN|0-14-029312-4}}

{{Sergei Prokofiev}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Story of a Real Man, The}}
[[Category:Operas by Sergei Prokofiev]]
[[Category:Russian-language operas]]
[[Category:Operas]]
[[Category:1948 operas]]
[[Category:Aviation operas]]
[[Category:Operas based on novels]]
[[Category:Operas set in the 20th century]]
[[Category:Operas based on real people]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Russian people]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of aviators]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of soldiers]]
[[Category:Operas set in Russia]]