Russian opera

Russian opera(Russian:Ру́сская о́пераRússkaya 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 onlyRussian-languageoperas. There are examples of Russian operas written in French, English, Italian,Latin,Ancient Greek,Japanese, or the multitude of languages of the nationalities that were part of theEmpireand theSoviet Union.

Russian opera includes the works of such composers asGlinka,Rubinstein,Mussorgsky,Borodin,Tchaikovsky,Rimsky-Korsakov,Stravinsky,ProkofievandShostakovich.

Searching for its typical and characteristic features, the 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 byItalian operatroupes.Later some foreign composers serving to theRussian Imperial Courtbegan 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 Russianlibrettosmade. This was not a real creation of Russian national opera per se, but rather a weak imitation ofItalian,French orGermanexamples. 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 ofPolandandElectorofSaxonyAugust II the Strong(based inDresden) 'loaned' his Italian opera troupe to the RussianEmpress Annafor the celebration of her coronation in Moscow. The first opera shown in Russia wasCalandrobyGiovanni Alberto Ristori(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

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 composerFrancesco Arajawas invited for the first time to work inSaint Petersburg.The first opera given by them was Araja'sLa forza dell'amore e dell'odio,with a text by Francesco Prata, staged on 8 February [OS 29 January], 1736 asSila lyubvi i nenavisti(The Power of Love and Hatred). Araja’s next two productions were theoperas seriaIl finto Nino, overo La Semiramide riconosciutato the text by Francesco Silvani given on 9 February 1737 [OS 28 January], Saint Petersburg andArtaserseto the text byPietro Metastasio,performed on 9 February 1738 [OS 28 January] in Saint Petersburg.Arajaspent 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 EmpressElizaveta Petrovnain Moscow the operaTito Vespasiano[La clemenza di Tito] byJohann Adolf Hasse(1699–1783) was staged. A new theatre was built especially for this event. In 1743 at "Zimnij Dvorets", the (Winter Palace) in Saint Petersburg, instead of a small hall of "Comedie et opere" was built a new Opera House (architectBartolomeo Rastrelli) that held about a thousand persons.

Valeriani: Sets for the "first Russian opera"Tsefal i ProkrisbyAraja,1755

The nextopera seriabyArajaSeleuco,text byGiuseppe Bonecchiwas given on 7 May [OS 26 April], 1744 in Moscow as part of a double celebration of the anniversary of the coronation ofElizaveta Petrovnaand conclusion of peace with Sweden.

The staging ofAraja’sopera seriaBellerofonte,text byGiuseppe Bonecchi(9 December 1750 [OS 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 wasAraja’sTsefal i Prokris(Cephalus and Prokris,libretto byAlexander Sumarokov) that was staged at Saint Petersburg on 7 March, [OS 27 February], 1755.

The second opera set to a Russian text wasAlceste,1758, libretto byAlexander Sumarokov) by German composerHermann Raupach(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 byGiovanni 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 Italianopera buffa.For the first three years the troupe had presented the seven operas byBaldassare Galuppi(1706–1785) includingIl mondo della luna(The World of the Moon),Il Filosofo di campagna(The Village Philosopher), andIl 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 turnVenetianGaluppi,ManfredinifromPistoia,TraettafromBitontonearBarri,PaisiellofromTaranto,Sarti,CimarosafromCampania,andSpaniardMartin y Soler.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(1737–1799) spent 12 years in Russia and died in Saint Petersburg. The son and pupil of famous baroque composerFrancesco Manfredini,he was a music teacher forPavel Petrovichwho later became Emperor of Russia. For the Russian Imperial Court Manfredini wrote five operas including:Semiramide(1760, Saint Petersburg),L'Olimpiade(1762 Moscow) andCarlo Magno (1763 Saint Petersburg).

• 
  Tommaso Traetta
• 
  Giovanni Paisiello
• 
  Giuseppe Sarti
• 
  Domenico Cimarosa

Tommaso Traetta(1727–1779) was amaestro di cappellaat theRussian Imperial Courtfor eight years (1768–1775, and wrote there five operas, including:Astrea placata(1770 Saint Petersburg),Antigone(1772 Saint Petersburg), andLe quattro stagioni e i dodici mesi dell'anno(1776St Petersburg).

Giovanni Paisiello(1740–1816), a famous Neapolitan composer of more than 100 operasseriaandbuffa,he spent in Russia eight years (1776–1783), where he wrote 12 operas includingNitteti(1777 Saint Petersburg),Lucinda e Armidoro(1777 Saint Petersburg),Il barbiere di Siviglia, ovvero La precauzione inutile(1782Hermitage Theatre), andIl mondo della luna(1782Kamenny Island Theatre).

Giuseppe Sarti(1729–1802), a composer of about 40 operas, he spent in Russia eighteen years (1784–1802). After being for eight years amaestro di cappellaat the Imperial Court, he spent the next four years at the service of PrinceGrigori Alexandrovich Potemkinat his estate in Southern Russia. Then he returned to the Court. In 1801 he solicited permission to return, because his health was broken. The emperorAlexander Idismissed him in 1802 with a liberal pension. Sarti died inBerlin.His most successful operas in Russia wereArmida e RinaldoandThe 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),Castore e Polluce(1786Hermitage Theatre) andLa famille indienne en Angleterre(1799 Saint Petersburg,Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre).

Domenico Cimarosa,(1749–1801) another famous Neapolitan composer, singer, violinist, harpsichordist, conductor ant teacher, who composed about 75 operas, was amaestro di cappellain Russia for five years (1787–1791), where he wrote:La felicità inaspettata(1788Hermitage Theatre),La vergine del sol'e (1788?Hermitage Theatre;1789 Saint Petersburg,Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre) andLa Cleopatra(Cleopatra e Marc Antonio1789Hermitage Theatre)

Vicente Martín y Soler

Vicente Martín y Soler(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 byCatherine II of Russia,1789Hermitage Theatre) with overture on three Russian tunes,Pesnolyubie(1790Hermitage Theatre), andLa festa del villagio(1798Hermitage Theatre).

Two of his operas premiered in Vienna, but also staged in Russia,Una cosa rara, o sia Bellezza ed onestà(The Rare Thing) andL'arbore di Diana(Diana's Tree) were especially popular. The first of them performed in Russian translation ofIvan Dmitrievskyhad some elements of the antifeudal directivity. He died in Saint Petersburg in January 1806.

Ivan Kerzelli(also known as I. I. Kerzelli, or Iosif Kertsel) was a representative of a big family of foreign musiciansKerzelli(probably ofCzechorigin), settled in Russia in the 18th century. He is regarded as a composer of a few famous operas:Lyubovnik – koldun(The Lover-Magician1772 Moscow),Rozana i Lyubim(Rozana und Lyubim1778, Moscow),Derevenskiy vorozheya(The Village Wizardc. 1777 Moscow) (Overture and songs were printed in Moscow 1778; They were the first opera fragments printed in Russia) andGuljanye ili sadovnik kuskovskoy(Promenade or the Gardener from Kuskovo1780 or 1781Kuskovo,Private Theatre of CountNikolai Sheremetev).

Antoine Bullant(also known as Antoine or Jean Bullant, 1750–1821), another composer ofCzechorigin settled in Russia in 1780 wrote a large number of operas with Russianlibrettos,often within Russian national settings. He was especially famous for hiscomic operaSbitenshchik(Сбитеньщик —SbitenVendor),comic operain 3 acts, written to the libretto byYakov Knyazhnin(remake ofMolière'sL'école des femmes). The opera was staged 1783 or 1784 in Saint Petersburg, at theBolshoi Kamenny Theatre,and was played until 1853.

There were also extremely popular the operas byBelgian/FrenchAndré Ernest Modeste Grétry(1741–1813), likeL'Amitié à l'épreuve(first staged 1779,Kuskovotheatre) orLes Mariages samnitesthat was performed during 12 years (since 1885,Kuskovo,Ostankinotheatres) with serf-sopranoPraskovya Zhemchugovaat the private opera ofNikolai Sheremetev.

Russians

Two talented young RussiansBerezovskyandBortnianskywere sent byCatherine IIto Italy to study art ofmusic composition.

Maksym Berezovsky(1745–1777) went to Italy in the spring of 1769 to train with PadreGiovanni Battista Martiniat theBologna Philharmonic Academy,where he graduated with distinction. He wrote an opera seriaDemofoonteto the Italian libretto byPietro Metastasiofor the carnival atLivorno(staged February 1773).

Dmytro Bortniansky

Dmytro Bortniansky(1751–1825), a pupil ofHermann RaupachandBaldassare Galuppi,went to Italy following his teacher Galuppi. In Italy, Bortniansky gained considerable success composing operas:Creonte(1776) andAlcide(1778) inVenice,andQuinto Fabio(1779) atModena. Bortniansky returned to the court at Saint Petersburg in 1779 where he composed four more operas (all in French, withlibrettiby Franz-Hermann Lafermière):Le Faucon(1786),Le Fete du Seigneur(1786),Don Carlos(1786), andLe Fils-Rival ou La Moderne Stratonice(1787).

At the same time in Russia, a successful one-act operaAnyuta(Chinese Theatre,6 September [OS 26 August], 1772) was created to the text byMikhail 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 toVasily Pashkevichor even toYevstigney Fominwho that time was just 11 years old.

The music of another successful Russian operaMelnik – koldun, obmanshchik i svat(The Miller who was a Wizard, a Cheat and a Match-maker,text byAlexander Ablesimov,Moscow, 1779), on a subject resemblingRousseau’sLe Devin du village,is attributed to a theatre violin player and conductorMikhail Matveyevich Sokolovsky(c. 1756–?). Later the music was revised byYevstigney Fomin.

Vasily Pashkevich(1742–1797), a Russian composer was famous for his comic operaThe 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 ofMolière's comedy were turned into Russian as well as the music that combines some features of Western form with typically Russian melodies. Another his operaFeveywas written to the libretto byCatherine II.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,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 withGiuseppe Sartiand C. Cannobio),Fedul and His Children(Fedul s det'mi,libretto by Catherine II, 1791 Saint Petersburg) – together withMartin y Soler),The Pasha of Tunis(Pasha tunisskiy,1782 libretto byMikhail Matinsky) andYou Shall Be Judged As You Lived(Kak pozhivyosh', tak i proslyvyosh,1792) — rev. ofSt Petersburg Bazaar.

Yevstigney Fomin

Italian-trainedYevstigney Fomin(1761–1800) composed about 30 operas including the most successful opera-melodramaOrfey i Evridikato the text byYakov Knyazhnin.Among his other operas are:The Novgorod Hero Boyeslayevich(Novgorodskiy bogatyr’ Boyeslayevich,text byCatherine II,1786 Saint Petersburg),The Coachmen at the Relay Station(Yamshchiki na podstave1787 Saint Petersburg),Soirées(Vecherinki, ili Gaday, gaday devitsa,1788 Saint Petersburg),Magician, Fortune-teller and Match-maker(Koldun, vorozheya i svakha1789 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), andThe Golden Apple(Zolotoye yabloko,1803 Saint Petersburg).

19th century

The 19th century was thegolden ageof Russian opera. It began with a success of a massive and slowly developing operatic project: the operaLesta, dneprovskaya rusalkaand its three sequels (1803–1807, first in Saint Petersburg) based on the German romantic-comic pieceDas DonauweibchenbyFerdinand Kauer(1751–1831) with the Russian text and additional music by Russianized Venetian immigrantCatterino Cavos(1775–1840) andStepan Davydov(1777–1825).

The next success was a patriotic operaIvan Susanin(1815) byCavosbased on an episode fromRussian history.

This success was continued with the brilliant operatic career ofAlexey Verstovsky(1799–1862), who composed more 30 opera-vaudevilles and 6 grand-operas includingAskold's Grave(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

However the most important events in the history of Russian opera were two great operas byMikhail Glinka(1804–1857)A Life for the Tsar,(Zhizn za tsarya,originally entitledIvan Susanin1836) andRuslan and Lyudmila(based on the tale byAlexander Pushkin,1842. These two works inaugurated a new era in Russian music and a burgeoning of Russian national opera.

Alexander Dargomyzhsky

Since these, opera became a leading genre for the most of Russian composers. Glinka was followed byAlexander Dargomyzhsky(1813–1869) with hisRusalka(1856) and revolutionaryThe Stone Guest(Kamenny gost,completed byRimsky-Korsakovand premiered in 1872).

Other composers were:

• Semen Hulak-Artemovsky(1813–1873) with his 3 operas includingZaporozhets za Dunayem(1863);
• Alexander Serov(1820–1871) with hisJudith(1863)Rogneda(1865)The Power of the Fiend(Vrazhya sila,1871);
• Anton Rubinstein(1829–1894) with his 19 operas includingThe Demon(1875 Saint Petersburg);
• César Cui(1835–1918), with his 14 operas includingWilliam Ratcliff(1861–1868);
• Eduard Nápravník(1839–1916), with his 4 operas includingDubrovsky(1895);
• Sergei Taneyev(1856–1915), withOresteia,(1895, Saint Petersburg);
• Anton Arensky(1861–1906), with his 3 operas includingA Dream on the Volga(1880).

Russian opera reached its apogee with the works byModest Mussorgskyand his antipodePyotr Tchaikovsky.

• 
  Modest Mussorgsky
• 
  Pyotr Tchaikovsky
• 
  Aleksandr Borodin
• 
  Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Modest Mussorgsky's(1839–1881)Boris Godunovremains 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-KorsakovEdition of 1908,ShostakovichEdition of 1940, etc.). His other operas were left unfinished:

• Salammbô(1866)
• Zhenit'ba(The Marriage,1868)
• Khovanshchina(1872–1880)
• The Fair at Sorochyntsi(1874–1880)

Pyotr Tchaikovsky(1840–1893) completed ten operas including the most famousEugene Onegin(Yevgeny Onegin), 1877–1878, 1879 Moscow andThe Queen of Spades(Pikovaya dama), 1890, 1890 Saint Petersburg, which now belong to the world'sstandard repertoire.His other operas are:

• Voyevoda(The Voivode), 1867–1868, destroyed by the composer, but posthumously reconstructed
• Undina(orUndine), 1869, not completed, partly destroyed by the composer
• The Oprichnik,1870–1872, 1874 Saint Petersburg
• Vakula the Smith(Kuznets Vakula), 1874, 1876 Saint Petersburg
• The Maid of Orleans(Orleanskaya deva), 1878–1879, 1881 Saint Petersburg
• Mazepa1881–1883, 1884 Moscow
• Cherevichki(rev. ofVakula the Smith) 1885, 1887 Moscow
• The Enchantress(alsoThe SorceressorCharodeyka), 1885–1887, 1887 Saint Petersburg
• Iolanta(Iolanthe), 1891, 1892 Saint Petersburg

Not less important wasAleksandr Borodin’s (1833–1887)Prince Igor– (Knyaz Igor,completed byRimsky-KorsakovandAlexander Glazunov,1890).

ProlificNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov(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(Majskaja noch) 1878–1879
• The Snow Maiden(Snegurochka1881 1st version, premiered 1882, Saint Petersburg; c. 1895 2nd version)
• Sadko(1896, premiered 1898, Moscow)
• The Tsar's Bride(Tsarskaya nevesta1898, premiered 1899, Moscow)
• The Tale of Tsar Saltan(Skazka o tsare Saltane,premiered 1900, Moscow)
• Kashchey the Immortal(Kashchey bessmertny,1902)
• The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya(Skazanie o nevidimom grade Kitezhe i deve Fevronii,1904)
• The Golden Cockerel(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 includingBolshoi Theatre(opened since 1825 Moscow), andMariinsky Theatre,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:

Feodor ChaliapinasIvan SusanininGlinka'sA Life for the Tsar

Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre

• 1835 –Askold's Grave
• 1836 –A Life for the Tsar
• 1842 –Ruslan and Lyudmila
• 1856 –Rusalka

Mariinsky Theatre(since 1860)

• 1863 –Judith
• 1865 –Rogneda
• 1871 –The Power of the Fiend(Vrazya sila)
• 1872 –The Stone Guest
• 1874 –Boris Godunov
• 1874 –The Oprichnik
• 1875 –The Demon
• 1876 –Vakula the Smith
• 1881 –The Maid of Orleans
• 1882 –The Snow Maiden
• 1886 –Khovanshchina
• 1886 –Prince Igor
• 1887 –The Enchantress(Charodeyka)
• 1890 –The Queen of Spades

Mamontov's Private Russian Operaestablished in 1885.Savva Mamontovdiscovered talent ofChaliapin,commissioned designs fromMikhail Vrubel,Konstantin Korovin,Natalia GoncharovaandIvan Bilibin,staged the late operas byRimsky Korsakov.

Opera spread to the provincial centres ofKiev(1867), Odessa (1887) andKharkiv(1880).

20th century

The political collisions of the 20th century divided Russian opera composers into those who managed to escape to the West, successfully or not, and those who continued to live in not the particular friendly atmosphere of the Soviet and Post-Soviet regimes. And nevertheless, the process of producing new operas was not diminished, but just the opposite, it was immensely grown.

• 
  Vladimir Rebikov
• 
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
• 
  Igor Stravinsky
• 
  Sergei Prokofiev
• 
  Dmitri Shostakovich

Zimin Operaestablished in 1904,Sergei Diaghilev'sSaisons Russesbegan in Paris in 1913.

Vladimir Rebikov(1866–1920) composer of more than 10 operas is best of all known for his operaThe Christmas Tree(Yolka,1894–1902) in which he presented his ideas of "melo-mimics" and "rhythm-declamation" (seemelodeclamation).

Sergey Rachmaninoff(1873–1943) completed three operas:

• Aleko(1892, staged 1893)
• The Miserly Knight(Skupoy Rytsar Op. 24, 1904)
• Francesca da Rimini(Op. 25, 1904, staged 1906).

All three operas were staged at the Bolshoi Theatre. He began but did not finish the fourthMonna Vanna(1907, 1st act in a vocal score) afterMaurice Maeterlinckwho 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(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(The Nightingale)(1914)
• Renard,burlesquefor 4pantomimesand Chamber Orchestra (1916) opera-ballet
• Histoire du Soldatfor chamber group and three speakers (1918), narration with music
• Mavra(1922)
• Oedipus rex(1927)
• Perséphonefor speaker, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1934)
• Babel(1944)
• The Rake's Progress(1951)
• The Flood(1962)

Sergei Prokofiev’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(1919)
• The Fiery Angel(1919–1927)
• Semyon Kotko(1939)
• Betrothal in a Monastery(1940–1941)
• War and Peace(1941–1952)
• The Story of a Real Man,Op. 117 (1947–1948)

Dmitri Shostakovich(1906–1975) was another great opera composer struggling all his life in the clutch of the communist ideology. HissatiricaloperaThe Nose,after the completely absurd story byGogolwas criticized in 1929 byRAPMas "formalist".His second operaLady Macbeth of the Mtsensk Districtperformed in 1934 with an enormous success was condemned by the authorities even more harshly. This forced him to recompose it much later, in 1962, asKaterina Izmailovain 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 theSoviet Union's foremost composers, such as Prokofiev, Shostakovich and many others, had emerged in 1948 in connection to the opera byVano Muradeli(1908–1970),Velikaya druzhba(The Great Friendship); seeZhdanov Doctrine.

Here is just a shortlist of the opera composers of those times:

• Yuri Shaporin(1887–1966), operaThe Decembrists(written during a period of 33 years 1920–1953, staged 1953)
• Isaak Dunayevsky(1900–1955), 14 operettas includingWhite Acacia(1955)
• Alexander Mossolov(1900–1973), 4 operas including.The Barrage(1929–1930)
• Vissarion Shebalin(1902–1963), 3 operas includingThe Taming of the Shrew(1957)
• Dmitri Kabalevsky(1904–1987), 7 operas includingColas Breugnon(1936–1976)
• Veniamin Fleishman(1913–1941), operaRothschild's Violin(1941) completed and orchestrated byDmitri Shostakovich
• Tikhon Khrennikov(1913–2007), 5 operas including "Into the Storm" (1936–1939)
• Grigory Frid(1915–2012), 2 chamber mono-operas includingThe Diary of Anne Frank(1968)
• Mieczysław Weinberg(1919–1996), 7 operas includingThe Portrait(1980) andThe Idiot(1985)

Also:Vladimir Shcherbachev,Sergei Vasilenko,Vladimir Fere,Vladimir Vlasov,Kirill Molchanov,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 theUnion of Composersmade 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 theComposers' Union,its leaderTikhon Khrennikovdenounced 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 "(seeNikolai 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 includingL'écume des jours(The Foam of Days,completed 1981)
• Nikolai Karetnikov(1930–1994), 2 operas includingTill Eulenspiegel,opera in two acts (1965–1985)
• Sergei Slonimsky(born 1932), 3 operas includingMary Stewart(1978–1980)
• Rodion Shchedrin(born 1932), 3 operas includingMyortvye dushi(Dead Souls1976)
• Alfred Schnittke(1934–1998), 3 operas includingZhizn’ s idiotom(Life with an Idiot,1990–1991)
• Boris Tishchenko(b. 1939 ) 2 operas includingKradenoe solntse(The Stolen Sun,1968)
• Alexander Knaifel(born 1943) 2 operas includingKentervilskoye prividenie(The Canterville Ghost,1965–1966)
• Nikolai Korndorf(1947–2001), chamber operaMR (Marina and Rainer)(1989)
• Elena Firsova(born 1950), 2 chamber operas includingThe Nightingale and the Rose

Also:Nikolai Sidelnikov,Andrei Petrov,Sandor Kallosh,Leonid Hrabovsky,Alexander Vustin,Gleb Sedelnikov,Merab Gagnidze,Alexander Tchaikovsky,Vasily Lobanov,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 wasTsar Demyan–a frightful opera performance(a collective project of the five participants: composersLeonid DesyatnikovandVyacheslav GaivoronskyfromSaint Petersburg,Iraida YusupovaandVladimir Nikolayevfrom 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-dramaTsar Maksimilyan,premiere 20 June 2001Mariinski Theatre,Saint Petersburg. Prize "Gold Mask, 2002" and "Gold Soffit, 2002".

Another operaThe Children of RosenthalbyLeonid Desyatnikovto the libretto byVladimir Sorokin,was commissioned by theBolshoi Theatreand premiered on 23 March 2005.

List of Russian opera theatres

See also:List of opera houses § Russia

• "Comedie et opere", (small hall in a wing ofZimniy Dvorets–The Winter Palace,from 1735St Petersburg)
• Theatre ofLetniy Sad(Summer Garden,from 1735St Petersburg)
• Opera House (with 1000 seats, atZimniy Dvorets–The Winter Palace,from 1743,St Petersburg)
• Moscow Theatre (built 1742 for the coronation ofElizaveta Petrovna,Moscow)
• KuskovoSummer Theatre (from 1755,Kuskovonear Moscow)
• Karl Kniper Theatre(1777–1797St Petersburg)
• Chinese Opera Theatre(from 1779,Tsarskoe SelonearSt Petersburg)
• Petrovsky Theatre(with 1000 seats, from 1780 to 1805, Moscow)
• Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre(1783–1811,St Petersburg)
• Hermitage Theatre(from 1785St Petersburg)
• Ostankino Theatre(from 22 July 1795,Ostankinonear Moscow)
• Imperial Kamenny Theatreor theBolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg,(St Petersburg)
• Petrovka Theatre(from 1786 to 1805 Moscow)
• Bolshoi Theatre(from 1825 Moscow)
• Kamenny Island Theatre(from 1826St Petersburg)
• Mariinsky Theatre,(from 1860St Petersburg)

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

Bibliography

• Abraham, Gerald:The Concise Oxford History of Music,Oxford1979ISBN0-19-284010-X
• [Abramovsky A.] Абрамовский А.Русская опера до ГлинкиMoscow 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 РоссииЛ., 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 музыкив 10 томах, т. 2, 3. Moscow 1984
• [Keldysh Yu. V.] Келдыш Ю. В.Русская музыка XVIII векаMoscow 1965
• [Livanova T. N.] Ливанова Т. Н.Русская музыкальная культура XVIII века в ее связях с литературой, театром и бытомв 2-х томах 1952–1953 гг. т.1, т.2
• [Rabinovich A. S.] Рабинович А.С.Русская опера до ГлинкиMoscow 1948
• [Rapatskaya L. A.] Рапацкая Л.А.Русское искусство XVIII векаMoscow 1995
• [Serov A. N.] Серов А. Н.Опера в России и русская опера// Серов А.Н.Критические статьи.Т. 4. Спб. 1965
• Taruskin, Richard:Russiain 'TheNew Grove Dictionary of Opera', ed.Stanley Sadie(London, 1992)ISBN0-333-73432-7
• Frolova-Walker, Marina:Russian Federation, 1730–1860, Opera;Powell, Jonathan: 1860–90, Opera; Barttlett, Rosamund (Music of the Soviet Period) in the entryRussian Federation,The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,vol. 21ISBN0-333-60800-3

External links

• The Golden Age of Opera
• 18th century World’s stars in Russia
• Giovanni Ristori
• Russian Opera
• Research in Russian
• Russian opera in Encyclopaedia “Krugosvet” (Russian)
• MoscowComposer– Moscow Composers
• Research Guide to Russian Music and Opera