Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement
Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement

Author: Simon Morrison

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2002-08-05

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 9780520927261

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An aesthetic, historical, and theoretical study of four scores, Russian Opera and the Symbolist Movement is a groundbreaking and imaginative treatment of the important yet neglected topic of Russian opera in the Silver Age. Spanning the gap between the supernatural Russian music of the nineteenth century and the compositions of Prokofiev and Stravinsky, this exceptionally insightful and well-researched book explores how Russian symbolist poets interpreted opera and prompted operatic innovation. Simon Morrison shows how these works, though stylistically and technically different, reveal the extent to which the operatic representation of the miraculous can be translated into its enactment. Morrison treats these largely unstudied pieces by canonical composers: Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades, Rimsky-Korsakov's Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevroniya, Scriabin's unfinished Mysterium, and Prokofiev's Fiery Angel. The chapters, revisionist studies of these composers and scores, address separate aspects of Symbolist poetics, discussing such topics as literary and musical decadence, pagan-Christian syncretism, theurgy, and life creation, or the portrayal of art in life. The appendix offers the first complete English-language translation of Scriabin's libretto for the Preparatory Act. Providing valuable insight into both the Symbolist enterprise and Russian musicology, this book casts new light on opera's evolving, ambiguous place in fin de siècle culture.

Mamontov's Private Opera
Mamontov's Private Opera

Author: Olga Haldey

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2010-06-16

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0253004349

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The Moscow Private Opera, founded, sponsored, and directed by Savva Mamontov (1841--1918), was one of Russia's most important theatrical institutions at the dawn of the age of modernism. It presented the Moscow premieres of Lohengrin, La Bohà ̈me, and Khovanshchina, among others; launched the career of Feodor Chaliapin; gave Sergei Rachmaninov his first conducting job; employed Vasily Polenov, Victor Vasnetsov, Valentin Serov, Konstantin Korovin, and Mikhail Vrubel as set designers; and served as a model for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Part commercial enterprise, part experimental studio, Mamontov's company revolutionized opera directing and design, and trained a generation of opera singers. Drawing on a wealth of unpublished primary sources and evidence from art and theater history, Olga Haldey paints a fascinating portrait of a railway tycoon turned artiste and his pioneering opera company.

A History of Russian Theatre
A History of Russian Theatre

Author: Robert Leach

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1999-11-29

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9780521432207

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A comprehensive history of Russian theatre, written by an international team of experts.

The Literary Lorgnette
The Literary Lorgnette

Author: Julie A. Buckler

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 9780804732475

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This book uses a literary lens to examine the diverse practices, lore, and texts of opera-going in imperial Russia.

The Russian Opera
The Russian Opera

Author: Rosa Newmarch

Publisher: DigiCat

Published: 2022-09-15

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13:

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In view of the extended interest now felt in Russian opera, drama and ballet, it has been thought worthwhile to offer to the public this outline of the development of a genuine national opera, from the history of which we have much to learn in this country, both as regards the things to be attempted and those to be shunned. Too much technical analysis has been intentionally avoided in this volume. The musician can supply this deficiency by the study of the scores mentioned in the book, which, dating from Glinka's time, have nearly all been published and are therefore accessible to the student; the average opera-goer will be glad to gain a general view of the subject, unencumbered by the monotonous terminology of musical analysis.

Five Operas and a Symphony
Five Operas and a Symphony

Author: Boris Gasparov

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2008-10-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 0300133162

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In this eagerly anticipated book, Boris Gasparov gazes through the lens of music to find an unusual perspective on Russian cultural and literary history. He discusses six major works of Russian music from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, showing the interplay of musical texts with their literary and historical sources within the ideological and cultural contexts of their times. Each musical work becomes a tableau representing a moment in Russian history, and together the works form a coherent story of ideological and aesthetic trends as they evolved in Russia from the time of Pushkin to the rise of totalitarianism in the 1930s. Gasparov discusses Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla (1842), Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (1871) and Khovanshchina (1881), Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (1878) and The Queen of Spades (1890), and Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony (1934). Offering new interpretations to enhance our understanding and appreciation of these important works, Gasparov also demonstrates how Russian music and cultural history illuminate one another.

The Dramatic Works of Catherine the Great
The Dramatic Works of Catherine the Great

Author: Lurana Donnels O'Malley

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780754656289

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The first in-depth study of Catherine the Great's plays and opera libretti, this book provides analysis and critical interpretation of the dramatic works by this eighteenth-century Russian Empress. O'Malley sets close textual analysis within an historical framework, analyzing the major plays according to content, style, themes, characters, and relation to Catherine's life and political aims. The study investigates how Catherine expressed her social ideas throughout her drama and exploited the stage's power to promote her political ideals and ideology.

On Russian Music
On Russian Music

Author: Richard Taruskin

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 0520268067

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This volume gathers 36 essays by one of the leading scholars in the study of Russian music. An extensive introduction lays out the main issues and a justification of Taruskin's approach, seen both in the light of his intellectual development and in that of the changing intellectual environment.

The Operas of Sergei Prokofiev
The Operas of Sergei Prokofiev

Author: Christina Guillaumier

Publisher:

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781783274482

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The operas of Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) mark a significant contribution to twentieth-century music and theatre. Opera was Prokofiev's preferred genre; not counting juvenile and unfinished works, he wrote a total of eight. Yet, to date, little has been published about the context, rationale or musical and compositional processes behind this output. While systematic studies of Prokofiev's symphonies and his ballets exist, the operas have come under no such scrutiny. This book is the first in the English language to engage with the composer's operatic output in its entirety and provides a contextual, critical and musico-analytical account of all of Prokofiev's operas, including those juvenile works that are unpublished as well as the incomplete works composed towards the end of his life. It also includes synopses of the operas. Drawing on a wealth of archival material and other sources, the book provides the compelling untold story of Prokofiev the opera composer. CHRISTINA GUILLAUMIER is a music historian, pianist and writer on music. She is currently Head of Undergraduate Programmes at the Royal College of Music in London.