Man of Music

The young composer Mikhail Glinka performs his new work at a soiree at earl Vielgorsky's house. However, the public is accustomed to Western music, and reacts coldly to the creation of the composer. This makes him very sad, but soon he decides to go learn the art of music in Italy. After returning from Italy, he is full of desire to write national Russian opera. Vasily Zhukovsky proposes a subject: a feat of Ivan Susanin. Tsar Nicholas I change the name of the opera to A Life for the Tsar and assigns a librettist - Baron Rosen. Acquaintance with the future co-author shocked Glinka: Rosen speaks Russian with a noticeable German accent. The premiere was successful, but Glinka was still not entirely happy with the libretto: "False words were written by Rosen". When Nicholas I learned that Ruslan and Lyudmila was written on Pushkin's subject, he sees it as sedition. The bitter experience of the composer brighten his supporters.

Top Cast

Boris Smirnov

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka

Lev Durasov

Alexander Pushkin

N/A

Volodymyr Saveliev

Marshal Karl Ivanovich

Lyubov Orlova

Ludmilla Ivanovna Glinka

Yuri Lyubimov

Alexander Dargomishky

N/A

N. Korshunov

Ivanov, tenor

Sergei Kurilov

Karl Brullov

Mikhail Nazvanov

Czar Nikolai I

N/A

Konstantin Nasonov

Gen. Vasili Andreyevich Zhukovsky

Berta Vinogradova

Giuditta Pasta

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Sviatoslav Richter

Franz Liszt

Georgiy Vitsin

Nikolai V. Gogol

Irina Likso

The Czarina

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I. Litovkin

A. S. Griboyedov

N/A

Faina Shevchenko

Mme. Ivanovich