en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprichnina#Organization
2 corrections found
The Oprichniki (Russian: Опричники)
Lazhechnikov’s play is usually titled Oprichnik, not Oprichniki. Authoritative opera and literary sources identify the drama in the singular.
Full reasoning
This appears to misstate the title of Ivan Lazhechnikov’s drama.
Authoritative sources identify Lazhechnikov’s play as Oprichnik (singular), not Oprichniki (plural):
- A recent Cambridge University Press article on Tchaikovsky states that the first censored stage work on Ivan IV was Ivan Lazhechnikov’s tragedy Oprichnik, and even cites the 1867 edition as Oprichnik: Tragediia v piati deistviiakh.
- The Mariinsky Theatre’s official page for Tchaikovsky’s opera says the opera’s libretto was written "after the eponymous tragedy by Ivan Lazhechnikov," which confirms that the source play had the same singular title as the opera: The Oprichnik.
So the article’s wording changes the play’s title from the singular to the plural.
2 sources
- Beneath the Oprichnik's Brocade: Investigating Tchaikovsky's Queerest Opera | Cambridge Opera Journal | Cambridge Core
"The first theatrical depiction of Ivan IV ... belonged to Ivan Lazhechnikov's tragedy Oprichnik" and note 20 cites "Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov, Oprichnik: Tragediia v piati deistviiakh".
- The Oprichnik | Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre credits the opera as: "Libretto by the composer after the eponymous tragedy by Ivan Lazhechnikov," indicating the source play had the same singular title, The Oprichnik.
(released in two parts in 1944 and 1946)
Part II was completed in the 1940s but not released in 1946. It was banned and only released in 1958.
Full reasoning
This gets the release date of Part II wrong.
Turner Classic Movies notes that Ivan the Terrible, Part II was filmed soon after Part I but "was not released until 1958" because Stalin censored it. The British Film Institute likewise lists the film as "USSR 1946/1958", reflecting completion in 1946 and release in 1958.
So it is accurate to say the two parts were made/completed in the 1940s, but not that they were released in 1944 and 1946. Part II’s public release came in 1958.
2 sources
- Ivan the Terrible Part Two - Ivan the Terrible, Part Two | TCM
TCM states that Part II "was filmed shortly after Ivan the Terrible, Part I (1945). But it was not released until 1958 ... and was censored by Stalin".
- Ivan the Terrible Pt II – The Boyars’ Plot | BFI
BFI describes the film as "USSR 1946/1958" and notes that Part II "was banned for over ten years."