1837

Historians often think of Russia before the 1860s in terms of conservative stasis, when the ‘gendarme of Europe’ secured order beyond the country’s borders and entrenched the autocratic system at home. This book offers a profoundly different vision of Russia under Nicholas I. Drawing on an extensive array of sources, it reveals that many of modern Russia’s most distinctive and outstanding features can be traced back to an inconspicuous but exceptional year. Russia became what it did, in no small measure, because of 1837. The catalogue of the year’s noteworthy occurrences extends from the realms of culture, religion, and ideas to those of empire, politics, and industry. Exploring these diverse issues and connecting seemingly divergent historical actors, Paul W. Werth reveals that the 1830s in Russia were a period of striking dynamism and consequence, and that 1837 was pivotal for the country’s entry into the modern age. From the romantic death of Russia’s greatest poet, Alexander Pushkin, in January to a colossal fire at the Winter Palace in December, Russia experienced much that was astonishing in 1837: the railway and provincial press appeared, Russian opera made its debut, Orthodoxy pushed westward, the first Romanov visited Siberia—and much else besides. The cumulative effect was profound. The country’s integration accelerated, and a Russian nation began to emerge, embodied in new institutions and practices, within the larger empire. The result was a quiet revolution, after which Russia would never be the same.

A Tale of Three Rusalkas: Krasnopol’sky, Pushkin, and Dargomyzhsky

Conventional histories of Russian opera mark Mikhail Glinka’s 1836 opera Zhizn’ za tsarya (A Life for the Tsar) as the point of origin for Russian nationalist opera that quickly burst into full bloom, yet by the middle of the century homegrown opera had fallen out of performance repertory in favor of Western European and particularly Italian imports. It was around this time that a group of amateur composers later known as the kuchka (the “Mighty Handful” or “Mighty Five”) re-ignited the debate around creating a uniquely Russian genre of opera; however, their efforts only obscured Russian opera’s European roots rather than establish a completely separate genre. Yet their critical campaign proved successful, and the idea of Russian opera as a uniquely nationalist genre remains especially prevalent. This article examines Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky’s Rusalka (1856), one of the earliest examples of this new type of Russian nationalist opera, and how it responds to the dominance of Italian opera in Russia during the mid-century by embedding Italian operatic conventions into the score itself. Rusalka also inaugurated the operatic trend of adapting literary works by Aleksandr Pushkin, the writer often cited as the father of Russian literature. This article illustrates how both Pushkin’s dramatic Rusalka and Dargomyzhsky’s operatic adaptation of it a generation later imitated Western European literary and theatrical conventions. Paradoxically, the ways in which Pushkin and Dargomyzhsky would conceal these Western parallelisms would later be hailed as markers of a uniquely “Russian” literary and operatic style in a critical campaign designed to erase Russia’s long history of artistic dialogue with the wider Continent.

S. Mamontov and V. Telyakovsky as two fields of attraction in the fate of F. Chaliapin1 and the Russian opera theater

Using meaningful historical material, the article explores the parallels of the creative careers of such great developers of the Russian opera of the late 19th – early 20th centuries as F. Chaliapin, S. Mamontov, and V. Telyakovsky. It was the period of rapid development of innovative stage direction, vocal art, and stage design. The outstanding organizers of theater business S. Mamontov and V. Telyakovsky were at the heart of that creative seething. Being representatives of different social strata (the merchant class and higher nobility), they attracted vivid talents and opened them the way of the private and state opera, respectively. The flourishing of operatic art led to a completely new level of performance. F. Chaliapin and a number of other outstanding representatives of Russian opera began their careers at that time. S. Mamontov’s Private Opera which played a significant role in the development of Russian operatic art was founded in 1896. The repertoire of this theater consisted of works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Borodin. Innovative approaches to the opera performance which was considered as a living synthetic phenomenon integrating the concepts of production and stage design were implemented on the Russian stage for the first time. In its productions, Mamontov’s Private Opera used the principles of realism, which corresponded to the spirit of the works performed. Meanwhile, the development of Russian opera during this period was taking place against the background of complex social relations which aggravated many contradictions both in the life of the society as a whole with its differentiation into metropolitan and provincial life, and in the life on the stage with its specific very mobile interpersonal communications. The article focuses on the careers of S. Mamontov, F. Chaliapin, and V. Telyakovsky. Each of them made an invaluable contribution to the development of Russian opera. From the perspective of the historical culturological approach, the article examines the complicated relationship between the prominent Russian philanthropist and theater director Savva Mamontov, the flexible administrator Vladimir Telyakovsky, and the outstanding opera singer Feodor Chaliapin, and their influence on the formation of the personality of an opera performer and on the development of operatic art in Russia as a whole. The article presents abundant documentary evidence of the peculiarities of their relationship which ultimately determined the vector in the development of the Russian opera theater.

XIX century in the history of European and Russian opera: points of intersection and differences

The development of opera genre in Europe and Russia in the XIX century is of particular interest for the Chinese and Russian art historians. The subject of this article is the history of European and Russian opera in the XIX century. The object of this research is the works of the leading opera composers and the novelties introduced by each of them into the opera genre. The goal consists in examination of the following aspects of the topic: specificity of emergence of opera in Russia in the XVIII century, establishment of the national opera schools – Italian, French, German and their prominent representatives, as well as peculiarities of the Russian opera tradition of the XIX century. The novelty lies in determination of similarities and differences between the European and Russian opera in the XIX century from the perspective of of Chinese art history. The author's special contribution consists in the attempt to discuss the subject matter in the context of Chinese art historians who take interest in the peculiarities of opera of the XIX century. The acquired results demonstrate that the development of opera within the framework of the vocal and musical performance in the XIX century is a unique sociocultural phenomenon, which manifested through the system of spiritual values and spiritual life of the Russian and European nations.

Замечания о рецепции итальянской оперы seria в период от царствования Анны Иоанновны до царствования Екатерины II

This article seeks to contribute to the ongoing revision of the historiography on eighteenth-century Russian music in general, and Russian opera in particular. After an extensive survey of the state of the field, the author adopts a multi-disciplinary approach (combining musical and philological studies) to analyse recently published primary sources about the reception of Italian opera seria in early imperial Russia. The article demonstrates that far from merely providing amusement for the Court of three consecutive female monarchs, Italian composers and their works engaged in complex ways with a much more variegated Russian "public." The author suggests that the creation of this music-listening and -performing domestic public was indebted to Italian operatic traditions and, at the same time, intimately connected to local traditions of musical performance.

Recipes of the Russian opera tradition in the Chinese opera art of the 20th century

The publication is devoted to the consideration of the peculiarities of the reception of Russian opera tradition in the Chinese opera of 20th century. The significant role of the historical and the cultural events that affected the spread Russian opera in China is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to the study of the activities of representatives the Russian emigration in the field of opera art. It was emphasized that the influence of Russian and foreign opera contributed to the formation of the genre the Chinese opera of the European type.

The origins of Russian Opera as the key to understanding modern opera art

The subject of this research is the origins of Russian Opera and its evolution. The grounds of Russian Opera can be observed in folk and Church rites of the Ancient Rus’. The origins of Russian Opera stem from the Middle Ages, when the cantatory tradition formed under the impact of Byzantine and Russian folk traditions. The folk-Church events of the XVI – XVII centuries contained the theatrical elements, which later on were incorporated by the professional musical theater. Until the XVIII century, theatrical performances were open only to royalty and upper class society. The first theatre in Russia was built in 1672 for the Tsar and received a name “The Comedy Mansion”. It staged operas on the Biblical themes. The first secular operas appeared in the second half of the XVIII century. In 1756, the Empress Elizabeth of Russia turned the theater into a state and public institution. Russian operas of that time mirrored the Western models to a large extent. The emergence of truly national operas is related to the name of M. I. Glinka (1804-1857). The conclusion is made that modern Opera borrowed the principles of nationalism and humanism from its precursors. The author draws parallels between the first operas, classical Russian Opera on the one hand, and modern Russian Opera on the other. Analysis is carried out on the origin of the plots and libretto of the operas. P. I. Tchaikovsky, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S. V. S. V. Rachmaninoff, S. S. Prokofiev, D. D. Shostakovich and others, same as the inventors of the opera, wrote their operas based on literary and historical storylines.