What genre was the main one in Verstovsky’s work? A
Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky was born on February 18, 1799. He was the director of Moscow theaters. His activities in the Moscow Imperial Theater Company turned out to be so important that Muscovites nicknamed the Moscow theaters “Verstovsky theatres.”
He showed himself not only to be an energetic administrator and a skillful leader, but also often acted as a director and teacher. He contributed in every possible way to enriching the repertoire, improving the work of the theater school, raising the artistic level of performances, and paid great attention to the selection and education of actors. Through his efforts, music classes were opened at the Directorate of Moscow Theaters, preparing orchestra players for future work in theater orchestras. In 1826, together with A.I. Pisarev, he published “Dramatic Album for Lovers of Theater and Music” (2 books were published). In 1829 he became a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. In 1833 he graduated from Moscow University as an external student.
A. N. Verstovsky is Glinka’s forerunner in founding the national Russian opera. Wrote the operas “Pan Tvardovsky” (1828), “Vadim, or the 12 Sleeping Virgins” (1832), “Askold the Grave” (1835), “Homesickness” (1835), “Churova Valley” "(1841) and "Thunderbolt" (1858). Of all these magical-dramatic operas, “Askold’s Grave”, based on the novel by M. N. Zagoskin, gained enormous popularity, which glorified the composer and remained in the operatic repertoire for a long time. The extraordinary success of his best opera was noted by the outstanding critic A. Serov. In 1862, after the composer’s death, he wrote that “in terms of popularity, Verstovsky overpowers Glinka.”
A. N. Verstovsky also wrote more than 30 vaudeville operas. Among them are “Grandmother’s Parrots” (text by N. I. Khmelnitsky, 1819), “Who is Brother, Who is Sister, or Deception after Deception” (text by A. S. Griboyedov and P. A. Vyazemsky, 1824), “Two Notes, or Guilty without guilt” (together with A. A. Alyabyev, text by A. I. Pisarev, 1827) and others.
He also became famous for his romances “Have you heard the voice of the night behind the grove”, “Old husband, formidable husband” (based on poems by A. S. Pushkin; the last “gypsy romance” was repeatedly performed by P. Viardot-Garcia), cantatas, and sacred music. In Russian vocal lyrics, Verstovsky created a new genre - the ballad, or “dramatic cantatas,” as he himself called such works. These are narrative-dramatic works for a soloist with instrumental accompaniment, written in free form. The best ballads include “Black Shawl” (to the verses of A. S. Pushkin), “Poor Singer” and “Night View” (to the verses of V. A. Zhukovsky), “Three Songs of the Skald”, etc.
The enormous significance of Verstovsky’s creativity was overshadowed by his tragic oblivion during his lifetime. New movements and new generations of musicians appeared on the scene. Gradually freeing themselves from old, already noisy performances with Verstovsky’s music, theaters took on new works in their repertoire. M. Glinka’s opera “Life for the Tsar” brought a new impetus to the development of Russian musical culture in 1836. Verstovsky took this seriously.
Verstovsky entered the history of music as the author of one opera, Askold’s Grave, which was constantly performed on Russian stages for a century and still occasionally appears in the repertoire.
Russian composer and theater figure. Born on the Seliverstovo estate (Tambov province) on February 18 (March 1), 1799 into a noble family. From 1808 he lived in Ufa, in 1816–1817 he studied in St. Petersburg at the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, privately studied music - piano with Daniel Steibelt (1765–1823) and John Field (1782–1837), violin with Ludwig Maurer ( 1789–1878), also took composition and singing lessons. In 1833 he graduated from Moscow University as an external student. From early youth he was passionate about the theater: he wrote and translated vaudeville libretti, participated in amateur performances, and composed music for theatrical performances. In 1819, Verstovsky's first vaudeville opera, Grandmother's Parrots, based on the play by N.I. Khmelnitsky (1789–1845), was staged at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater; In total, during his life he wrote music for more than thirty performances, including 25 vaudeville operas, original and translated. In 1823 he moved to Moscow, in 1825 he was appointed inspector of music, in 1830 - inspector of the repertoire of the Moscow Imperial Theaters, and in 1848-1860 - manager of the directorate's office. Verstovsky died in Moscow on September 5 (17), 1862.
For almost three decades, Verstovsky was at the head of the entire theatrical life of Moscow, since the opera and drama (as well as ballet) troupes were not separated from each other at that time. Close friendly relations connected Verstovsky with the Slavophile circle (S.T. Aksakov, M.N. Zagoskin, S.P. Shevyrev and others).
He combined numerous official duties with constant composing activities: in addition to music for dramatic performances and vaudevilles, Verstovsky created six operas, numerous vocal works - romances, ballads, cantatas, etc., among which the cantata Singers in the Camp of Russian Warriors based on poems by Zhukovsky (1827) stands out. ) and the very popular ballad for voice and orchestra at the time, The Black Shawl, based on poems by Pushkin (1824). Verstovsky's first opera, Pan Tvardovsky to a libretto by Zagoskin, was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1828; it was followed by Vadim, or the Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Maidens (based on Zhukovsky’s ballad, 1832), Askold’s Grave (based on Zagoskin, 1835), Homesickness (based on Zagoskin, 1839), Churova Valley, or Waking Dream (based on the play by V.I. Dahl, 1844), Gromoboy (based on Zhukovsky’s ballad, 1857). All of them were successful, and individual numbers from them became popular, but Verstovsky entered the history of music as the author of one opera - Askold's Grave, which was constantly performed on Russian stages for a century and still occasionally appears in the repertoire. All of Verstovsky's operas are written according to the singspiel type - a form in which musical numbers are combined with spoken scenes and recitatives on music; a number of numbers from his operas became part of city folklore.
Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky(1799-1862) - Russian composer and theater figure.
Biography
The composer's father was the illegitimate son of General Seliverstov and a captured Turkish woman, who received a truncated surname, but he was assigned to the noble class as a native of the Polish nobility. Mother - Anna Vasilievna (nee Volkova) - came from a military environment. From childhood, Verstovsky was introduced to music, since his father maintained a serf orchestra and organized home musical gatherings. Together with his brother Vasily and sister Varvara, Verstovsky studied violin and piano. From the age of nine he performed in concerts in Ufa.
In 1816 he moved to St. Petersburg. There he was assigned to the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, where he studied for one year, after which he entered the service and served in various institutions until 1823. Meanwhile, he continued his musical education, taking lessons from J. Field and D. Steibelt (piano), Tarquini (singing), F. Böhm and L. V. Maurer (violin), Brandt, K. T. Zeiner, Miller (theory compositions). During these same years, he began to be passionate about theater; among his St. Petersburg friends were outstanding theater figures: Prince Shakhovskoy, P. N. Arapov, A. A. Alyabyev, N. V. Vsevolozhsky, P. E. Mansurov, F. F. Yuryev. In addition, Verstovsky actively participated in amateur performances as a translator of plays, an actor, a singer and the author of music for theatrical productions. His first three vaudeville operas “Grandma's Parrots” (1819), “Quarantine” (1820), “A New Prank, or Theatrical Battle” (1822) were staged in St. Petersburg and were a great success. The texts of these works were created by Verstovsky’s friend, the playwright N. I. Khmelnitsky, popular in St. Petersburg at that time.
From 1823 until the end of his life, the composer’s fate was connected with Moscow. At first he was transferred to Moscow as an official of special assignments in the chancellery under Governor-General D.V. Golitsyn, then to the office of the Directorate of Imperial Theaters. From 1825 he held the position of music inspector of the Moscow Theater Directorate, from 1830 repertoire inspector, and from 1842 to 1859 he was manager of the Moscow theater office.
After many years of wandering around rented houses with his wife, the famous actress and singer N.V. Repina, in 1836 they bought their own house on Arbat, in Bolshoy Afanasyevsky Lane No. 16/24, where they lived until moving to Khlebny Lane in 1860. Here they were visited by F. Liszt (in 1843), R. Schumann and his wife Clara (in 1844) and, probably in 1847, G. Berlioz. This house was demolished in 1971.
The years of life in Moscow were filled for Verstovsky with active musical and social activities. The period when Verstovsky was the de facto leader of the city’s theatrical life was called by his contemporaries “the era of Verstovsky.” He showed himself not only to be an energetic administrator and a skillful leader, but also often acted as a director and teacher. He contributed in every possible way to enriching the repertoire, improving the work of the theater school, raising the artistic level of performances, and paid great attention to the selection and education of actors. Through his efforts, music classes were opened at the Directorate of Moscow Theaters, preparing orchestra players for future work in theater orchestras. In 1826, together with A.I. Pisarev, he published “Dramatic Album for Lovers of Theater and Music” (2 books were published). In 1829 he became a member of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature. In 1833, he graduated from the Imperial Moscow University as an external student. In parallel with this, intensive composing activity was going on.
Alexey Verstovsky died on November 5 (17), 1862 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.
Creation
The author of mainly musical and stage works - operas and vaudeville operas, as well as ballads. He created 6 operas - “Pan Tverdovsky” (1828), “Vadim, or the Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Virgins” (1832), “Thunderbolt” (1854, staged 1857) and others. The best is considered to be “Askold’s Grave” (1835) based on the novel by M. N. Zagoskin, which was very popular. The extraordinary success of his best opera was noted by the outstanding critic A. Serov. In 1862, after the composer’s death, he wrote that “in terms of popularity, Verstovsky overpowers Glinka.”
01 March 1799 - 17 November 1862
Russian composer and theater figure
Biography
Alexey Verstovsky was born on February 18 (March 1), 1799 in the Rastov Sad estate in the Tambov province.
The composer's father was the illegitimate son of General Seliverstov and a captured Turkish woman, who received a truncated surname. From the age of nine he performed in concerts in Ufa. In 1816 he moved to St. Petersburg. There he was assigned to the Institute of the Corps of Railway Engineers, where he studied for one year. He took piano, violin, singing, and composition lessons on his own.
From 1823 he lived in Moscow. After many years of wandering around rented houses with his wife, the very famous actress and singer N.V. Repina, they finally bought their own house on Arbat, in Bolshoy Afanasyevsky Lane No. 16/24, where they lived from 1836 to 1860, until moving to Khlebny Lane. Here they are visited by F. Liszt (in 1843), F. Schumann and Clara Wieck (in 1844) and, probably in 1847, G. Berlioz. Their house was demolished in 1971. Verstovsky A. N. - music inspector (from 1825), inspector of the repertoire of the imperial Moscow theaters (from 1830), manager of the office of the Directorate of the imperial Moscow theaters (1848-1860).
Alexey Verstovsky died on November 5 (17), 1862 in Moscow. He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.
Creation
The author of mainly musical and stage works - operas and vaudeville operas, as well as ballads. For thirty-five years he was an employee of the Moscow Imperial Theaters - this period was called the “Era of Verstovsky” in the theater world. He created 6 operas - “Pan Tvardovsky” (1828), “Vadim, or the Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Virgins” (1832), “Thunderbolt” (1854, staged 1857) and others. The best is considered “Askold’s Grave” (1835) based on the novel by M. N. Zagoskin, which was very popular. The extraordinary success of his best opera was noted by the outstanding critic A. Serov. In 1862, after the composer’s death, he wrote that “in terms of popularity, Verstovsky overpowers Glinka.”
He wrote more than 30 vaudeville operas - “Grandma’s Parrots” (text by N. I. Khmelnitsky, 1819), “Who is Brother, Who is Sister, or Deception after Deception” (text by A. S. Griboyedov and P. A. Vyazemsky, 1824) , “Two notes, or Guilty without guilt” (together with A. A. Alyabyev, text by A. I. Pisarev, 1827) and others.
He also became famous for his romances - “Have you heard the voice of the night behind the grove”, “Old husband, formidable husband” (based on poems by A. S. Pushkin; the last “gypsy romance” was repeatedly performed by P. Viardot-Garcia), cantatas, and sacred music. In Russian vocal lyrics, Verstovsky created a new genre - the ballad, or “dramatic cantatas,” as he himself called such works. These are narrative-dramatic works for a soloist with instrumental accompaniment, written in free form. The best ballads include “Black Shawl” (to the verses of A. S. Pushkin), “Poor Singer” and “Night View” (to the verses of V. A. Zhukovsky), “Three Songs of the Skald”, etc.
Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich
IN Erstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich - Russian composer. Born on February 18, 1799 in the Tambov province, into a landowner family. Completed a course at the Institute of Railway Engineers; studied music theory with Brandt and Zeiner. The earliest period of Verstovsky's musical creativity includes a piano sonata, songs, and couplets for vaudeville. He preferred a musical career to an engineering one and moved in the artistic world of St. Petersburg, often performing in private homes as an actor and singer. His opera-vaudeville "Grandma's Parrots" (translation from French by P.I. Khmelnitsky) was staged in 1819 in St. Petersburg; it was followed by vaudeville operas: “Quarantine” (1820), “A New Prank, or Theatrical Battle” (1882, in collaboration with and); "Madhouse, or Strange Wedding" (1822); "The Sentimental Landowner" (1822). The most successful was “The Madhouse,” which was performed on stage back in 1849. In 1822, Verstovsky moved to Moscow, joining the Moscow office of the imperial theaters. In 1825 he was appointed "inspector of repertoire and troupes", and in 1842 - manager of the Moscow office. Verstovsky had almost unlimited influence on theatrical affairs. His wife also had a great influence on theatrical life. In Moscow, during the first period of his activity, vaudevilles with his music were staged one after another: “Teacher and student, or a hangover at someone else’s feast” (1822), “The Troublemaker, or the Master’s Business is Afraid” in one act (1824), “Fun of the Caliph, or Jokes for One Day", "Meeting of Stagecoaches", "Thirty Thousand People", "Three Tens" (the last four - in 1825). At the opening of the Petrovsky Theater in Moscow (1825), the prologue “The Triumph of the Muses” was staged, in which the music of the anthem belonged to Verstovsky. The last vaudevilles with Verstovsky's music (sometimes in collaboration with Alyabyev) were staged in 1827 - 32 ("Shepherdess, Old Lady, Sorceress, or What Women Like", "A Means to Marry Daughters", "New Paris", "Stanislav" and "Roslavlev "). In the patriotic play "Kremnev", performed in 1839, Nastya's song belongs to Verstovsky (on its theme Vietant composed variations for the violin). In 1827, according to the idea, Verstovsky began composing the opera "Pan Tvardovsky" (on a libretto), staged in 1828 in Moscow with great success. The opera "Vadim, or the Twelve Sleeping Virgins", based on the professor's libretto from the poem of the same name (2nd part), was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1832. Verstovsky was given real fame by the opera "Askold's Grave" (libretto by Zagoskin), staged in Moscow on September 16 1835 , in St. Petersburg - August 27, 1841 with the famous in the role of the Unknown. Until the end of the 1860s, it was given in the imperial theaters - about 200 times in St. Petersburg, and more than 400 times in Moscow. The operas that followed - “Homesickness” (1839), “Churova Valley, or a Dream in reality” (1841) and “Thunderbolt” (1858; libretto based on the first part of “Vadim” by V.A. Zhukovsky) were far from successful "Askold's Tomb" and soon left the repertoire. Verstovsky also owns music for various dramatic works ("The Power of Songs", 1817; "Hesiod and Olaf", 1827); cantatas and choirs, including “Three Songs, or Oswald” and “Singer in the Camp of Russian Warriors”, cantata to words by S.P. Shevyrev for the celebration of the anniversary of Moscow University in January 1855, an anthem for choir and orchestra “Great is the Lord,” two military anthems; several dozen romances; of these, “Black Shawl” () and “Bell” were performed on stage, and the gypsy romance “Old Husband, Terrible Husband” (Pushkin) was performed more than once; two Polish for orchestra; three masses with spiritual concerts (1830), performed in the University and Holy Ascension churches in Moscow (not published). In 1826, Verstovsky, together with him, published the "Dramatic Album for 1826." in two parts, musical and literary; the latter contains an article by Verstovsky (unfinished): “Excerpts from the history of dramatic music.” In 1827 - 1828 he published the "Musical Album". These albums also contain some of his musical compositions. With his retirement (1850), Verstovsky not only lost influence, but was also directly forgotten (except for “Askold’s Grave”). In a letter written in 1861, he complains about his fate: “For “Askold’s Grave” the Moscow directorate gave me two thousand in banknotes at a time - they collected one hundred thousand in silver in income from the opera, and now, being retired, I have to buy myself a place in the theater to look at my old sins..." He died on November 5, 1862. Verstovsky's importance in the history of Russian music is based mainly on his operas, of which the most typical is "Askold's Grave", and now appears occasionally in Russian scenes In Verstovsky's operas, music gives way to conversation, as in vaudeville. The compositional technique is imperfect. The music is not fully developed; vocal forms (solos, duets) are reduced to a series of verses with music repeated with each verse. The orchestra has no independent significance; the orchestration is primitive. She obviously made it difficult for the composer, and he often entrusted this work to the theater conductor. The central music library of the imperial theaters houses the score of Askold's Grave with Voyacek's orchestration. Verstovsky's operas reflected the romantic direction that dominated Russian literature at that time. The music is sometimes very naive, despite the influence of Mozart and Weber. Like the latter, Verstovsky also shows a penchant for fantasy, but this element is weakly expressed. There is almost no drama. But Verstovsky’s music also has stronger and more characteristic sides. He was no stranger to humor, which was also noticed. His melodic creativity is spontaneous, varied, typical and bears a national imprint; although the Russian style and harmonization are not consistent, this feature of his music makes him, together with Alyabiev, a predecessor in the creation of a national Russian school in music. Verstovsky's manuscripts are kept (according to his will) at the Moscow Conservatory. - Wed. , "A.N.V." ("Yearbook of the Imperial Theaters", 1896 - 97, 2nd supplement). In the "Russian Musical Newspaper", 1899, No. 1, a list of Verstovsky's works and a bibliography about him were published.
Other interesting biographies.
