The Fair at Sorochyntsi by Modest Mussorgsky. Short summary

5 seconds

Cherevik arrives at the Sorochinsky Fair with his daughter Parasya. The girl attracts the young man Gritsko, but her mother was against their marriage. The gypsy promises to help the soldier, so that he can marry Parasa.

1 minute

The action of the opera takes place in the 19th century in the village of Velikie Sorochintsy near Poltava. Cherevik comes here for the fair. He wanted to sell his horse and wheat. His daughter, the beautiful Parasya, came with him.

The gypsy wants to buy goods cheaply from the merchants. To do this, he tells them that a red scroll lives in an old barn nearby. It belongs to the devil and brings spoilage upon the inhabitants.

Parasya took a fancy to a couple of Gritzko, the son of his old pal. When Cherevik and his old friend return home in the evening his wife Hivrya is angry with him. It transpires that the groom, the very young man, has recently made fun of her. The gypsy offers to help Gritzyko, who has heard the conversation, if he will sell him the oxen cheaply.

In the evening Khivrya sends her husband out of the house to meet her lover. His courtship is interrupted by a knock at the door. Cherevik and his husband and guests arrive.