The phenomenon of the Demon in the German translation of A.G. Rubinstein/P.A. Viskovatov’s libretto “The Demon” by A.F. von Offerman
The article considers Libretto scenes in “The Demon” by A. Rubinstein/P. Viskovatov a nd its translation into German by A.F. von Offerman, based on M.Yu. Lermontov's poem “Demon”. The main purpose of the article is to identify the main differences between the original text and its German translation. The article topicality is due to presenting the argument between the Angel and the Demon as the semantic center of the “sacred - demonical” opposition in the libretto. The novelty of the work lies in the fact that in this work problems of staging these pieces are for the first time comprehended in the context of a comparison of two different cultures in the mental and linguistic perspectives - German and Russian. The research methodology is a comparative analysis of the Russian and German librettos. The libretto texts by A. Rubinstein/P. Viskovatov's (1874-1879) and A.F. von Offerman's (1877-1880) are the study materials; the accompanying materials are piano scores of the libretto texts. The author concludes that there are two types of love, which are based on different concepts. The cornerstone of the Demon's love is submission, while the characteristic feature of the divine love is trust. “Trust” and “submission” take an important place in the analysis of the essence, nature of the Demon, as well as the analysis of the essence of the higher beings to whom the Angel belongs. The analysis of lexical-semantic and grammatical means, which present the phenomenon of Lermontov's Demon, give nuances to the conflict of higher hierarchies and reveal the incompatibility of the Demon's egocentric intentions with the spiritual meaning of God's love, allows us to prove the impossibility of meeting the Demon's demands: his return to the bosom of God, his connection with the angelic brethren and acquisition of Tamara's love.