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FEODOR IVANOVICH SHALIAPIN
THE
RUSSIAN OPERA
BY
ROSA
NEWMARCH
WITH SIXTEEN
ILLUSTRATIONS
HERBERT JENKINS LIMITED
ARUNDEL PLACE HAYMARKET
LONDON S.W. MCMXIV
THE ANCHOR PRESS, LTD., TIPTREE, ESSEX.
TO
FEODOR IVANOVICH SHALIAPIN
IN MEMORY OF OUR OLD FRIEND
VLADIMIR VASSILIEVICH STASSOV
PREFACE
BETWEEN January 19th, 1900, and April 4th, 1905, I read before theMusical Association of London five papers dealing with the Developmentof National Opera in Russia, covering a period from the firstperformance of Glinka’s A Life for the Tsar in 1836, to the productionof Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera The Tsar’s Bride, in 1899. These lectureswere illustrated by the following artists: the late Mrs. Henry J. Wood,Miss Grainger Kerr, Mr. Seth Hughes, Mr. Robert Maitland; Sir (Mr.)Henry J. Wood and Mr. Richard Epstein at the piano. While using theselectures as the scaffolding of my present book, I have added aconsiderable amount of new material, amassed during ten yearsunremitting research into my subject. The additions concern chiefly theearlier phases of Russian music, and the operas that have appeared since1900. The volume also contains some account of the foundation of thenationalist school of composers{viii} under the leadership of Balakirev. Ithas been my privilege to meet and converse with most of the members ofthis circle. I give also a few details about the literary champion of“the Invincible Band,” Vladimir Stassov, under whose guidance I firststudied the history of Russian music. With all modesty I believe I mayclaim to have been a pioneer worker in this field. When