Musicology Annotation << Back The fi rst opera opus by M. Weinberg(To the 50 anniversary of "Passenger") Alla A. Baeva The fi rst opera opus by Mieczyslaw Weinberg "The Passenger", (1968) largely defi nes the direction of the composer’s creative search and becomes his "most important" piece of music. The antifascist theme implemented in it is backbone for the composer’s output; it is the theme of opposition to the evil and violence against an individual. In this work as in other Weinberg’s compositions (among those are the Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth Symphonies, cantata "The Diary of Love", Requiem, opera "Madonna and the Soldier") the personal emotional experience of the tragedy of the Second World War is intertwined with the composer’s ethical and philosophical refl ections on the world and the ability of human being not to be broken by tragic life circumstances. "The Passenger" also refl ects in a certain way the artistic ideas topical for the Soviet theatre, cinema and art of the postwar decades. The article describes various facets of the musical-dramatic concept behind the fi rst opera opus by M. Weinberg (libretto by A. Medvedev and M. Lukin based on the novel of Z. Posmysz). The focus of the author’s attention is on Weinberg’s interpretation of the original plot, revelation in the opera trends peculiar to the given historical epoch, exposing features of its musical dramaturgy and composition. Keywords: M. Weinberg, the "Thaw"-era, Russian opera, "The Passenger", opera dramaturgy. Contacts: E-mail: bailamorena2007@rambler.ru Pp. 41-48.