Opera at the Russian Imperial court in Saint Petersburg

Cecilia Bartoli at the concert promotion in Versailles

Italian mezzosoprano Cecilia Bartoli is famous as an interpreter of Baroque music, but also as a very curious artist who explores forgotten repertoire of different eras. On one of her compact discs we have the chance to discover the whole new world of Italian opera, created by very skilled masters who lived and worked in Imperial Russia. Her CD "Saint Petersburg", released in 2014, features the world premiere of arias from operas by predominantly Italian composers who traveled to Russia during the 18th century to serve the imperial family there.

As a vocal artist, Cecilia Bartoli is known to be particularly dedicated to discovering long-forgotten music, which resulted in the performance and recording of works that had hitherto been neglected. Thus, in 1999, she bravely stepped out with a compact disc containing Vivaldi's opera arias, with which she showed the musical world that the composer's oeuvre contains not only instrumental works. This was followed by releasing recordings of music written specifically for the great opera diva Maria Malibran. We were also was able to learn more about the art of castrati through Cecilia's disc "Sacrificium", where she interpreted extremely demanding arias. Her curiosity also led to another interesting recording, featuring the work of Agostino Stefani, a priest and composer from the 18th century.

Cecilia Bartoli

As for the album "Saint Petersburg", Cecilia Bartoli recorded arias from the operas of several Italian and two German composers - Francesco Araia, Domenico Cimarosa, Vincenzo Manfredini, Domenico Dal'Oglio, Luigi Madonis, Johann Adolf Hasse and Hermann Raupach. Apart from Cimarosa and Hasse, key figures in the development of 18th-century Italian opera seria und opera buffa, other names are far less well known in the musical world today. Cecilia made them famous with this album and made the audience far more interested in musical life in Imperial Russia.

Francesco Araia

When opera arrived in Russia in 1731 it was on a special occasion - King of Poland August II ceded his Italian opera company to Russian Empress Anna for the purpose of celebrating her coronation in Moscow. The first opera performance in Saint Petersburg took place in 1735. It was an opera by Francesco Araia La forza dell'amore e dell'odio.

Francesco Araia was born in 1709 and went to school in Naples. Before leaving for Russia, he wrote operas for theaters in Naples, Florence, Rome, Milan and Venice. Araia spent 25 years in St. Petersburg at the position of maestro di cappella in the service of the Russian Empresses Anna Ivanovna and Elizabeth Petrovna. He was the first composer to write an opera on a Russian libretto. 

During the reign of three Russian Empresses - Anna Ivanovna, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine the Great - Russian art, literature and education flourished. St. Petersburg became one of the world's most beautiful capitals and an extremely attractive center for the development of music. Schools and academies were established all over the country. During the reign of Empress Elizabeth the first Russian university opened. They invested in architecture and painting. Empress Catherine the Great founded now famous Hermitage Museum. The art of ballet also flourished and a number of foreign musicians were brought in to the Imperial court. With their music they paved the way for the development of the Russian national school in the 19th century.

The main staircase in Winter Palace

One would certainly ask a question about why did the Italian composers come to Russia? How is it possible that they decided to go so far as Russia to get a job? Musicologists point out that in the 18th century there was a real hyper production of opera composers in Italy and they were forced to seek positions throughout Europe. The conditions in Russia were particularly favorable in that domain, because members of the nobility and members of the Russian imperial family generously rewarded their musicians. Opera performances have been put on stage for significant events such as birthdays for members of the imperial family or for coronation festivities. A lavish life in the court was a common occurrence at the time, which can be read from the biographies of the Empress who hired composers from abroad. Usually uninterested in foreign policy and diplomacy, Russian Empresses devoted themselves to a leisurely life filled with entertainment, balls, watching French comedies and Italian operas, enjoying ballet or hunting.

Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801)

To all afacionados of Italian comic opera the name of Domenico Cimarosa is certainly well known. He was an Italian composer who belonged to the Neapolitan opera school. He wrote more than eighty operas, the most famous of which is Il matrimonio segreto. In addition to staging operatic works in Italian cities, Cimarosa worked at the courts of Catherine the Great in St. Petersburg and Leopold II in Vienna. His operas have been performed in many European cities and he was indeed very popular during his lifetime. Like many other Italian composers, he also found himself in the Russian imperial court, where he resided between 1787 and 1791. A fine example of a virtuoso aria can be found on Bartoli's CD - it is Agitata da tante pene. In addition to the violin, there is also a clarinet as a obbligato instrument that accompanies the voice.

How did Cecilia Bartoli come up with the idea to explore this forgotten repertoire? Like many other students of music, Cecilia says, she was taught that the history of Russian opera began with Glinka's work Ivan Susanin, premiered in 1836. Even musicologists who deal with the subject of Russian music history of the time claim that they themselves, during their education, knew little about these composers in the Russian Imperial court. As she became more deeply involved in the study of Italian Baroque music during her singing career, Cecilia repeatedly came across information about composers who spent time at the court in St. Petersburg during the Enlightenment era. She wondered why they went there so much and found out that the Russian emperors had invited them to their court as instrumentalists and composers. For Cecilia that was enough to spakr her interest in that repertoire, but it turned out that it was not easy to get the opportunity and permission to visit the archives in Russia. After several attempts and with the mediation of maestro Valery Gergiev, conductor and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theater, Cecilia was able to see these manuscripts and, as she says, to discover true musical treasure. 

Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg

Cecilia Bartol's CD "Saint Petersburg" contains several arias written by a German composer and harpsichordist Hermann Raupach. He was born in 1728 and studied music with his father Christoph, who was an organist. This musician spent almost two decades in Russia as a composer at the Imperial court and later as a teacher of composition and singing at the Academy of Fine Arts, which was founded in 1758 under the patronage of Empress Elizabeth. Raupach will be remembered in Russian music history as the author of the second opera written on a Russian libretto. 

The Russian Empresses were generous patrons of the arts, literature and education. Lavishly staged operatic performances that brought together an international performing team were a means of showcasing the wealth and power of the Russian Empire. The operas that were staged at the Winter Palace and in the Summer Garden, depending on the season, were performed by Italian singers, set and stage designers. There were German instrumentalists in the orchestra and an ensemble of Russian dancers, along with some of them from France. The audience consisted of members of the Russian nobility and representatives of foreign diplomacy, so the opera was a kind of artistic extension of Russian foreign policy at the time, which focused on portraying the empire as one that could be measured against those at the West.

Another Italian composer who worked in St. Petersburg for a while was Vincenzo Manfredini, composer and harpsichordist, son of Francesco Manfredini, a Baroque composer and violinist. He embarked on the journey to Imperial Russia in 1758 with his brother Giuseppe, a castrato who was a member of an Italian opera troupe. Vincenzo was first appointed maestro di cappella and soon afterwards appointed as the leader of the opera troupe. After he was replaced by Baldassare Galluppi, Vincenzo was tasked with writing ballets and teaching the heir to the throne in playing the harpsichord.

With presenting this CD we did not exhaust all the stories about Italian composers who lived and worked at the Russian Imperial court. There were other composers who were really skilled masters who left a great mark on Russian music history.