Ivan the Terrible

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич, tr. Ivan Vasilevich; 3 September [O.S. 25 August] 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible (Russian:  Ива́н Гро́зный​ , Ivan Grozny), was the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and 'Tsar of All the Russias' from 1547 until his death in 1584.

His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanate of Kazan, Khanate of Astrakhan and Khanate of Sibir, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multicontinental state spanning almost one billion acres, approximately 4,046,856 km² (1,562,500 sq mi). Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval state to an empire and emerging regional power, and became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All the Russias.

Historic sources present disparate accounts of Ivan's complex personality: he was described as intelligent and devout, yet given to rages and prone to episodic outbreaks of mental illness, that increased with his age, affecting his reign. In one such outburst, he killed his groomed and chosen heir Ivan Ivanovich. This left the Tsardom to be passed to Ivan's younger son, the weak and intellectually disabled Feodor Ivanovich.

Ivan IV (opera)

Ivan IV is an opera in five acts by Georges Bizet, with a libretto by Francois-Hippolyte Leroy and Henri Trianon.

Composition history

A libretto on the subject of Tsar Ivan IV "The Terrible" of Russia was offered to Charles Gounod in January 1856 by the general administrator of the Paris Opera, François Louis Crosnier. Gounod worked with enthusiasm and press announcements anticipated that rehearsals would begin that November. Although Gounod completed the work in 1857 or 1858, failure to have it performed at the Paris Opera led Gounod to use parts of the score in later works; the Soldiers’ Chorus in Faust came from Ivan the Terrible. Gounod's score was auctioned in 1963 and destroyed shortly after.

Around 1862, with Gounod's encouragement, Bizet began work on the same libretto. In June 1865 the journal La France Musicale announced that the piece would appear at the Théâtre Lyrique that winter. Delays in getting the piece accepted prompted Bizet to offer the score to the Paris Opera, but he had no reply. The following summer, at the bidding of Léon Carvalho, director of the Théâtre Lyrique, Bizet started work on La jolie fille de Perth, and Ivan IV was forgotten.