Russian opera (
Russian: Ру́сская о́пера ''Rússkaya ópera'') is the art of opera in Russia. Operas by composers of Russian origin, written or staged outside of Russia, also belong to this category, as well as the operas of foreign composers written or intended for the Russian scene. These are not only
Russian-language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living Eas ...
operas. There are examples of Russian operas written in French, English, Italian,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
,
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...
, Japanese, or the multitude of languages of the nationalities that were part of the
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
and the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
.
Russian opera includes the works of such composers as
Glinka,
Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
,
Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
,
Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
,
Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
,
Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...
,
Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer ...
and
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
.
Searching for its typical and characteristic features, Russian opera (and Russian music as a whole), has often been under strong foreign influence. Italian, French, and German operas have served as examples, even when composers sought to introduce special, national elements into their work. This dualism, to a greater or lesser degree, has persisted throughout the whole history of Russian opera.
18th century
Opera came to Russia in the 18th century. At first there were Italian language operas presented by
Italian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ...
troupe
Troupe may refer to:
General
*Comedy troupe, a group of comedians
*Dance troupe, a group of dancers
**Fire troupe, a group of fire dancers
*Troupe system, a method of playing role-playing games
*Theatrical troupe, a group of theatrical performers
...
s. Later some foreign composers serving to the
Russian Imperial Court began writing Russian-language operas, while some Russian composers were involved into writing of the operas in Italian and French. And only at the beginning of the 1770s were the first modest attempts of the composers of Russian origin to compose operas to the Russian
librettos
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
made. This was not a real creation of Russian national opera per se, but rather a weak imitation of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
, French or
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
examples. But nevertheless, these experiments were important, and paved the way for the great achievements of 19th and 20th centuries.
Italians
Originating in Italy in c1600, opera spread all over Europe and reached Russia in 1731, when the King of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
of
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
August II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...
(based in
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
) 'loaned' his Italian opera troupe to the Russian
Empress Anna
Anna Ioannovna (russian: Анна Иоанновна; ), also russified as Anna Ivanovna and sometimes anglicized as Anne, served as regent of the duchy of Courland from 1711 until 1730 and then ruled as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. Much ...
for the celebration of her coronation in Moscow. The first opera shown in Russia was ''
Calandro
''Calandro'' is an ''opera buffa'' in three acts composed by Giovanni Alberto Ristori to a libretto by Stefano Benedetto Pallavicino. The libretto was based on the comedy '' Il Calandro'' by Bernardo Dovizi (Cardinal Bibbiena). In turn, Dovizi's ...
'' by
Giovanni Alberto Ristori
Giovanni Alberto Ristori (1692 - 7 February 1753) was an Italian opera composer and conductor.
He was the son of Tommaso Ristori, the leader of an opera troupe belonging to the King of Poland and Elector of Saxony August II the Strong (based in ...
(1692–1753), performed in Moscow in 1731 under the direction of the composer and his father Tommaso, with 13 actors and nine singers including Ludovica Seyfried, Margherita Ermini and Rosalia Fantasia.
![Francesco Araja](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Francesco_Araja.jpg)
After that Italian opera troupes were welcomed to Russia for the entertaining of the Empress and her Court. In 1735 a big Italian opera troupe led by a composer
Francesco Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 opera ...
was invited for the first time to work in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
. The first opera given by them was Araja's ''La forza dell'amore e dell'odio'', with a text by Francesco Prata, staged on 8 February
S 29 January 1736 as ''Sila lyubvi i nenavisti'' (''The Power of Love and Hatred'').
Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
’s next two productions were the
operas seria ''Il finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciuta'' to the text by Francesco Silvani given on 9 February 1737
S 28 January
S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''.
History ...
Saint Petersburg and ''Artaserse'' to the text by
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
, performed on 9 February 1738
S 28 January
S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''.
History ...
in Saint Petersburg.
Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
spent around 25-year in Russia and wrote at least 14 operas for the Russian Court.
In 1742, in connection with the celebration of the coronation of Empress
Elizaveta Petrovna
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
in Moscow the opera ''Tito Vespasiano''
'La clemenza di Tito''by
Johann Adolf Hasse
Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...
(1699–1783) was staged. A new theatre was built especially for this event. In 1743 at "Zimnij Dvorets", the (
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Emperor of all the Russias, Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The p ...
) in Saint Petersburg, instead of a small hall of "Comedie et opere" was built a new Opera House (architect
Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...
) that held about a thousand persons.
The next
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
by
Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
''Seleuco'', text by
Giuseppe Bonecchi Giuseppe Bonecchi - was an Italian poet and opera librettist.
He was brought to Russia in 1740 by Francesco Araja, an Italian composer working in Russia.
His opera ''Il Bellerofonte'', which was written for the coronation of Elizabeth of Russia, p ...
was given on 7 May
S 26 April
S, or s, is the nineteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ess'' (pronounced ), plural ''esses''.
Histor ...
1744 in Moscow as part of a double celebration of the anniversary of the coronation of
Elizaveta Petrovna
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
and conclusion of peace with Sweden.
The staging of
Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
’s
opera seria
''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
''Bellerofonte'', text by
Giuseppe Bonecchi Giuseppe Bonecchi - was an Italian poet and opera librettist.
He was brought to Russia in 1740 by Francesco Araja, an Italian composer working in Russia.
His opera ''Il Bellerofonte'', which was written for the coronation of Elizabeth of Russia, p ...
(9 December 1750
S 28 November Saint Petersburg) was notable for the participation of a Russian singer from "pevchie" of the Court Capella, Mark Poltoratski, who played the role of Ataman, a nobleman of Kingdom of Likia.
The first opera written in Russian was
Araja
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
’s ''
Tsefal i Prokris
''Cephalus and Prokris'' (russian: Цефал и Прокрис – ''Tsefal i Prokris''), is an opera seria in three acts by the Italian composer Francesco Araja. Dating to 1755, it was the first opera written in the Russian language.
Araja compo ...
'' (''Cephalus and Prokris'', libretto by
Alexander Sumarokov
Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Сумаро́ков; , Moscow – , Moscow) was a Russian poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia, thus assisting Mikhail Lomonos ...
) that was staged at Saint Petersburg on 7 March,
S 27 February 1755.
The second opera set to a Russian text was ''Alceste'', 1758, libretto by
Alexander Sumarokov
Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (russian: Алекса́ндр Петро́вич Сумаро́ков; , Moscow – , Moscow) was a Russian poet and playwright who single-handedly created classical theatre in Russia, thus assisting Mikhail Lomonos ...
) by German composer
Hermann Raupach
Hermann Friedrich Raupach (December 21, 1728 – December 12, 1778) was an 18th-century German composer.
Biography
Hermann Raupach was born at Stralsund in Germany, the son and pupil of composer and organist Christoph Raupach (1686-1744) and ...
(1728–1778) also serving to the Russian Court. Raupach spent 18 years in Russia and died in Saint Petersburg in 1778.
In 1757 a private opera enterprise directed by
Giovanni Battista Locatelli (1713 – c. 1770) was invited to Saint Petersburg. They had shown an opera every week for the court, and two-three times a week they were allowed to give open public performances. The repertoire was mostly of Italian
opera buffa
''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
. For the first three years the troupe had presented the seven operas by
Baldassare Galuppi
Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.  ...
(1706–1785) including ''Il mondo della luna'' (''The World of the Moon''), ''
Il Filosofo di campagna
''Il filosofo di campagna'' (''The Country Philosopher'') is a dramma giocoso per musica in 3 acts by composer Baldassare Galuppi. The opera uses an Italian language libretto by Carlo Goldoni. The work premiered at the Teatro San Samuele
Teatro ...
'' (''The Village Philosopher''), and ''Il mondo alla roversa, ossia Le donne che commandono'' (''The Worlds Upside Down, or Women Command'').
In the 1760–80s in Russia there were working in turn
Venetian
Venetian often means from or related to:
* Venice, a city in Italy
* Veneto, a region of Italy
* Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area
Venetian and the like may also refer to:
* Venetian language, a Romance language s ...
Galuppi
Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.&nb ...
,
Manfredini from
Pistoia
Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a typi ...
,
Traetta
Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic ref ...
from
Bitonto
Bitonto (; nap, label= Bitontino, Vetònde) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari (Apulia region), Italy. It lies to the west of Bari. It is nicknamed the "City of Olives", due to the numerous olive groves surrounding the cit ...
near
Barri
In Norse mythology, Barri is the place where Freyr and Gerðr are to consummate their union, as stated in the ''Skírnismál'':
:Barri the grove is named,
:which we both know,
:the grove of tranquil paths.
:Nine nights hence,
:there to Niörd’s ...
,
Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.
Life
Paisiello was born in T ...
from
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
,
Sarti
The Italian language surname Sarti is derived from the occupation of tailor. Notable people with the surname include:
*Adolfo Sarti (1928–1992), Italian Christian Democrat politician
*Alessio Sarti (born 1979), Italian football (soccer) goalkee ...
,
Cimarosa from
Campania
Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...
, and
Spaniard
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both ind ...
Martin y Soler Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...
. Each of them brought an important contribution, producing operas to the Italian as well as Russian libretti. Here are listed some of the operas written and premiered in Russia:
Vincenzo Manfredini
Vincenzo Manfredini (22 October 1737 – 5 or 16 August 1799) was an Italian composer, harpsichordist and a music theorist.
Biography
Manfredini was born in Pistoia, near Florence.
He studied music with his father, Francesco Onofrio Manfre ...
(1737–1799) spent 12 years in Russia and died in Saint Petersburg. The son and pupil of famous baroque composer
Francesco Manfredini
Francesco Onofrio Manfredini (22 June 1684 – 6 October 1762) was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and church musician.
He was born at Pistoia to a trombonist. He studied violin with Giuseppe Torelli in Bologna, then a part of the Papal ...
, he was a music teacher for
Pavel Petrovich
Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...
who later became Emperor of Russia. For the Russian Imperial Court Manfredini wrote five operas including: ''Semiramide'' (1760, Saint Petersburg), ''L'Olimpiade'' (1762 Moscow) and ''Carlo Magn''o (1763 Saint Petersburg).
Image:Tommaso traetta.jpg, Tommaso Traetta
Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic ref ...
Image:PaiselloVigeeLeBrun.jpg, Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.
Life
Paisiello was born in T ...
Image:Giuseppe Sarti (1729-1802).jpg, Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer.
Biography
He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...
Image:Domenico Cimarosa (recomposed).jpg, Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of his ...
Tommaso Traetta
Tommaso Michele Francesco Saverio Traetta (30 March 1727 – 6 April 1779) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan School. Along with other composers mainly in the Holy Roman Empire and France, he was responsible for certain operatic ref ...
(1727–1779) was a ''
maestro di cappella
(, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
'' at the
Russian Imperial Court for eight years (1768–1775, and wrote there five operas, including: ''Astrea placata'' (1770 Saint Petersburg), ''Antigone'' (1772 Saint Petersburg), and ''Le quattro stagioni e i dodici mesi dell'anno'' (1776
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
).
Giovanni Paisiello
Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini.
Life
Paisiello was born in T ...
(1740–1816), a famous Neapolitan composer of more than 100 operas
seria
Seria () is a town in Belait District, Brunei, about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei in 1929 and has since become a centre for the countr ...
and
buffa, he spent in Russia eight years (1776–1783), where he wrote 12 operas including ''Nitteti'' (1777 Saint Petersburg), ''Lucinda e Armidoro'' (1777 Saint Petersburg), ''Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile'' (1782
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
), and ''Il mondo della luna'' (1782
Kamenny Island Theatre
The Kamenny Island Theatre (also known as the Stone Island Theatre, in Russian: Каменноостровский театр) is a wooden theatre on the grounds of the Kamennoostrovsky Palace, Kamenny Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the ...
).
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer.
Biography
He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...
(1729–1802), a composer of about 40 operas, he spent in Russia eighteen years (1784–1802). After being for eight years a ''
maestro di cappella
(, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
'' at the Imperial Court, he spent the next four years at the service of Prince
Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin
Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (, also , ;, rus, Князь Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Потёмкин-Таври́ческий, Knjaz' Grigórij Aleksándrovich Potjómkin-Tavrícheskij, ɡrʲɪˈɡ ...
at his estate in Southern Russia. Then he returned to the Court. In 1801 he solicited permission to return, because his health was broken. The emperor
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to:
* Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC
* Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus
* Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome
* Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...
dismissed him in 1802 with a liberal pension. Sarti died in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
. His most successful operas in Russia were ''Armida e Rinaldo'' and ''The Early Reign of Oleg'' (Nachal'noye upravleniye Olega), for the latter of which the empress herself wrote the libretto. Among the nine operas written in Russia are also: ''Gli amanti consolati'' (1784 Saint Petersburg), ''I finti eredi'' (1785 Saint Petersburg,
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
), ''Castore e Polluce'' (1786
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
) and ''La famille indienne en Angleterre'' (1799 Saint Petersburg,
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
).
Domenico Cimarosa
Domenico Cimarosa (; 17 December 1749 – 11 January 1801) was an Italian composer of the Neapolitan school and of the Classical period. He wrote more than eighty operas, the best known of which is ''Il matrimonio segreto'' (1792); most of his ...
, (1749–1801) another famous Neapolitan composer, singer, violinist, harpsichordist, conductor ant teacher, who composed about 75 operas, was a ''
maestro di cappella
(, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...
'' in Russia for five years (1787–1791), where he wrote: ''La felicità inaspettata'' (1788
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
), ''La vergine del sol'e (1788?
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
; 1789 Saint Petersburg,
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
) and ''La Cleopatra'' (''Cleopatra e Marc Antonio'' 1789
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
)
Vicente Martín y Soler
Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler (2 May 175430 January or 10 February 1806) was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his ...
(1754–1806) a Spanish organist and composer of 21 operas and 5 ballets, he settled in Russia c1788, where he was called "Martini". He wrote there: ''Gore-Bogatyr Kosometovich'' (libretto by
Catherine II of Russia
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...
, 1789
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
) with overture on three Russian tunes, ''Pesnolyubie'' (1790
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
), and ''La festa del villagio'' (1798
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
).
Two of his operas premiered in Vienna, but also staged in Russia, ''Una cosa rara, o sia Bellezza ed onestà'' (''The Rare Thing'') and ''L'arbore di Diana'' (''Diana's Tree'') were especially popular. The first of them performed in Russian translation of
Ivan Dmitrievsky
Ivan Afanasyevich Dmitrevsky (russian: link=no, Ива́н Афана́сьевич Дмитре́вский) (February 28, 1734 in Yaroslavl – October 27, 1821 in Saint Petersburg) is generally regarded as the most influential actor of Russ ...
had some elements of the antifeudal directivity. He died in Saint Petersburg in January 1806.
Ivan Kerzelli
Ivan Kerzelli or Cherzelli (also known as I. I. Kerzelli, or Iosif Kertsel, Russian: Иван Керцелли, И. И. Керцелли, or Иосиф Керцель) was an opera composer and conductor in Imperial Russia of 18th century.
He wa ...
(also known as I. I. Kerzelli, or Iosif Kertsel) was a representative of a big family of foreign musicians
Kerzelli Kerzelli (Russian: ''Керцелли'', ''Керцель'' or ''Керцеллий''; also spelled ''Cherzelli'', ''Kerzelly'', ''Kertsel'', ''Kercel'', ''Kerzel'', or ''Kerzell'') is the surname of a large family of musicians of Italian, Czech or ...
(probably of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
origin), settled in Russia in the 18th century. He is regarded as a composer of a few famous operas: ''Lyubovnik – koldun'' (''The Lover-Magician'' 1772 Moscow), ''Rozana i Lyubim'' (''Rozana und Lyubim'' 1778, Moscow), ''Derevenskiy vorozheya'' (''The Village Wizard'' c. 1777 Moscow) (Overture and songs were printed in Moscow 1778; They were the first opera fragments printed in Russia) and ''Guljanye ili sadovnik kuskovskoy'' (''Promenade or the Gardener from Kuskovo'' 1780 or 1781
Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
, Private Theatre of Count
Nikolai Sheremetev
Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Никола́й Петро́вич Шереметев) (28 June 1751 - 2 January 1809 O.S., 9 July 1751 - 14 January 1809 N.S.) was a Russian count, the son of Petr Borisovich Sheremetev, notable grandee ...
).
Antoine Bullant
Antoine Bullant, also Anton Bullandt (russian: Антон Булландт or Антуан Бюлан, 9 February 1751 in Mělník, Bohemia – 25 S 13June 1821 St Petersburg) was a Czech musician ( bassoon player) and opera composer that ...
(also known as Antoine or Jean Bullant, 1750–1821), another composer of
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
*Czech, ...
origin settled in Russia in 1780 wrote a large number of operas with Russian
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
s, often within Russian national settings. He was especially famous for his
comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
''
Sbitenshchik
Sbitenshchik (Russian: сбитенщик) was a sbiten vendor and was spread in Old Rus' regions of Novgorod, Kiev, Moscow and other Rus' cities and regions. The vendor was used for the preparation and serving of the traditional honey-based bever ...
'' (''Сбитеньщик —
Sbiten
Sbiten (russian: сбитень) or vzvar (взвар) is a traditional East Slavic ( Belarusian, Ukrainian, Russian) hot winter beverage. It has a dark purple appearance and, depending on the recipe, can be very spicy and/or very sweet. It used ...
Vendor''),
comic opera
Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue.
Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...
in 3 acts, written to the libretto by
Yakov Knyazhnin
Yakov Borisovich Knyazhnin (russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Княжни́н, November 3, 1742 or 1740, Pskov – January 1, 1791, St Petersburg) was Russia's foremost tragic author during the reign of Catherine the Great. Knyazhnin's cont ...
(remake of
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
's ''
L'école des femmes
''The School for Wives'' (french: L'école des femmes; ) is a theatrical comedy written by the seventeenth century French playwright Molière and considered by some critics to be one of his finest achievements. It was first staged at the Palai ...
''). The opera was staged 1783 or 1784 in Saint Petersburg, at the
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
, and was played until 1853.
There were also extremely popular the operas by
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...
/French
André Ernest Modeste Grétry
André — sometimes transliterated as Andre — is the French and Portuguese form of the name Andrew, and is now also used in the English-speaking world. It used in France, Quebec, Canada and other French-speaking countries. It is a variation o ...
(1741–1813), like ''L'Amitié à l'épreuve'' (first staged 1779,
Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
theatre) or ''Les Mariages samnites'' that was performed during 12 years (since 1885,
Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
,
Ostankino theatres) with serf-soprano
Praskovya Zhemchugova
Praskovia Ivanovna Kovalyova-Zhemchugova also Kovaleva or Kovalyova, Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, Zhemchugova-Sheremeteva, and Sheremeteva or Sheremetyeva (''Прасковья Ивановна Жемчугова'', ''Ковалёва'', ''Шерем ...
at the private opera of
Nikolai Sheremetev
Nikolai Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Никола́й Петро́вич Шереметев) (28 June 1751 - 2 January 1809 O.S., 9 July 1751 - 14 January 1809 N.S.) was a Russian count, the son of Petr Borisovich Sheremetev, notable grandee ...
.
Russians
Two talented young Russians
Berezovsky Berezovsky or Berezowski ( ) is a surname of Slavic-language origin.
Family nest of Berezovsky (gentry) is Bereziv village (nowadays 4 villages) in Ivano-Frankivsk region, Ukraine.
People
* Antoni Berezowski (1847–1916), Polish revolutionary
...
and
Bortniansky
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky ; ; alternative transcriptions of names are ''Dmitri Bortnianskii'', and ''Bortnyansky'', group=n (28 October 1751 – ) was a Russian Empire, Russian Imperial composer of Ukrainian Cossacks, Ukrainian Cossack ori ...
were sent by
Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
to Italy to study art of
music composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...
.
Maksym Berezovsky
Maxim Sozontovich Berezovsky (russian: Макси́м Созо́нтович Березо́вский , uk, Максим Созонтович Березовський, translit=Maksym Sozontovych Berezovskyi; (?) — 2 April 1777) was a compos ...
(1745–1777) went to Italy in the spring of 1769 to train with Padre
Giovanni Battista Martini
Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv. (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period ...
at the
Bologna Philharmonic Academy, where he graduated with distinction. He wrote an opera seria ''
Demofoonte
''Demofonte'' (also ''Demofoonte''; ''Il Demofoonte''; ''Demofoonte, ré di Tracia'' ing of Thrace ''Démophon''; ''Demophontes''; or ''Dirce, L'usurpatore innocente'' irce, the Innocent Usurper is an opera seria libretto by Metastasio. The lib ...
'' to the Italian libretto by
Pietro Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
for the carnival at
Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
(staged February 1773).
Dmytro Bortniansky
Dmitry Stepanovich Bortniansky ; ; alternative transcriptions of names are ''Dmitri Bortnianskii'', and ''Bortnyansky'', group=n (28 October 1751 – ) was a Russian Imperial composer of Ukrainian Cossack origin. He was a composer, harpsichordi ...
(1751–1825), a pupil of
Hermann Raupach
Hermann Friedrich Raupach (December 21, 1728 – December 12, 1778) was an 18th-century German composer.
Biography
Hermann Raupach was born at Stralsund in Germany, the son and pupil of composer and organist Christoph Raupach (1686-1744) and ...
and
Baldassare Galuppi
Baldassare Galuppi (18 October 17063 January 1785) was an Italian composer, born on the island of Burano in the Venetian Republic. He belonged to a generation of composers, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and C.  ...
, went to Italy following his teacher Galuppi. In Italy, Bortniansky gained considerable success composing operas: ''Creonte'' (1776) and ''Alcide'' (1778) in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, and ''Quinto Fabio'' (1779) at
Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
.
Bortniansky returned to the court at Saint Petersburg in 1779 where he composed four more operas (all in French, with
libretti
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
by Franz-Hermann Lafermière): ''Le Faucon'' (1786), ''Le Fete du Seigneur'' (1786), ''Don Carlos'' (1786), and ''Le Fils-Rival ou La Moderne Stratonice'' (1787).
At the same time in Russia, a successful one-act opera ''
Anyuta
''Anyuta'' (russian: Аню́та) is a one-act comic opera to a libretto by Mikhail Ivanovich Popov, Mikhail Popov. First performed in 1772, it was one of the first operas written in the Russian language.
The collection of Popov's poems, tran ...
'' (
Chinese Theatre
Theatre of China has a long and complex history. Traditional Chinese theatre, generally in the form of Chinese opera, is musical theatre, musical in nature. Chinese theatre can trace its origin back a few millennia to ancient China, but the Chine ...
, 6 September
S 26 August 1772) was created to the text by
Mikhail Vasilyevich Popov. Music was a selection of popular songs specified in the libretto. It is a story about a girl called Anyuta, brought up in a peasants’ household, who in fact turned out to be of noble birth, and the story of her love for a nobleman, Victor, eventually ending happily, with wedding bells ringing. The score does not survive and the composer of it is unknown, however, sometimes it was attributed to
Vasily Pashkevich
Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich also Paskevich (russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Пашке́вич or Паске́вич) (c. 1742, probably Ukraine – March 20, 1797 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian composer, singer, violini ...
or even to
Yevstigney Fomin
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin (russian: Евстигне́й Ипа́тьевич Фоми́н) (born St. Petersburg – died St. Petersburg c ) was a Russian opera composer of Ukrainian originShuliar, Orest: History of Vocal Art. Ivano- ...
who that time was just 11 years old.
The music of another successful Russian opera ''Melnik – koldun, obmanshchik i svat'' (''The Miller who was a Wizard, a Cheat and a Match-maker'', text by
Alexander Ablesimov
Aleksander Onisimovich Ablesimov ( rus, Алекса́ндр Они́симович Абле́симов, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈnʲisʲɪməvʲɪtɕ ɐˈblʲesʲɪməf, a=Ru-Aleksander Onisimovich Ablesimov.oga; — 1783) was a Russian opera lib ...
, Moscow, 1779), on a subject resembling
Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
’s ''
Le Devin du village
''Le devin du village'' ("The Village Soothsayer") is a one-act French opera (intermède) by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who also wrote the libretto. It was the first work in the repertory of the Académie Royale de Musique for which the text and music ...
'', is attributed to a theatre violin player and conductor
Mikhail Matveyevich Sokolovsky
Mikhail Matveyevich Sokolovsky (russian: Михаи́л Матве́евич Соколо́вский (1756 – after 1795) was a late 18th-century Russians, Russian opera composer, conducting, conductor and violinist.
Sokolovsky played the violi ...
, Mikhail Sokolovsky (c. 1756–?). Later the music was revised by
Yevstigney Fomin
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin (russian: Евстигне́й Ипа́тьевич Фоми́н) (born St. Petersburg – died St. Petersburg c ) was a Russian opera composer of Ukrainian originShuliar, Orest: History of Vocal Art. Ivano- ...
.
Vasily Pashkevich
Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich also Paskevich (russian: Васи́лий Алексе́евич Пашке́вич or Паске́вич) (c. 1742, probably Ukraine – March 20, 1797 in St. Petersburg) was a Russian composer, singer, violini ...
(1742–1797), a Russian composer was famous for his comic opera ''The Miser''. Its roles are: Scriagin, Liubima’s guardian; Liubima, his niece; Milovid, her beloved; Marfa, the servant girl that Scriagin is in love with; Prolaz, Milovid’s manservant who is in Scriagin’s service. Accordingly the speech and the names of the characters of
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
's comedy were turned into Russian as well as the music that combines some features of European form with typically Russian melodies. Another his opera ''
Fevey
''Fevey'' is an opera by Vasily Pashkevich to a Russian libretto by Catherine II of Russia.
Empress Catherine II had literary ambitions and wrote nine opera librettos. This one, an allegorical fairy tale, was called ''The Story of Tsarevich Fe ...
'' was written to the libretto by
Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
. Other operas are: ''The Carriage Accident'' (''Neschastye ot karety'', 1779 Saint Petersburg,
Karl Kniper Theatre, ''St Petersburg Bazaar'' (''Sankt Peterburgskiy Gostinyi Dvor'', 1782 Saint Petersburg),
Kniper Theatre
Knipper Theatre, ''Kniper Theatre'' or ''Knieper Theatre'' (russian: link=no, Театр Карла Книпера) was the venue of a German theatrical troupe led by Karl Kniper which performed in Saint Petersburg beginning in 1775,E.S. Khodorko ...
, ''The Burden Is Not Heavy if It Is Yours'' (''Svoya nosha ne tyanet'', 1794), ''The Early Reign of Oleg'' (''Nachal'noye upravleniye Olega'', libretto by Catherine II, 1790 Saint Petersburg)– together with
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti (also Sardi; baptised 1 December 1729 – 28 July 1802) was an Italian opera composer.
Biography
He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born o ...
and C. Cannobio), ''Fedul and His Children'' (''Fedul s det'mi'', libretto by Catherine II, 1791 Saint Petersburg) – together with
Martin y Soler Martin may refer to:
Places
* Martin City (disambiguation)
* Martin County (disambiguation)
* Martin Township (disambiguation)
Antarctica
* Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land
* Port Martin, Adelie Land
* Point Martin, South Orkney Islands
Austral ...
), ''The Pasha of Tunis'' (''Pasha tunisskiy'', 1782 libretto by
Mikhail Matinsky
Mikhail Alexeyevich Matinsky (russian: Михаил Алексеевич Матинский, 1750 – c. 1820) was a Russian scientist, dramatist, librettist and opera composer.
Biography
Matinsky originated from the serfs of Count Sergey Yaguzhi ...
) and ''You Shall Be Judged As You Lived'' (''Kak pozhivyosh', tak i proslyvyosh'' 1792
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
) — rev. of ''St Petersburg Bazaar''.
![Evstigney Fomin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Evstigney_Fomin.jpg)
Italian-trained
Yevstigney Fomin
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin (russian: Евстигне́й Ипа́тьевич Фоми́н) (born St. Petersburg – died St. Petersburg c ) was a Russian opera composer of Ukrainian originShuliar, Orest: History of Vocal Art. Ivano- ...
(1761–1800) composed about 30 operas including the most successful opera-melodrama ''Orfey i Evridika'' to the text by
Yakov Knyazhnin
Yakov Borisovich Knyazhnin (russian: Я́ков Бори́сович Княжни́н, November 3, 1742 or 1740, Pskov – January 1, 1791, St Petersburg) was Russia's foremost tragic author during the reign of Catherine the Great. Knyazhnin's cont ...
. Among his other operas are: ''The Novgorod Hero Boyeslayevich'' (''Novgorodskiy bogatyr’ Boyeslayevich'', text by
Catherine II
, en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes
, house =
, father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst
, mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp
, birth_date =
, birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anha ...
, 1786 Saint Petersburg), ''The Coachmen at the Relay Station'' (''Yamshchiki na podstave'' 1787 Saint Petersburg), ''Soirées'' (''Vecherinki, ili Gaday, gaday devitsa'', 1788 Saint Petersburg), ''Magician, Fortune-teller and Match-maker'' (''Koldun, vorozheya i svakha'' 1789 Saint Petersburg), ''The Miller who was a Wizard, a Cheat and a Match-maker'' (''Melnik – koldun, obmanshchik i svat'', 1779 Moscow, originally:
Mikhail Sokolovsky), ''The Americans'' (''Amerikantsy'', comic opera, 1800 Saint Petersburg), ''Chloris and Milo'' (''Klorida i Milon'', 1800 Saint Petersburg), and ''The Golden Apple'' (''Zolotoye yabloko'', 1803 Saint Petersburg).
19th century
The 19th century was the
golden age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...
of Russian opera. It began with a success of a massive and slowly developing operatic project: the opera ''Lesta, dneprovskaya rusalka'' and its three sequels (1803–1807, first in Saint Petersburg) based on the German romantic-comic piece ''Das Donauweibchen'' by
Ferdinand Kauer
Ferdinand August Kauer (18 January 1751 – 13 April 1831) was an Austrians, Austrian composer and pianist.
Biography
Kauer was born in Klein-Thaya (today Dyjákovičky) near Znojmo in South Moravian Region, South Moravia). He studied in Znojmo, T ...
(1751–1831) with the Russian text and additional music by Russianized Venetian immigrant
Catterino Cavos
Catterino Albertovich Cavos (: Catarino Camillo Cavos; russian: Катери́но Альбе́ртович Ка́вос) (October 30, 1775 – May 10 ( OS April 28), 1840), born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and co ...
(1775–1840) and
Stepan Davydov
Stepan Ivanovich Davydov (russian: Степа́н Ива́нович Давы́дов, uk, Степа́н Іва́нович Давидів born: January 12 S January 11777 – died: May 21 S May 91825 Moscow) was an Imperial Russian composer ...
(1777–1825).
The next success was a patriotic opera ''Ivan Susanin'' (1815) by
Cavos based on an episode from
Russian history
The history of Russia begins with the histories of the East Slavs. The traditional start-date of specifically Russian history is the establishment of the Rus' people, Rus' state in the north in 862, ruled by Varangians. Staraya Ladoga and Veli ...
.
This success was continued with the brilliant operatic career of
Alexey Verstovsky
Alexey Nikolayevich Verstovsky (russian: Алексéй Никола́евич Верстóвский) () was a Russian composer, musical bureaucrat and rival of Mikhail Glinka.
Biography
Alexey Verstovsky was born at Seliverstovo Estate, Kozlo ...
(1799–1862), who composed more 30 opera-vaudevilles and 6 grand-operas including ''
Askold's Grave
Askold's Grave ( uk, Аскольдова могила, translit=Askoldova Mohyla) is a historical park on the steep right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv between Mariinskyi Park and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex.
Overview
The park was crea ...
'' (''Askoldova mogila'', first performed in 1835) that received about 200 performances in Saint Petersburg and 400 in Moscow only for the first 25 years.
![Mikhail Glinka 1840](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Mikhail_Glinka_1840.jpg)
However the most important events in the history of Russian opera were two great operas by
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, link=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka., mʲɪxɐˈil ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recogni ...
(1804–1857) ''
A Life for the Tsar
''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name ''Ivan Susanin' ...
'', (''Zhizn za tzarya'', originally entitled ''Ivan Susanin'' 1836) and ''
Ruslan and Lyudmila Ruslan may refer to:
* ''Ruslan'' (film), a 2009 film starring Steven Segal
* Ruslan (given name), male name used mainly in Slavic countries, with list of people
* Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan'', large Soviet cargo aircraft, later built in Ukraine and ...
'' (based on the tale by
Alexander Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
, 1842. These two works inaugurated a new era in Russian music and upraise of Russian national opera.
![Alexander Dargomyzhsky](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/Alexander_Dargomyzhsky.jpg)
Since these, opera became a leading genre for the most of Russian composers. Glinka was followed by
Alexander Dargomyzhsky
Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky ( rus, link=no, Александр Сергеевич Даргомыжский, Aleksandr Sergeyevich Dargomyzhskiy., ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪdʑ dərɡɐˈmɨʂskʲɪj, Ru-Aleksandr-Sergeevich- ...
(1813–1869) with his ''
Rusalka
In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalky/rusalki; ; pl, rusałka}) is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melus ...
'' (1856) and revolutionary ''
The Stone Guest'' (''Kamenny gost'', completed by
Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
and premiered in 1872).
Other composers were:
*
Semen Hulak-Artemovsky
Semen Stepanovych Hulak-Artemovsky ( uk, Семен Степанович Гулак-Артемовський, also referred to as Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky and Artemovs’kyj) ( – ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian opera composer, singer (baritone), ...
(1813–1873) with his 3 operas including ''
Zaporozhets za Dunayem
''Zaporozhets za Dunayem'' ( uk, Запорожець за Дунаєм, translated as ''A Zaporozhian (Cossack) Beyond the Danube'', also referred to as ''Cossacks in Exile'') is a Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with mu ...
'' (1863);
*
Alexander Serov
Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Серо́в, Saint Petersburg, – Saint Petersburg, ) was a Russian composer and music critic. He is notable as one of the most important music critics in ...
(1820–1871) with his ''
Judith'' (1863) ''
Rogneda
Rogneda of Polotsk (962–1002) is the Slavic name for Ragnheiðr, a Princess consort of Rus'. She was the daughter of Ragnvald (Slavic: Rogvolod) who came from Scandinavia and established himself at Polotsk in the mid-10th century.
Life
It ...
'' (1865) ''
The Power of the Fiend
''The Power of the Fiend'' (russian: Вражья сила, ''Vrazhya sila'') is an opera in five acts by Alexander Serov, composed during 1867-1871. The libretto is derived from a drama by Alexander Ostrovsky from 1854 entitled '' Live Not As You ...
'' (''Vrazhya sila'', 1871);
*
Anton Rubinstein
Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sai ...
(1829–1894) with his 19 operas including ''
The Demon'' (1875 Saint Petersburg);
*
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui ( rus, Це́зарь Анто́нович Кюи́, , ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi, links=no, Ru-Tsezar-Antonovich-Kyui.ogg; french: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui, links=no, italic=no; 13 March 1918) was a Ru ...
(1835–1918), with his 14 operas including ''
William Ratcliff'' (1861–1868);
*
Eduard Nápravník
Eduard Francevič Nápravník (Russian: Эдуа́рд Фра́нцевич Напра́вник; 24 August 1839 – 10 November 1916) was a Czech conductor and composer. Nápravník settled in Russia and is best known for his leading role in Rus ...
(1839–1916), with his 4 operas including ''
Dubrovsky'' (1895);
*
Sergei Taneyev
Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev (russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Тане́ев, ; – ) was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.
Life
Taneyev was born in Vladimir, Vladimir Governorate, Russia ...
(1856–1915), with ''
Oresteia
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of th ...
'', (1895, Saint Petersburg);
*
Anton Arensky
Anton Stepanovich Arensky (russian: Анто́н Степа́нович Аре́нский; – ) was a Russian composer of Romantic classical music, a pianist and a professor of music.
Biography
Arensky was born into an affluent, music-loving ...
(1861–1906), with his 3 operas including ''A Dream on the Volga'' (1880).
Russian opera reached its apogee with the works by
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
and his antipode
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
.
File:Modest Musorgskiy, 1870.jpg, Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
Image:Der junge Tschaikowski.jpg, Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
Image:Aleksandr Borodin.jpg, Aleksandr Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
Image:NARK.jpg, Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
Modest Mussorgsky
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...
's (1839–1881) ''
Boris Godunov
Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
'' remains the greatest masterpiece of Russian opera, despite what many consider to be serious technical faults and a bewildering array of versions (Original Version of 1869, Revised Version of 1872,
Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
Edition of 1908,
Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...
Edition of 1940, etc.). His other operas were left unfinished:
*''
Salammbô
''Salammbô'' (1862) is a historical novel by Gustave Flaubert. It is set in Carthage immediately before and during the Mercenary Revolt (241–237 BCE). Flaubert's principal source was Book I of the '' Histories'', written by the Greek his ...
'' (1866)
*''
Zhenit'ba'' (''The Marriage'', 1868)
*''
Khovanshchina
''Khovanshchina'' ( rus, Хованщина, , xɐˈvanʲɕːɪnə, Ru-Khovanshchina_version.ogg, sometimes rendered ''The Khovansky Affair'') is an opera (subtitled a 'national music drama') in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was writte ...
'' (1872–1880)
*''
The Fair at Sorochyntsi
''The Fair at Sorochyntsi'' (russian: Сорочинская ярмарка, ''Sorochinskaya yarmarka'', '' Sorochyntsi Fair'') is a comic opera in three acts by Modest Mussorgsky, composed between 1874 and 1880 in St. Petersburg, Russia. The compo ...
'' (1874–1880)
Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
(1840–1893) completed ten operas including the most famous ''
Eugene Onegin
''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...
'' (''Yevgeny Onegin''), 1877–1878, 1879 Moscow and ''
The Queen of Spades'' (''Pikovaya dama''), 1890, 1890 Saint Petersburg, which now belong to the world's
standard repertoire. His other operas are:
*''
Voyevoda
Voivode (, also spelled ''voievod'', ''voevod'', ''voivoda'', ''vojvoda'' or ''wojewoda'') is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. It primarily referred to the m ...
'' (''The Voivode''), 1867–1868, destroyed by the composer, but posthumously reconstructed
*''
Undina
Undines (; also ondines) are a category of elemental beings associated with water, stemming from the alchemical writings of Paracelsus. Later writers developed the undine into a water nymph in its own right, and it continues to live in modern li ...
'' (or ''Undine''), 1869, not completed, partly destroyed by the composer
*''
The Oprichnik
''The Oprichnik'' or ''The Guardsman'' (russian: Опричник ) is an opera in 4 acts, 5 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his own libretto after the tragedy ''The Oprichniks'' ( rus, Опричники) by Ivan Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) ...
'', 1870–1872, 1874 Saint Petersburg
*''
Vakula the Smith
''Vakula the Smith'' (russian: Кузнец Вакула, Kuznéts Vakúla, Smith Vakula ), Op. 14, is a Ukrainian-themed opera in 3 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Yakov Polonsky and is based on Nikolai G ...
'' (''Kuznets Vakula''), 1874, 1876 Saint Petersburg
*''
The Maid of Orleans'' (''Orleanskaya deva''), 1878–1879, 1881 Saint Petersburg
*''
Mazepa
Ivan Stepanovych Mazepa (also spelled Mazeppa; uk, Іван Степанович Мазепа, pl, Jan Mazepa Kołodyński; ) was a Ukrainian military, political, and civic leader who served as the Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708. ...
'' 1881–1883, 1884 Moscow
*''
Cherevichki
''Cherevichki'' (russian: Черевички , ua, Черевички, ''Cherevichki'', ''Čerevički'', ''The Slippers''; alternative renderings are ''The Little Shoes'', ''The Tsarina's Slippers'', ''The Empress's Slippers'', ''The Golden Slippe ...
'' (rev. of ''Vakula the Smith'') 1885, 1887 Moscow
*''
The Enchantress'' (also ''The Sorceress'' or ''Charodeyka''), 1885–1887, 1887 Saint Petersburg
*''
Iolanta
''Iolanta'', Op. 69, (russian: Иоланта, links=no ) is a lyric opera in one act by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It was the last opera he composed. The libretto was written by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, and is based on the Danish play ...
'' (''Iolanthe''), 1891, 1892 Saint Petersburg
Not less important was
Aleksandr Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
’s (1833–1887) ''
Prince Igor
''Prince Igor'' ( rus, Князь Игорь, Knyáz Ígor ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which re ...
'' – (''Knyaz Igor'', completed by
Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
and
Alexander Glazunov
Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...
, 1890).
Prolific
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
(1844–1908) completed fifteen operas, the most significant achievements of the art of opera in Russia at the end of the century. The most notable of them are:
*''
May Night
''May Night'' ( rus, Майская ночь, Mayskaya noch ) is a comic opera in three acts, four scenes, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov from a libretto by the composer and is based on Nikolai Gogol's story " May Night, or the Drowned Maiden", from hi ...
'' (''Majskaja noch'') 1878–1879
*''
The Snow Maiden
''The Snow Maiden'' (subtitle: A Spring Fairy Tale) ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–vesénnyaya skázka, italic=yes ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed ...
'' (''Snegurochka'' 1881 1st version, premiered 1882, Saint Petersburg; c. 1895 2nd version)
*''
Sadko
Sadko (russian: Садко) is the principal character in a Russian medieval epic ''bylina''. He was an adventurer, merchant, and ''gusli'' musician from Novgorod.
Textual notes
"Sadko" is a version of the tale translated by Arthur Ransome in ...
'' (1896, premiered 1898, Moscow)
*''
The Tsar's Bride
''The Tsar's Bride'' (russian: Царская невеста, translit=Tsarskaja nevesta) is an historical verse drama in four acts by Lev Mei from 1849.Golub (1998, 951). Fifty years later Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov used the play as the basis for h ...
'' (''Tsarskaya nevesta''1898, premiered 1899, Moscow)
*''
The Tale of Tsar Saltan
The Tale of Tsar Saltan, of His Son the Renowned and Mighty Bogatyr Prince Gvidon Saltanovich, and of the Beautiful Princess-Swan ( rus, «Сказка о царе Салтане, о сыне его славном и могучем богаты ...
'' (''Skazka o tsare Saltane'', premiered 1900, Moscow)
*''
Kashchey the Immortal
''Kashchey the Immortal'' (subtitle: A Little Autumn Fairy Tale) ( rus, Кащей бессмертный, Kashchéy bessmértny , ''Kashchey the Immortal'') is a one-act opera in three scenes by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The libretto was written ...
'' (''Kashchey bessmertny'', 1902)
*''
'' (''Skazanie o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii'', 1904)
*''
The Golden Cockerel
''The Golden Cockerel'' ( rus, Золотой петушок, Zolotoy petushok ) is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his last opera he completed before his death in 1908. ...
'' (''Zolotoy petushok'', 1907)
The last three of them already belong to the 20th-century Russian opera.
There were built a lot of new opera theatres including
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
(opened since 1825 Moscow), and
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
, opened since 1860 Saint Petersburg).
The history of 19th century Russian opera could be observed in the selected list of premieres at the Saint Petersburg theatres:
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
*1835 –
Askold's Grave
Askold's Grave ( uk, Аскольдова могила, translit=Askoldova Mohyla) is a historical park on the steep right bank of the Dnipro River in Kyiv between Mariinskyi Park and the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex.
Overview
The park was crea ...
*1836 – ''
A Life for the Tsar
''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name ''Ivan Susanin' ...
''
*1842 – ''
Ruslan and Lyudmila Ruslan may refer to:
* ''Ruslan'' (film), a 2009 film starring Steven Segal
* Ruslan (given name), male name used mainly in Slavic countries, with list of people
* Antonov An-124 ''Ruslan'', large Soviet cargo aircraft, later built in Ukraine and ...
''
*1856 – ''
Rusalka
In Slavic folklore, the rusalka (plural: rusalky/rusalki; ; pl, rusałka}) is a typically feminine entity, often malicious toward mankind and frequently associated with water, with counterparts in other parts of Europe, such as the French Melus ...
''
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
(since 1860)
*1863 – ''
Judith''
*1865 – ''
Rogneda
Rogneda of Polotsk (962–1002) is the Slavic name for Ragnheiðr, a Princess consort of Rus'. She was the daughter of Ragnvald (Slavic: Rogvolod) who came from Scandinavia and established himself at Polotsk in the mid-10th century.
Life
It ...
''
*1871 – ''
The Power of the Fiend
''The Power of the Fiend'' (russian: Вражья сила, ''Vrazhya sila'') is an opera in five acts by Alexander Serov, composed during 1867-1871. The libretto is derived from a drama by Alexander Ostrovsky from 1854 entitled '' Live Not As You ...
'' (''Vrazya sila'')
*1872 – ''
The Stone Guest''
*1874 – ''
Boris Godunov
Borís Fyodorovich Godunóv (; russian: Борис Фёдорович Годунов; 1552 ) ruled the Tsardom of Russia as ''de facto'' regent from c. 1585 to 1598 and then as the first non-Rurikid tsar from 1598 to 1605. After the end of his ...
''
*1874 – ''
The Oprichnik
''The Oprichnik'' or ''The Guardsman'' (russian: Опричник ) is an opera in 4 acts, 5 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to his own libretto after the tragedy ''The Oprichniks'' ( rus, Опричники) by Ivan Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) ...
''
*1875 – ''
The Demon''
*1876 – ''
Vakula the Smith
''Vakula the Smith'' (russian: Кузнец Вакула, Kuznéts Vakúla, Smith Vakula ), Op. 14, is a Ukrainian-themed opera in 3 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Yakov Polonsky and is based on Nikolai G ...
''
*1881 – ''
The Maid of Orleans''
*1882 – ''
The Snow Maiden
''The Snow Maiden'' (subtitle: A Spring Fairy Tale) ( rus, Снегурочка–весенняя сказка, Snegúrochka–vesénnyaya skázka, italic=yes ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composed ...
''
*1886 – ''
Khovanshchina
''Khovanshchina'' ( rus, Хованщина, , xɐˈvanʲɕːɪnə, Ru-Khovanshchina_version.ogg, sometimes rendered ''The Khovansky Affair'') is an opera (subtitled a 'national music drama') in five acts by Modest Mussorgsky. The work was writte ...
''
*1886 – ''
Prince Igor
''Prince Igor'' ( rus, Князь Игорь, Knyáz Ígor ) is an opera in four acts with a prologue, written and composed by Alexander Borodin. The composer adapted the libretto from the Ancient Russian epic '' The Lay of Igor's Host'', which re ...
''
*1887 – ''
The Enchantress'' (''Charodeyka'')
*1890 – ''
The Queen of Spades''
Mamontov's Private Russian Opera established in 1885.
Savva Mamontov
Savva Ivanovich Mamontov (russian: Са́вва Ива́нович Ма́монтов, ; 3 October 1841 (15 October N.S.), Yalutorovsk – 6 April 1918, Moscow) was a Russian industrialist, merchant, entrepreneur and patron of the arts.
Busine ...
discovered talent of
Chaliapin
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...
, commissioned designs from
Mikhail Vrubel
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Vrubel (russian: Михаил Александрович Врубель; March 17, 1856 – April 14, 1910, all New Style, n.s.) was a Russian Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, and sculptor. A prolific and inno ...
,
Konstantin Korovin
Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (russian: Константи́н Алексе́евич Коро́вин, first name often spelled Constantin; 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter.
Biography
Youth and education
Konstan ...
,
Natalia Goncharova
Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova (russian: Ната́лья Серге́евна Гончаро́ва, p=nɐˈtalʲjə sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡənʲtɕɪˈrovə; 3 July 188117 October 1962) was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designe ...
and
Ivan Bilibin
Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin ( rus, Ива́н Я́ковлевич Били́бин, p=ɪˈvan ˈjakəvlʲɪvʲɪt͡ɕ bʲɪˈlʲibʲɪn; – 7 February 1942) was a Russian illustrator and stage designer who took part in the ''Mir iskusstva'', contr ...
, staged the late operas by
Rimsky Korsakov.
Opera spread to the provincial centres of
Kiev
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
(1867), Odessa (1887) and
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Vladimir Rebikov
Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov (russian: Влади́мир Ива́нович Ре́биков, ; May 31 S May 191866 – August 4, 1920) was a late romantic 20th-century Russian composer and pianist.
Biography
Born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, ...]
Image:Rachmaninov peinture.jpg,
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
Image:Igor Stravinsky LOC 32392u.jpg,
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
Image:Sergei Prokofiev circa 1918 over Chair Bain.jpg,
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
Dmitri Shostakovich credit Deutsche Fotothek adjusted.jpg,
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
Zimin Opera
The Zimin Opera was founded by the Russian entrepreneur Sergei Zimin in Moscow, Russia in 1903.
The company staged the premieres of such operas as Rimsky-Korsakov's '' Golden Cockerel'', Gretchaninoff's ''Beatris Sister'' and Ippolitov-Ivanov's ...
established in 1904,
Sergei Diaghilev
Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...
's
Saisons Russes began in Paris in 1913.
Vladimir Rebikov
Vladimir Ivanovich Rebikov (russian: Влади́мир Ива́нович Ре́биков, ; May 31 S May 191866 – August 4, 1920) was a late romantic 20th-century Russian composer and pianist.
Biography
Born in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, ...
(1866–1920) composer of more than 10 operas is best of all known for his opera ''The Christmas Tree'' (''Yolka'', 1894–1902) in which he presented his ideas of "melo-mimics" and "rhythm-declamation" (see
melodeclamation Melodeclamation (from Greek “melos” = song, and Latin “declamatio” = declamation) was a chiefly 19th century practice of reciting poetry while accompanied by concert music. It is also described as "a type of rhythmic vocal writing that bea ...
).
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...
(1873–1943) completed three operas:
*''
Aleko
The Moskvitch-2141, also known under the trade name Aleko (Russian: "АЛЕКО", derivative from the name of the automaker "Автомобильный завод имени Ленинского Комсомола", ''Avtomobilny zavod imeni Leni ...
'' (1892, staged 1893)
*''
The Miserly Knight
''The Miserly Knight'', Op. 24, also ''The Covetous Knight'' (russian: Скупой рыцарь, ''Skupój rýtsar’''), is a Russian opera in one act with music by Sergei Rachmaninoff, with the libretto based on Alexander Pushkin's drama of the ...
'' (Skupoy Rytsar Op. 24, 1904)
*''
Francesca da Rimini
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was a medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a co ...
'' (Op. 25, 1904, staged 1906).
All three operas were staged at the Bolshoi Theatre. He began but did not finish the fourth ''
Monna Vanna
''Monna Vanna'' (russian: Монна Ванна) is an unfinished opera by Sergei Rachmaninoff after a play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Rachmaninoff had completed Act I in short vocal score, with piano accompaniment, and then he went to ask for permis ...
'' (1907, 1st act in a vocal score) after
Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...
who refused to give permission to the composer for use of his text. These operas, written on the border between two centuries, rather belong to the world of the romantic opera of the past. Escaping Russia in 1917 Rachmaninoff never returned to operatic projects again.
Unlike him,
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
(1882–1971) had been returning to this genre again and again, full of fresh and innovative ideas. Sometimes it is difficult to qualify these works as pure operas but rather "opera-ballets", "opera-cantatas", or "music theatre". Here is the list:
*''
Le rossignol
, description = ''conte lyrique''
, librettist =
, based_on =
, premiere_date =
, premiere_location = Palais Garnier, Paris
''The Nightingale'' (Russian: Соловей – ''Solovyei''; French: ''Le Rossignol'') ...
'' ''(The Nightingale)'' (1914)
*''
Renard'',
burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. for 4
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
s and Chamber Orchestra (1916) opera-ballet
*''
Histoire du Soldat
' (''The Soldier's Tale'') is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" () by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments. Conceived by Igor Stravinsky and Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, C. F. R ...
'' for chamber group and three speakers (1918), narration with music
*''
Mavra
''Mavra'' is a one-act comic opera composed by Igor Stravinsky, and one of the earliest works of Stravinsky's neo-classical period. The libretto, by Boris Kochno, is based on Alexander Pushkin's ''The Little House in Kolomna''. Mavra is about 25 ...
'' (1922)
*''
Oedipus rex
''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...
'' (1927)
*''
Perséphone'' for speaker, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1934)
*''
Babel
Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to:
Arts and media Written works Books
*Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith
* Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu
* Babel (20 ...
'' (1944)
*''
The Rake's Progress
''The Rake's Progress'' is an English-language opera from 1951 in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings ''A Rake's Progres ...
'' (1951)
*''
The Flood'' (1962)
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...
’s (1891–1953) operas are full of humour, wit, and novelty. Here is the list of his completed operas:
*''
Maddalena'', (1911–1913)
*''
The Gambler'' (1915–1916, rev. 1927)
*''
The Love for Three Oranges
''The Love for Three Oranges'', Op. 33, also known by its French language title ' (russian: Любовь к трём апельсинам, links=no, ''Lyubov' k tryom apel'sinam''), is a satirical opera by Sergei Prokofiev. Its French libretto ...
'' (1919)
*''
The Fiery Angel'' (1919–1927)
*''
Semyon Kotko
''Semyon Kotko'' (russian: Семён Котко), Op. 81, is an opera in five acts by Sergei Prokofiev to a libretto by Sergei Prokofiev and Valentin Katayev based on Katayev's 1937 novel ''I, Son of Working People'' (russian: Я, сын труд ...
'' (1939)
*''
Betrothal in a Monastery
''Betrothal in a Monastery'' (Russian title ''Обручение в монастыре'') is an opera in nine scenes (four acts) by Sergei Prokofiev to a Russian libretto by the composer and Mira Mendelson after Sheridan's ''The Duenna''.
Proko ...
'' (1940–1941)
*''
War and Peace
''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...
'' (1941–1952)
*''
The Story of a Real Man
''The Story of a Real Man'' (russian: Повесть о настоящем человеке, translit=Povest' o nastoyashchem cheloveke, link=no) is an opera in four acts by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, his opus 117. It was written from 1 ...
'', Op. 117 (1947–1948)
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
(1906–1975) was another great opera composer struggling all his life in the clutch of the communist ideology. His
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
opera ''
The Nose'', after the completely absurd story by
Gogol
Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; uk, link=no, Мико́ла Васи́льович Го́голь, translit=Mykola Vasyliovych Hohol; (russian: Яновский; uk, Яновський, translit=Yanovskyi) ( – ) was a Russian novelist, ...
was criticized in 1929 by
RAPM as "
formalist". His second opera ''
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District'' performed in 1934 with an enormous success was condemned by the authorities even more harshly. This forced him to recompose it much later, in 1962, as ''Katerina Izmailova'' in a style more simplified and conventional to meet the requirements of the new rulers of the regime.
Shostakovich was involved in many more operatic projects.
There were a lot more of the composers about the same generation, who had managed to create hundreds of operas. Some of them shared the same problems with Shostakovich and Prokofiev who returned to live in Soviet Russia and were deadly embraced by its suffocative regime. Others were on the opposite side, serving the suffocating roles. A serious condemnation and persecution of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
's foremost composers, such as Prokofiev, Shostakovich and many others, had emerged in 1948 in connection to the opera by
Vano Muradeli
Vano Muradeli ( ka, ვანო მურადელი; russian: Вано Ильич Мурадели; in Gori – 14 August 1970, in Tomsk), was a Soviet Georgian composer.
He was born in Gori, Georgia (then part of Imperial Russia) t ...
(1908–1970), ''Velikaya druzhba'' (''
The Great Friendship ''The Great Friendship'' (Russian: ''Великая дружба'' Velikaya druzhba; also called ''The Extraordinary Commissar'') is a 1947 opera by Vano Muradeli, to a libretto by Georgi Mdivani. It was premiered in Donetsk (then known as Stalino) ...
''); see
Zhdanov Doctrine
The Zhdanov Doctrine (also called Zhdanovism or Zhdanovshchina; russian: доктрина Жданова, ждановизм, ждановщина) was a Soviet cultural doctrine developed by Central Committee secretary Andrei Zhdanov in 1946. It ...
.
Here is just a shortlist of the opera composers of those times:
*
Yuri Shaporin
Yuri Alexandrovich Shaporin (russian: Юрий (Георгий) Александрович Шапорин) ( – 9 December 1966), PAU, was a Russian-Ukrainian Soviet composer.
Biography
Shaporin was born in Hlukhiv in the Russian Empire ...
(1887–1966), opera ''
The Decembrists'' (written during a period of 33 years 1920–1953, staged 1953)
*
Isaak Dunayevsky
Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operett ...
(1900–1955), 14 operettas including ''White Acacia'' (1955)
*
Alexander Mossolov
Alexander Vasilyevich MosolovMosolov's name is transliterated variously and inconsistently between sources. Alternative spellings of Alexander include Alexandr, Aleksandr, Aleksander, and Alexandre; variations on Mosolov include Mossolov and Mossol ...
(1900–1973), 4 operas including. ''The Barrage'' (1929–1930)
*
Vissarion Shebalin
Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin (russian: Виссарио́н Я́ковлевич Шебали́н; 29 May 1963) was a Soviet composer.
Biography
Shebalin was born in Omsk, where his parents were school teachers. He studied in the musical colle ...
(1902–1963), 3 operas including ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1957)
*
Dmitri Kabalevsky
Dmitry Borisovich Kabalevsky (russian: Дми́трий Бори́сович Кабале́вский ; 14 February 1987) was a Soviet composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue of Russian gentry descent.
He helped set up the Union of Soviet Co ...
(1904–1987), 7 operas including ''Colas Breugnon'' (1936–1976)
*
Veniamin Fleishman
Veniamin Iosifovich Fleishman, (russian: Вениами́н Ио́сифович Фле́йшман, July 20, 1913 in Bezhetsk, Tver Governorate – September 14, 1941 in Krasnoye Selo, Leningrad Oblast) was a Soviet composer.
''Rothschild's Viol ...
(1913–1941), opera ''
Rothschild's Violin "Rothschild's Violin" (russian: Скрипка Ротшильда, translit=Skripka Rotshilda – also translated as "Rothschild's Fiddle") is a short story by Anton Chekhov.
Publication
"Rothschild's Violin" was first published in ''Russkiye Ved ...
'' (1941) completed and orchestrated by
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...
*
Tikhon Khrennikov
Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also known ...
(1913–2007), 5 operas including "Into the Storm" (1936–1939)
*
Grigory Frid
Grigory Samuilovich Frid also known as Grigori Fried (russian: Григо́рий Самуи́лович Фри́д, 22 September N.S. 1915 – 22 September 2012) was a Russian composer of music written in many different genres, including chamber ...
(1915–2012), 2 chamber mono-operas including ''
The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
'' (1968)
*
Mieczysław Weinberg
Mieczysław Weinberg (8 December 1919 – 26 February 1996) was a Polish-born Soviet composer and pianist.
Names
Much confusion has been caused by different renditions of the composer's names. In official Polish documents made before he mov ...
(1919–1996), 7 operas including ''
The Portrait'' (1980) and ''The Idiot'' (1985)
Also:
Vladimir Shcherbachev
Vladimir Vladimirovich Shcherbachov (Shcherbachyov, Shcherbachev) (russian: Влади́мир Влади́мирович Щербачёв; 24 January 1889, in Warsaw – 5 March 1952, in Leningrad) was a Soviet composer.
He studied with Maximil ...
,
Sergei Vasilenko
Sergei Nikiforovich Vasilenko (russian: Серге́й Никифорович Василенко, ''Sergej Nikiforovič Vasilenko''; – 11 March 1956) was a Russian and Soviet composer, conductor and music teacher whose compositions showed a str ...
,
Vladimir Fere
Vladimir Georgievich Fere (russian: Владимир Георгиевич Фере; in Kamyshin – 2 September 1971 in Moscow) was a Russian composer. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory in 1925 and later taught there.
He was a member of a Ki ...
,
Vladimir Vlasov
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Vlasov (russian: Владимир Александрович Власов; 7 January 1903, Moscow – 7 September 1986, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian composer and conductor. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory from ...
,
Kirill Molchanov
Kirill Vladimirovich Molchanov (russian: Кирилл Владимирович Молчанов; 7 September 1922 – 14 March 1982) was a Russian and Soviet composer.
He was appointed director of the Bolshoi, at the time political disfavour had ...
, Alexander Kholminov, etc. (see: Russian opera articles#20th century).
The next generations who found themselves already in the Post-Stalin epoch had their own specific problems. The ideological and stylistic control and limitation of creative freedom by the authorities and older colleagues-composers in the hierarchical structures of the Union of Composers made almost impossible the innovation and experiment in any field of musical art. It was a feeling that old bad times returned again when in 1979 at the Sixth Congress of the Composers' Union, its leader
Tikhon Khrennikov
Tikhon Nikolayevich Khrennikov (russian: Тихон Николаевич Хренников; – 14 August 2007) was a Russian and Soviet composer, pianist, and General Secretary of the Union of Soviet Composers (1948–1991), who was also known ...
denounced seven composers (thereafter known as the "Khrennikov Seven"), who for some reason or other had been played in the West – there were at least 4 opera composers among them.
As a result even quite new phenomena appeared: a "samizdat (underground) opera" (see Nikolai Karetnikov). Some of these operas still never been performed, others luckily received their premieres in the West, and only a few found their place at the operatic stages of the homeland. The collapse of the Soviet Union did not improve this hopeless situation much.
The list of the composers who contributed to the development of Russian opera nearer to the end of the 20th century:
*Edison Denisov (1929–1996), 3 Operas including ''L'écume des jours (opera), L'écume des jours'' ( ''The Foam of Days'', completed 1981)
*Nikolai Karetnikov (1930–1994), 2 operas including ''Till Eulenspiegel'', opera in two acts (1965–1985)
*Sergei Slonimsky (born 1932), 3 operas including ''Mary Stewart'' (1978–1980)
*Rodion Shchedrin (born 1932), 3 operas including ''Myortvye dushi'' (''Dead Souls'' 1976)
*Alfred Schnittke (1934–1998), 3 operas including ''Zhizn’ s idiotom'' (''Life with an Idiot'', 1990–1991)
*Boris Tishchenko (b. 1939 ) 2 operas including ''Kradenoe solntse'' (''The Stolen Sun'', 1968)
*Alexander Knaifel (born 1943) 2 operas including ''Kentervilskoye prividenie'' (''The Canterville Ghost (opera), The Canterville Ghost'', 1965–1966)
*Nikolai Korndorf (1947–2001), chamber opera ''MR (Marina and Rainer)'' (1989)
*Elena Firsova (born 1950), 2 chamber operas including ''The Nightingale and the Rose (Firsova), The Nightingale and the Rose''
Also: Nikolai Sidelnikov, Andrei Petrov, Sandor Kallosh, Leonid Hrabovsky, Alexander Vustin, Gleb Sedelnikov, Merab Gagnidze, Alexander Tchaikovsky, Vasily Lobanov, Dmitry Smirnov (composer), Dmitri N. Smirnov, Leonid Bobylev, Vladimir Tarnopolsky, and so on (see: Russian opera articles#20th century).
21st century
The Russian opera is continuing its development in the 21st century. It began with the noisy premieres of two comic operas, whose genre could be described as "opera-farce":
The first was ''Tsar Demyan'' – ''a frightful opera performance'' (a collective project of the five participants: composers Leonid Desyatnikov and Vyacheslav Gaivoronsky from
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Iraida Yusupova and Vladimir Nikolayev (composer), Vladimir Nikolayev from Moscow, and the creative collective "Kompozitor," (a pseudonym for the well-known music critic Pyotr Pospelov) to the libretto by Elena Polenova after a folk-drama ''Tsar Maksimilyan'', premiere 20 June 2001 Mariinski Theatre, Saint Petersburg. Prize "Gold Mask, 2002" and "Gold Soffit, 2002".
Another opera ''The Children of Rosenthal'' by Leonid Desyatnikov to the libretto by Vladimir Sorokin, was commissioned by the
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
and premiered on 23 March 2005.
List of Russian opera theatres
*"Comedie et opere", (small hall in a wing of Zimniy Dvorets – The Winter Palace, from 1735
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Theatre of Letniy Sad (Summer Garden, from 1735
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Opera House (with 1000 seats, at Zimniy Dvorets – The Winter Palace, from 1743,
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Moscow Theatre (built 1742 for the coronation of
Elizaveta Petrovna
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...
, Moscow)
*
Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
Summer Theatre (from 1755,
Kuskovo
Kuskovo (russian: Куско́во) was the summer country house and estate of the Sheremetev family. Built in the mid-18th century, it was originally situated several miles to the east of Moscow but now is part of the East District of the ...
near Moscow)
*
Karl Kniper Theatre (1777–1797
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Chinese Village (Tsarskoe Selo), Chinese Opera Theatre (from 1779, Tsarskoe Selo near
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Bolshoi Theatre, Petrovsky Theatre (with 1000 seats, from 1780 to 1805, Moscow)
*
Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre
The Saint Petersburg Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (The Big Stone Theatre of Saint Petersburg, russian: Большой Каменный Театр) was a theatre in Saint Petersburg.
It was built in 1783 to Antonio Rinaldi's Neoclassical ...
(1783–1811,
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*
Hermitage Theatre
The Hermitage Theatre ( rus, Эрмитажный Театр, Èrmitážnyj Teátr, ɪrʲmʲɪˈtaʐnɨj tʲɪˈatər) in Saint Petersburg, Russia is one of five Hermitage Museum, Hermitage buildings lining the Palace Embankment of the Neva Riv ...
(from 1785
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Nikolai Sheremetev, Ostankino Theatre (from 22 July 1795,
Ostankino near Moscow)
*Imperial Kamenny Theatre or the Bolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg, (
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*Petrovka Theatre (from 1786 to 1805 Moscow)
*
Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...
(from 1825 Moscow)
*
Kamenny Island Theatre
The Kamenny Island Theatre (also known as the Stone Island Theatre, in Russian: Каменноостровский театр) is a wooden theatre on the grounds of the Kamennoostrovsky Palace, Kamenny Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the ...
(from 1826
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
*
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre ( rus, Мариинский театр, Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music th ...
, (from 1860
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
)
See also
*List of Russian opera singers
*Music of Russia#18th and 19th century: Russian classical music
*Russian culture#Opera
*Opera#Russian opera
*Comic opera#Russian comic opera
References
Bibliography
*Abraham, Gerald: ''The Concise Oxford History of Music'', Oxford 1979
*[Abramovsky A.] Абрамовский А. ''Русская опера до Глинки'' Moscow 1940
*[Aseev B. N.] Асеев Б. Н. ''Русский драматический театр XVII – XVIII веков''. Moscow 1958
*[Berkov P. N.] Берков П. Н. ''Русская комедия и комическая опера XVIII века''. М. – Л., 1950
*[Findeizein N. F.] Финдейзен Н. Ф. ''Очерки по истории музыки в России''. т. 2, М.-Л. 1929
*[Gozenpud A. A.] Гозенпуд А. А., ''Музыкальный театр в России'' Л., 1959 г.
*[Gurevich L.] Гуревич Л. ''История русского театрального быта'', т.1. М. – Л., 1939
*[Druskin M.] Друскин М. Очерк VI в кн. ''Очерки по истории русской музыки''. Л., 1956
*[History of Russian Music] ''История русской музыки'' в 10 томах, т. 2, 3. Moscow 1984
*[Keldysh Yu. V.] Келдыш Ю. В. ''Русская музыка XVIII века'' Moscow 1965
*[Livanova T. N.] Ливанова Т. Н. ''Русская музыкальная культура XVIII века в ее связях с литературой, театром и бытом'' в 2-х томах 1952–1953 гг. т.1, т.2
*[Rabinovich A. S.] Рабинович А.С. ''Русская опера до Глинки'' Moscow 1948
*[Rapatskaya L. A.] Рапацкая Л.А. ''Русское искусство XVIII века'' Moscow 1995
*[Serov A. N.] Серов А. Н. ''Опера в России и русская опера'' // Серов А.Н. ''Критические статьи''. Т. 4. Спб. 1965
*Richard Taruskin, Taruskin, Richard: ''Russia'' in 'The New Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed. Stanley Sadie (London, 1992)
*Marina Frolova-Walker, Frolova-Walker, Marina: ''Russian Federation, 1730–1860, Opera''; Powell, Jonathan: 1860–90, Opera; Barttlett, Rosamund (Music of the Soviet Period) in the entry Russian Federation, ''The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', vol. 21
External links
The Golden Age of OperaRussian OperaResearch in RussianMoscowComposer.comnbsp;– Moscow Composers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russian Opera
Russian opera,
Opera history, *Rus
Opera by country