Giuseppe Verdi in Russia, circa 1861-62 .
The 26-year-old Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi achieved fame in 1839, following the resounding success of his opera "Oberto, Count di San Bonifacio." From that moment on, opera houses throughout Italy and Europe began staging Verdi's new works. Soon, the fashionable composer became known in the capital of the Russian Empire – St. Petersburg.
The Russian opera scene has always followed global trends. In the mid-19th century, an Italian troupe performed popular operas by Antonio Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini in St. Petersburg. The French troupe presented works by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Charles Gounod, Jacques Offenbach, and other composers.
The St. Petersburg public first encountered Giuseppe Verdi's music during the 1845/46 season in the repertoire of the Italian opera. The Mikhailovsky Theater presented the opera "The Lombards" – a love story set against the backdrop of the First Crusade. The audience highly praised the production, and the literary and artistic magazine Pantheon wrote:
“The sixth opera of the current season was "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" ["The Lombards in the First Crusade"]. <…> Verdi appears on our stage for the first time. The audience was very, very pleased with the opera. Judging by this opera, much can be expected from Verdi, and, thanking the Directorate for introducing us to this composer, we cannot help but express our desire to learn about other operas by Signor Verdi in the future.”
In the following years, Verdi's operas were increasingly staged in St. Petersburg – five or six operas per theater season. Composer Igor Stravinsky recalled that "La Traviata," "Il Trovatore," "Rigoletto," "Aida," and – "which was a special success" – "Othello" were regularly performed on the St. Petersburg stage. Composer and critic Alexander Serov wrote in one of his articles: “More Verdi! Verdi again! All Verdi! Verdi everywhere!” “For example, they listen to Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera ["A Masked Ball"]. Who cares about the play, the intrigue, the characters – everyone is waiting for Tamberlik’s solo (tenor Enrico Tamberlik, one of the most popular performers of his time. – Ed.) in the quintet and, most importantly, Graziani’s aria (tenor Lodovico Graziani. – Ed.) before the portrait.”
By the 1860s, Verdi-mania in Russia had reached such proportions that the Directorate of Imperial Theatres, headed by Andrei Saburov, commissioned an opera from the composer. This is how "La forza del destino" came to be. In one of his letters, Verdi described the idea:
“I would like to work on an opera for Petersburg, but the extraordinary heat that has set in here (meaning Busseto, Italy. – Ed.) deprives me of the opportunity to work diligently. The plot is not taken from Martinez de la Rosa. It is "The Force of Destiny" by the Duke of Rivas. The drama is majestic, original and enormous; I like it very much, but I do not know whether the public will find in it all that I find. One thing is certain: it is something outstanding.”
The premiere of the production took place on November 10 (October 29, old style), 1862, at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre. Initially, "La Forza del Destino" was planned for a 1861 premiere, and Verdi even traveled to St. Petersburg for rehearsals. However, the performer of Leonora became seriously ill. In a letter to Leon Escudier, a French musicologist and publisher, the composer wrote: "... instead of staging the opera with an artist in such poor health as Lagrois, or with another who is not at all suitable for this role, I prefer to suffer a loss of four thousand and return to St. Petersburg next September in order to stage the opera in mid-November."
Verdi followed through with his plan and visited Russia again in 1862. During this time, a unique photograph was taken of the composer wearing a fur hat and coat. He wrote to Escudier about the premiere: "There were three performances of La forza del destino to packed houses and with great success."
Giuseppe Verdi's music remains popular in Russia today. However, the opera "Stiffelio," one of the composer's most famous and controversial works, has never been staged on the Russian stage until recently. It was written in 1850 and laid the foundation for the lyrical drama genre in the latter half of the 19th century. Following its success, Verdi created the famous triad: "Rigoletto," "Il Trovatore," and "La Traviata." However, "Stiffelio" faced strict censorship, and its production was eventually forgotten for a century. The opera score, considered lost, was rediscovered in the Naples Conservatory only in the 1960s. Over time, "Stiffelio" reappeared in the repertoire of European theaters.
The Russian premiere of Verdi's forgotten work finally took place in 2020. At the Moscow Novaya Opera Theater named after E.V. Kolobov, the opera was performed in concert form. In September 2022, the theater presented the first full-fledged production. Director Ekaterina Odegova and artist Ethel Ioshpa chose the crisis of faith of the main character, the Protestant priest Stiffelio, who is experiencing his wife Lina's betrayal, as the central theme of the performance. "Stiffelio" at the Novaya Opera is designed in a minimalist style, using black and white tones and the aesthetics of mid-20th century cinema. The characters' costumes are inspired by Victorian era daguerreotypes. The next screenings of "Stiffelio" will take place on November 29 and December 1.
By: Ekaterina Altynpara Екатерина Алтынпара
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