Robert Eugene Ward was an American composer who is best remembered for his opera The Crucible (1961) after the 1953 play of the same name by Arthur Miller. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music for that opera in 1962.
Idomeneo, re di Creta ossia Ilia e Idamante is an Italian-language opera seria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was adapted by Giambattista Varesco from a French text by Antoine Danchet, based on a 1705 play by Crébillion père, which had been set to music by André Campra as Idoménée in 1712. Mozart and Varesco were commissioned in 1780 by Karl Theodor, Elector of Bavaria for a court carnival. He probably chose the subject, though it may have been Mozart. The work premiered on 29 January 1781 at the Cuvilliés Theatre in Munich, Germany.
The Polovtsian dances, or Polovetsian dances form an exotic scene at the end of act 2 of Alexander Borodin's opera Prince Igor.
Anastasio Martín Ignacio Vicente Tadeo Francisco Pellegrin Martín y Soler was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure now, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary and admirer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a composer of opera buffa. In his time he was called "Martini lo spagnuolo" ; in modern times, he has been called "the Valencian Mozart". He was known primarily for his melodious Italian comic operas and his work with Lorenzo Da Ponte in the late 18th century, as well as the melody from Una cosa rara quoted in the dining scene of Mozart's Don Giovanni.
Vasily Alexeyevich Pashkevich also Paskevich was a Russian composer, singer, violinist and teacher of Ukrainian origin who lived during the time of Catherine the Great.
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin was a Russian opera composer of the 18th century
Russian opera 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 only Russian-language operas. 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 the Empire and the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Ivanovich Popov was a Russian writer, poet, dramatist and opera librettist of the 18th century.
Knipper Theatre, Kniper Theatre or Knieper Theatre was the venue of a German theatrical troupe led by Karl Kniper which performed in Saint Petersburg beginning in 1775, and ending in 1797.
Catherine II the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia was not only an opera fan, a patroness of the arts, music and theatre, but also an opera librettist. She commissioned some well-known Russian and foreign composers to provide music for her texts.
Anyuta is a one-act comic opera to a libretto by Mikhail Popov. First performed in 1772, it was one of the first operas written in the Russian language.
Mikhail Alexeyevich Matinsky was a Russian scientist, dramatist, librettist and opera composer.
Yakov Borisovich Knyazhnin was Russia's foremost tragic author during the reign of Catherine the Great. Knyazhnin's contemporaries hailed him as the true successor to his father-in-law Alexander Sumarokov, but posterity, in the words of Vladimir Nabokov, tended to view his tragedies and comedies as "awkwardly imitated from more or less worthless French models".
Antoine Bullant, also Anton Bullandt was a Czech musician and opera composer who worked first in France but primarily in Imperial Russia.
The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the 18th century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences, which had a profound impact on Russian culture. During this time, the first Russian university was founded, a library, a theatre, a public museum, as well as a relatively independent press. Like other enlightened despots, Catherine the Great played a key role in fostering the arts, sciences, and education. The national Enlightenment in the Russian Empire differed from its Western European counterpart in that it promoted further modernization of all aspects of Russian life and was concerned with abolishing the institution of serfdom in Russia. The Russian Enlightenment did not promote the separation of church and state. Pugachev's Rebellion and the French Revolution may have shattered the illusions of rapid political change, but the intellectual climate in Russia was altered irrevocably. Russia's place in the world was debated by Denis Fonvizin, Mikhail Shcherbatov, Andrey Bolotov, Alexander Radishchev, and Ivan Boltin; these discussions precipitated the divide between the radical, western, conservative and Slavophile traditions of Russian thought. Intellectuals often used the term prosveshcheniye, promoting piety, erudition, and commitment to the spread of learning.
This article lists appearances of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in popular media.
The Maiden in the Tower, JS 101, is an opera in one act—comprising an overture and eight scenes—written in 1896 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. The piece was a collaboration with the Finnish author Rafael Hertzberg, the Swedish-language libretto of whom tells a "simple tale of chivalry" that may nonetheless have had allegorical ambitions: the Bailiff abducts and imprisons the Maiden ; although she endures hardship, she remains true to herself and is freed subsequently by her Lover and the Chatelaine of the castle.
Events from the year 1786 in Russia
The Coachmen at the Relay Station, also referred to as Coachmen on a stand, or an accidental game, is a 1787 one-act comic opera by Yevstigney Fomin with the libretto authored by N. A. Lvov, and was dedicated to friend of Lvov and folk song collector S. M. Mitrofanov, although it was specifically written on occasion of Catherine the Great's visit to Tambov. Although the scheduled visit never occurred, the opera was completed and performed without Catherine's appearance to resolve the plot as Fomin intended.
