Major new reference work published
Edwin Mellen Press has published a major new reference work edited by Dr Paul Fryer, Head of the School of Graduate and Professional Studies at Rose Bruford: A Chronology of Opera Performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, 1860 – 1917. This 1200 page, two-volume work details the casts and creative production teams of every opera performance staged at the theatre from the opening of the current building in October 1860, to the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917. Drawing on material from the archives of The Mariinsky, The State Museum of Theatre and Music and the Russian National Library in St Petersburg, and compiled by an international research team, the project has taken five years to complete, and was supported by grants from The John Stratton Trust (Canada) and the Historic Singers Trust (UK). The majority of this material has never appeared before in English translation.
Dr Noelle Mann (Goldsmiths College) has described the book as “. . . the first, essential tool towards research on this extraordinary institution, which for so long was the centre of Russia’s artistic life. The strength of this publication is the amount of new data it provides. With its comprehensive records about works, composers, performers and artists, the chronology illuminates the interaction of Westerners and Russians towards the establishment of Russian opera.”
17/12/2009