Театр, музыка и кино в России:

Theatre, Music and Cinema in Russia

Theatre

Russia is deservedly proud of its Theatre, with the world famous ballet schools and the particular theatre traditions being symbols of this country.

The theatre tradition in Russia has deep roots. In old times, the nobility often used to have their own private theatres in their estates. For example, in the 19th Century the Count Sheremetyev had a great theatre, with his serfs being the actors. Nowadays, there are more than 400 theatres, that differ in their repertoire, that is why one is welcome to appreciate all kinds of performances in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and in other Russian cities from ballet and modern dance to musicals and puppetry productions.

Several theatres in Russia are world famous, one of them, of course, is the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The Bolshoi was founded on the 6th of January 1825, when a fine classical building was erected in Teatralnaya Square. Now, the Bolshoi Theatre is considered to be the second largest in Europe after the famous “La Scala” in Italy.

There are in Moscow also very famous Moscow Musical Comedy Theatre, The Theatre of Classic Ballet, Lenkom Theatre, Maly Theatre of Russia, Moscow Art Academic Theatre named after A.Chekhov (MHAT), Vakhtangov Theatre, Mimicry and Gesture Theatre and many other theatres.

In Saint Petersburg the most famous is Mariinsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. There is a lot of very popular theatres in Saint Petersburg, for example, Alexandrinsky, BDT and many others.

Music

Russian Classical Music

The period of Russian classical music thriving was in the first half of the 19th century and is connected with Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804-1857) who is considered the first Russian composer of world significance. Glinka is seen as the founder of Russian classical music. His opera “Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” determined the further development of opera. A distinctive feature of the composer's creative approach was the use of the motives of Russian folklore and folk music.

Glinka’s tradition was further developed by such composers as Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov. Very often composers turned to Russian history and folklore: «Boris Godunov», «Khovanshchina» (Mussorgsky); «Prince Igor» (Borodin); «Snow Maiden», «Pskovityanka», «The Golden Cockerel» (Rimsky-Korsakov).

The greatest composer in the history of Russian and world’s music was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the creator of best operas («Eugene Onegin» 1878, «Mazepa» 1883, «The Queen of Spades» 1890, «Yolanta» 1891), ballets («Swan Lake» 1876, «Sleeping Beauty» 1889, «The Nutcracker» 1892), symphonic and chamber music pieces.

At the turn of the century, Russian music was enriched by new works of talented composers and performers. The author of monumental symphonic works and ballets was A. Glazunov. One of the founders of the modern musical language of contemporary symphonic music is considered to be a composer and pianist Alexander N. Scriabin. Very peculiar and original was the music and performance art of Rakhmaninov, a distinguished composer, pianist and conductor.

An integral part of the development of musical culture and its direct consequence was the world's fame of Russian masters of musical theater - opera and ballet. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater and the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow occupied the leading positions among musical theaters. The names of the famous opera bass Fyodor Chaliapin, the ballerina Anna Pavlova were widely known both in Russia and abroad.

Soviet Music

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer-songwriter, poet, and actor who had an immense and enduring effect on Soviet culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street-jargon. He was also a prominent stage- and screen-actor. Though the official Soviet cultural establishment largely ignored his work, he was remarkably popular during his lifetime, and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's musicians and actors.

Kino was a Soviet rock band formed in Leningrad in 1982, considered to be one of, if not the, greatest rock band in the history of Russian music. The band was co-founded and headed by Viktor Tsoi, who wrote the music and lyrics for almost all of the band's songs. Over the course of eight years, Kino released over 90 songs spanning over seven studio albums, as well as releasing a few compilations and live albums. The band's music was also widely circulated in the form of bootleg recordings through the underground magnitizdat distribution scene. Viktor Tsoi died in a car accident in 1990. Shortly after his passing, the band broke up after releasing their final album, consisting of songs that Tsoi and the group were working on in the months before his death.