Grapes Guide.pdf - Minnesota Opera

Operas to come out of the resulting verismo school include
pietro mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana (1890), ruggero
leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (1892) and umberto giordano’s
Mala vita (1892). Other works are attributed to this movement
by nature of their rapid action with passionate tension and violence
quickly alternating with moments of great sentimentality.
Opera in Russia
mikhail ivanovich glinka 1804–1857
pyotr il’yich tchaikovsky 1840–1893
nikolay andreyevich rimsky-korsakov 1844–1908
modest petrovich musorgsky 1839–1881
sergei prokofiev 1891–1953
dmitri shostokovich 1906–1975
A scene from Minnesota Opera’s
2001 production of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci
Opera was introduced in Russia during the succession of powerful czarinas that culminated in the reign of Catherine
the Great (ruled 1762 – 1796). She employed a number of important Italian composers (see above) and established St.
Petersburg as a major city for the production of new opera, later to be elevated to the same par as London, Paris and
Vienna by her descendent, Nicholas i (ruled 1825 – 1855). Of native Russian
composers, the first to come to prominence was mikhail glinka with A Life for
the Tsar (1836), and later, Ruslan and Lyudmila (1842). pyotr tchaikovsky,
now known more for his ballets and symphonies, was a prolific composer of opera.
His best works include Eugene Onegin (1879), Mazepa (1884) and The Queen of
Spades (1890). Other Russian composers of the latter 19 th century include nikolay
rimsky-korsakov (The Snow Maiden, 1882; The Tsar’s Bride, 1899; The
Golden Cockerel, 1909) and modest musorgsky (Boris Godunov, 1874).
A scene from Minnesota Opera’s
1978 production of Prokofiev’s
The Love for Three Oranges
Russian opera continued into the 20 th century with works by sergei prokofiev
composed The Love for Three Oranges (1921) and The Gambler (1929), among others.
His crowning achievement, written toward the end of his life, was War and
Peace (1948), based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy. dmitri shostokovich’s most
notable work is Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1934). Both artists suffered
censure from the Soviet government.
Into the 20 th Century
claude debussy 1862–1918
richard strauss 1864–1949
paul dukas 1865–1935
arnold schoenberg 1874–1951
igor stravinsky 1882–1971
alban berg 1885–1935
darius milhaud 1892–1974
paul hindemith 1895–1963
kurt weill 1900–1950
benjamin britten 1913–1976
A scene from Minnesota Opera’s
1996 production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande
history of opera
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