pages of extended musical examples in score, index of names and topics. The
1993 reprint has a new preface that connects its material to the author’s collec-
tion of essays on Musorgsky (#1346).- Taruskin, Richard. “‘The Present in the Past’: Russian Opera and Russian His-
toriography, ca. 1870.” In Russian and Soviet Music (#2640), 77–146.
An intriguing view of a time when high art was taken seriously, as an obliga-
tion of thoughtful men. Historical study was also a serious matter, and opera
was seen as a didactic occasion for historical subjects. To show how composers
approached historical themes, Taruskin compares the first and second versions
of Borisand Rimsky-Korsakov’sMaid of Pskovwith T chaikovsky’s Oprich-
nik(both about Ivan the Terrible). As background for this exercise, there is a
discussion of the anti-Ivan history of Nikolai Karamzin and the more favor-
able views of Sergei Solovyov. Rimsky went along with the latter, while
T chaikovsky was more neutral. Boriswas informed by Karamzin and also
Nikolai Kostomarov: through the historians Musorgsky found an authentic
basis for the opera’s second version. So the three eminent composers were
“directly involved with the works and issues raised by the three most eminent
historians of their time.” With long musical examples, technical analysis, and
142 footnotes. - Karlinsky, Simon. “Russian Comic Opera in the Age of Catherine the Great.”
19thCM7 (1984): 318–325.
Comic opera came to Russia with a French touring company in the period
1764–1768. Some Russian efforts in the genre, by Alexander Ablesimov,
Mikhail Matinski, and Nikolai Lvov, are described. - Mooser, Robert. Opéras, intermezzos, ballets, cantates, oratorios joués en
Russie durant le XVIIIe siècle.2nd ed. Geneva: R. Kister, 1955. xiv, 169p.
ML128 .V7 M8.
First edition, 1945. A title list of operas and stage works with music that were
performed in Russia during the 18th century. Theater and date are given for
each performance, along with sources of data. Also a list of musical dramatic
works by Russians that were performed outside the country. Index by com-
poser. - Buckler, Julie A. “Divas in the Drawing Room: Opera as Literature in Pre-
Revolutionary Russia.” Ph.D. diss., Harvard U., 1996. 455p. - Hofmann, Rostislav. Un siècle d’opéra russe (de Glinka a Stravinsky).Paris:
Corrêa, 1946. 254p. ML1741 .H7.
A useful summary, organized by composer: chapters on Glinka, Rimsky-
Korsakov, Dargomyzhskii, Musorgsky, Borodin, and T chaikovsky. Genesis,
program notes, and reception for their major operas. No index.
There is a useful list of about 350 operas by Soviet composers, with names of libret-
tists and premiere dates, in “Sowjetische Opern seit 1945,” Musikbühne1974: 174–
- Unfortunately the titles are given only in German translation. Three Russian
works are of interest:
Russia 491