History of opera
Russia

The Russian music was noted for the colorful timbres, the preference for brass instruments, the tendency to the minor mode and a melancholic and expressive spirit, as well as a strong orientalist influence, especially Arabic and Chinese. They also liked ballets and folk dances. In the 19th century Russian opera went through three phases: during the absolutist reign of Nicholas I, opera was to serve monarchical propaganda, as in Glinka's work; during the reign of Alexander II, in which certain reforms were introduced, opera presented a more popular component and tended to social realism, whose paradigm was Boris Godunov by Músorgski; the third, with the return to autocracy of Alexander III, coincides with the work of Tchaikovsky. On the other hand, in Russia arose the opéra dialogué, a genre of recitative singing occasionally elevated to arioso, but renouncing the aria, choruses and ensembles.

The seat of the Imperial Opera was at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theater in St. Petersburg, opened in 1783, until 1862 when it was moved to the Mariinsky Theater. In 1825, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow opened. In the business field, it is also worth noting the productions staged by Sergey Diaghilev and the Theater of the Arts founded in 1898 by Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko and Konstantin Stanislavski, great innovators in the fields of acting and scenography.

Mikhail Glinka is considered the "father of Russian music." His first hit was Zhizn za tsaryá (A Life for the Tsar, 1836), the story of a Russian folk hero, Ivan Susanin. It featured French and Italian influences, but introduced distinctly Russian melodies, based on folk folklore, as in the use of the balalaika. In 1842 he premiered Ruslan and Liudmila, on a poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, which inaugurated the genre of the so-called Russian "magical opera".

Aleksandr Dargomizhski, a friend of Glinka's, was similarly committed to creating a national opera grounded in Russian folklore. His first opera, Esmeralda (1840), was based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. His masterpiece was Rusalka (1856), with lyrical melodies based on the patterns of the Russian language. He left unfinished his last opera, Kámenni gost (The Stone Guest), on a tragedy by Aleksandr Pushkin, which was completed by Cui and Rimski-Kórsakov, and premiered in 1872.

The next impulse came from a group of composers known as The Five, interested in composing a specifically Russian music. It consisted of Mili Balákirev, Aleksandr Borodín, César Cui, Modest Músorgski and Nikolái Rimski-Kórsakov, although the former did not venture into opera. Borodin was a chemist and practiced music as a hobby. He completed only one opera, Bogatyri (1867), and left unfinished what would be his masterpiece, Kniaz Igor (Prince Igor, 1869–1870, completed between 1874 and 1887 and premiered in 1890). César Cui was an engineer by profession. He was the author of several operas, such as Kavkazski plénnik (The Prisoner of the Caucasus, 1883) and Kot v sapogaj (Puss in Boots, 1915), not performed in the current operatic repertoire. Modest Músorgski, of aristocratic origin, began a military career, which he abandoned to devote himself to music. Between 1868 and 1869 he composed his masterpiece, Boris Godunov, based on a text by Aleksandr Pushkin, in which he introduced his characteristic declamatory style based on Russian colloquial language. Between 1872 and 1880 he composed Jovánschina (The Jovanski Case), which was completed by Rimsky-Kórsakov. Both are operas of difficult performance, so they are often offered only in their orchestral version. His last opera was Soróchinskaya yármarka (The Sorochinets Fair, 1876–1881), of comic genre, which he also left unfinished. Rimsky-Korsakov was a naval officer and amateur composer. He was a pupil of Balakirev, and was noted for his mastery of the orchestra and his evocative harmonies, despite which he did not triumph much in the West. After operas like Snegúrochka (The Snow Maiden, 1882), Mlada (1892), Noch péred Rózhdestvom (Christmas Night, 1895), Mozart and Salieri (1898), Sadkó (1898), Tsárskaya nevesta (The Tsar's Bride, 1899), Tsare Saltane (Tsar Saltan, 1900) and Skazániye o nevídimom grade Kítezhe (The Invisible City of Kítezh, 1907), his greatest success was Zolotoi Petushok (The Golden Cockerel, 1909), based on a play by Pushkin, premiered after his death.

Another outstanding exponent was Pyotr Tchaikovsky, a character tormented by his homosexuality and with a tendency to depression, but of great sensitivity as a composer. His first opera was Voivode (1868), of which he was not satisfied. With Opríchnik (The guard, 1874) and Kuznets Vakula (Vakula the blacksmith, 1876) he began his personal dramatic style, characterized by lyrical music, dances and folk melodies, with a certain orientalist taste. With these parameters he composed Evgeni Onegin (1879), his masterpiece. It was followed by Orleanskaya deva (The Maid of Orleans, 1881), Mazepa (1884), Charodeyka (The Sorceress, 1887), Píkovaya dama (The Lady in Spades, 1890) and Iolanta (1891). Tchaikovsky was the most Europeanist of the Russian composers of the period, as well as the most Romantic – he is often referred to as the last Romantic.

Other exponents were: Aleksandr Aliabiev (Burya, 1835; Rusalka, 1843), Anton Arensky (Son na Volge, 1891; Raphael, 1894), Mikhail Ippolytov-Ivanov (Ruth, 1887), Anton Rubinstein (The Demon, 1875) and Aleksandr Serov (Judith, 1863; Rogneda, 1865).

In Ukraine, belonging to Russia until 1991, Mykola Lysenko was the leading Ukrainian-language composer: Natalka Poltavka (1889), Taras Bulba (1890). His work was admired by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, but was not widely disseminated because he refused to have it translated into Russian.
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