Mikhail Alexeyevich Matinsky (russian: Михаил Алексеевич Матинский, 1750 – c. 1820) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

librettist 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 ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

composer.

Biography

Matinsky originated from the

serfs Serfdom was the status of many peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to manorialism, and similar systems. It was a condition of debt bondage and indentured servitude with similarities to and differences from slavery, which developed ...

of Count

Sergey Yaguzhinsky Count Sergey Pavlovich Yaguzhinsky (Yagushinsky) (russian: Сергей Павлович Ягужинский; 22 April 1731 – 22 February 1806) was a Chamberlain, lieutenant general (1764), owner of the Sylvinsky and Utkinsky factories, as well ...

and was born in Pavlovskoe. He studied in the gymnasium for the "

raznochintsy (or ; russian: разночинцы; ; ), ). was an official term introduced in the Digest of Laws of the Russian Empire in the 17th century to define a social estate that included the lower court and governmental ranks, children of personal '' ...

" (people not belonging to the gentry) at

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

and also in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Later he taught mathematics at the

Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens The Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens of Saint Petersburg (Russian: Смольный институт благородных девиц Санкт-Петербурга) was the first women's educational institution in Russia that laid the foundatio ...

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 ...

. He published the following books: ''The Description of Measures and Weights of Different Countries'' (

1779), ''The Fundamentals of Geometry'' (Saint Petersburg 1798), and ''The Concise Universal Geography'' (

1800). He also translated the comedy ''The Churchwoman'' by

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (4 July 171513 December 1769) was a German poet, one of the forerunners of the golden age of German literature that was ushered in by Lessing. Biography Gellert was born at Hainichen in Saxony, at the foot of the ...

, and the same author's ''Fables and Tales'', as well as ''The Republic of the Scientists'' by S. Fayard. He died in

Operas

His creative output also included comedies, opera librettos, and even music set to them. His operas ''Regeneration'' (''Перерождение'', 1777), and '' Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls''Sometime translated as ''The Marketplace in St Petersburg'' or ''St Petersburg Bazaar''; the full title: "As you live, so you will be judged, or Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls'' '' (''Как поживёшь, так и прослывёшь' или Санкт Петербургский Гостный Двор'') (''Санкт Петербургский Гостный Двор'') had considerable success. The second one, a scathing satire to the government officials and their thievish behaviour, is one of the first examples of Russian comic opera. It was staged on December 26, 1779 at the

Knipper 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. Khodorkov ...

in St Petersburg and was repeated 16 times. Later the music was rewritten by a composer

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, violin ...

in 1882 and 1792. In a new version the opera was also staged at the Court Theatre.

Pashkevich’s Operas to Matinsky’s librettos

*''Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls'' (''Санкт Петербургский Гостиный Двор — Sankt Peterburgskiy Gostinyi Dvor'', 1782

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 ...

) *''The Pasha of Tunis'' (''Паша Тунисский — Pasha tunisskiy'', 1782) *''As you live, so you will be judged'' (''Как поживёшь, так и прослывёшь — Kak pozhivyosh', tak i proslyvyosh'', 1792

) — revision of ''Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls''

Bibliography

*Warrack, John and West, Ewan: ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera'' 1996 *Prokofiev, Vsevolod Alexandrovich: Mikhail Matinsky and his opera ''Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls'' (Михаил Матинский и его опера "Санктпетер-бургский Гостиный Двор", в кн.: Музыка и музыкальный быт старой России, т. 1, Ленинград, 1927, с. 58-69;) *Russian Comedy and Comic Opera in the 18th century (Русская комедия и комическая опера XVIII века. Ред. текста и вступ. ст. П. Н. Беркова, М.-Л., 1950) * Rabinovich A. S.: Russian Opera Before Glinka (Рабинович А. С., Русская опера до Глинки, �. 1948) * History of Russian Music (История русской музыки в нотных образцах, под ред. С. Л. Гинзбурга, т. 1, Л. - М., 1940) * Bokshchanina E. A.: About National Features of the Language and Dramaturgy of Matinsky’s opera ''Saint-Petersburg's Trade Stalls'' (Бокщанина Е. А., О народности музыкального языка и особенности драматургии оперы М. Матинского "Санкт-Петербургский Гостиный двор". ."Тр. Гос. музыкально-педагогического института им. Гнесиных", 1959, вып. 1, с. 134.)

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