Private Opera Society

The Private Opera (russian: Частная Опера), also known as:
*The Russian Private Opera ();
*Moscow Private Russian Opera, ();
*Mamontov's Private Russian Opera in Moscow ();
*Korotkov's Theatre (, 1885-1888);
*Vinter's Theatre (, 1896-1899);
*Private Opera Society (, 1899-1904); and
*Solodovnikov Theatre (, from 1895; later used by Zimin opera, Moscow Operetta, and Helikon Opera)

was a private operatic enterprise, a company established in 1885 by Russian industrialist and philanthropist Savva Mamontov, who staged the operas, conducted the orchestra, trained the actors, taught them singing and paid all the expenses.

The company

At first the company was organised in Abramtsevo Estate located north of Moscow. The company was joined by Feodor Chaliapin in the autumn of 1896 and by Sergei Rachmaninov in the autumn of 1897 who took up the post of assistant conductor.

Later years

In Moscow the opera was located in the house at the Bolshaya Dmitrovskaya street, known as "Solodovnikov Theatre", built in 1894–1895 by Russiant merchant and music lover Gavrila Solodovnikov (1826–1901). Later the house was burned down and the Private Opera moved into the theatre "Paradis" («Парадиз»), at 19/13, Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street (present-day Mayakovsky Theater).

The repertoire included many operas by foreign composers as well as the following works by Russian composers:
*1885 – '' A Life for the Tsar '' by Mikhail Glinka;
*1885 – ''The Snow Maiden'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov;
*1885 – '' Rusalka'' by Alexander Dargomyzhsky;
*1886 – '' The Stone Guest'' by Alexander Dargomyzhsky;
*1886 – ''Rogneda'' by Alexander Serov;
*1886 – ''Prince Igor'' by Alexander Borodin;
*1886 – '' The Demon'' by Anton Rubinstein;
*1897 – ''Sadko'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1897 – ''Khovanshchina'' by Modest Mussorgsky;
*1898 – '' Boris Godunov'' by Modest Mussorgsky;
*1898 – '' Mozart and Salieri'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1898 – '' Boyarinya Vera Sheloga'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1898 – '' Judith'' by Alexander Serov;
*1899 – ''The Tsar's Bride'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1899 – '' The Maid of Orleans'' by Pyotr Tchaikovsky;
*1900 – '' Mazeppa '' by Pyotr Tchaikovsky;
*1900 – '' The Tale of Tsar Saltan...'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1900 – ''Asya'' by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov;
*1901 – ''The Merchant Kalashnikov'' by Anton Rubinstein;
*1902 – '' Ruslan and Lyudmila'' by Mikhail Glinka;
*1902 – '' Kashchey the Immortal'' by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – world premiere;
*1903 – '' Legend About the Great City of Kitezh and the Quiet Lake Svetoyar'' by Sergei Vasilenko, and other.

Final years

In late 1890s, Mamontov consolidated a large lot of land in central Moscow, across from Theatre Square, for building a large civic center with his opera hall and a luxury hotel. He appointed William Walcot as lead architect, however, in 1899 Mamontov was unjustly arrested and put on trial for embezzlement connected with building of the Yaroslavl railway. The project, known as Hotel Metropol, was completed without theater by Petersburg Insurance Company.

Meanwhile, from 1899 until 1904 the company existed without Mamontov, and changed its name to "Private Opera Society" (Tovarishchestvo chastnoi opery).

See also

* Russian opera
* Russian opera articles

Bibliography

* Haldey, Olga (2010). ''Mamontov's Private Opera : the search for modernism in Russian theater ''. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. .

External links

The Russian Cultural Navigator: THE MOSCOW MEDICI (about Savva Mamontov)
* ttp://new.all-moscow.ru/culture/museum/chaliap/eshal.html Chaliapin and Private Russian Operabr>Caliber: Savva Mamontov, Serge Diaghilev, and a Rocky Path to ModernismRachmaninoff at the Private Opera

{{authority control

Opera houses in Russia
Musical groups established in 1885
1904 disestablishments in the Russian Empire
Russian opera companies
1885 establishments in the Russian Empire