Woe from Wit

The play is set in Russia in the 1820s. In the house of the old Moscow gentleman Pavel Afanasyevich Famusov—who manages in an official position, is convinced serf-owner, and a fierce opponent of enlightenment—his former ward Alexander Andreevich Chatsky unexpectedly returns. He has long been in love with Famusov’s daughter Sophia and is eagerly awaiting the meeting with her. Three years before the events described in the comedy, Chatsky, who wanted to fulfill his duty to the Fatherland and serve it honestly, «shedding tears» parted from Sophia and went first to Petersburg, and then abroad to study. Returning from restless Europe, gripped by revolutionary movement and national liberation struggle, Chatsky is full of thoughts about the freedom of the individual, equality, and fraternity. He is very intelligent, and despite being still young, he already has a fairly rich life experience and understands perfectly what is happening in the country. He sees that in Moscow little has changed— «new houses, but old prejudices»; everything is the same…

Recording from 1945