Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ances of home-grown classics. Surprisingly, earlier music, such as baroque and medi-
eval, is not as well known or as well loved. But the directors of the Early Music
lent annual event.
Music lovers come in all shapes and sizes, however. Even when rock-and-roll was
illegal it was played in basements and garages. Now, 20 years after the weight of cen-
sorship has been lifted, St Petersburg is the centre of
russky rok,
a magnet for musi-
cians and music lovers, who are drawn to its atmosphere of innovation and creation.
For a truly surreal night at the opera, treat yourself to tickets to see the
Mariinsky's production of Shostakovich's opera
The Nose
, based on the
hilarious socially satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol of a socially-aspirant
bureaucrat who wakes up one morning to find his nose has left him and is
gadding around town.
Classical Music & Opera
As the cultural heart of Russia, St Petersburg was a natural draw for generations of
composers, its rich cultural life acting as inspiration for talent from throughout Rus-
sia. Mikhail Glinka is often considered the father of Russian classical music. In 1836
his opera
A Life for the Tsar
premiered in St Petersburg. While European musical in-
fluences were evident, the story was based on Russian history, recounting the dramat-
ic tale of a peasant, Ivan Susanin, who sacrificed himself to save Mikhail Romanov.
In the second half of the 19th century, several influential schools - based in the
capital - formed, from which emerged some of Russia's most famous composers and
finest music. The so-called Group of Five - Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-
Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, César Cui and Mily Balakirev - looked to folk music
for uniquely Russian themes. They tried to develop a distinct sound using unusual
tonal and harmonic devices. Their main opponent was Anton Rubinstein's conservat-
ively rooted Russian Musical Society, which became the St Petersburg Conservatory
in 1861. The competition between the two schools was fierce. Rimsky-Korsakov
wrote in his memoirs: 'Rubinstein had a reputation as a pianist, but was thought to
have neither talent nor taste as a composer.'
