Composer Alexander Serov by Valentin Serov, 1887-1888

Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (Александр Николаевич Серов in Cyrillic; Aleksandr Nikolaevič Serov in transliteration) (11/23 Jan. 1820- 20 Jan./1 Feb. 1871 was a Russian composer and music critic. He was also the father of the painter Valentin Serov. He was not only one of the most important music critics in Russia during the 1850s and 1860s, but also the most significant Russian composer of opera in the years between Dargomyzhsky's Rusalka and the early operas by Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky. Self-portrait, 1880ies Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (Russian: Валентин Александрович Серов) (1865 - 1911) was a Russian painter. ... 1887 is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar). ... 1888 is a leap year starting on Sunday (click on link for calendar). ... The Cyrillic alphabet (or azbuka, from the old name of the first letters) is an alphabet used to write six natural Slavic languages (Belarusian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, and Ukrainian) and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Music journalism is a specialized branch of entertainment journalism--especially criticism and reportage about music, usually rock, but also hip hop, classical, and electronica, among other forms. ... Self-portrait, 1880ies Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (Russian: Валентин Александрович Серов) (1865 - 1911) was a Russian painter. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky (1813–1869) was an early romantic 19th century composer. ... César Antonovitch Cui (Russian: Цезарь Антонович Кюи) (January 6/18, 1835 – March 13, 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic of French and Lithuanian descent. ... Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6/18, 1844–June 8/21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of classical music particularly noted for his fine orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synaesthesia. ... Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский) (March 9/21, 1839 – March 16/28, 1881; sometimes spelled Modeste Moussorgsky (and Russians often prefer to transliterate his name now as the phonetically correct Modest Petrovič Musorgskij), was an innovative Russian composer famed for his colourful, exotic, and lush orchestral pieces dedicated to various subjects... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (May 7, 1840 – November 6, 1893 (N.S.); April 25, 1840 – October 25, 1893 (O.S.)) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. ...

Early in life Serov made friends with Vladimir Stasov, but later the two became enemies over the relative values of Glinka's two operas. Serov's admiration for Richard Wagner likewise did not endear him to The Mighty Handful, especially the younger competing critic César Cui, who, like Stasov, had been on better terms with Serov earlier. Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Михаи́л Ива́нович Гли́нка) (June 1, 1804 – February 15, 1857) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. ... Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner (May 22, 1813 in Leipzig – February 13, 1883 in Venice) was an influential German composer, conductor, music theorist, and essayist, primarily known for his groundbreaking symphonic-operas (or music dramas). His compositions are notable for their continuous contrapuntal texture, rich harmonies and orchestration, and elaborate... The Mighty Handful, also known as The Five in English-speaking countries (and by comparable translation of such in other languages), was a label applied in 1867 by the critic Vladimir Stasov to a loose collection of Russian classical composers brought together under the leadership of Mily Balakirev with the... César Antonovitch Cui (Russian: Цезарь Антонович Кюи) (January 6/18, 1835 – March 13, 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic of French and Lithuanian descent. ...

Although Serov's operas Judith and Rogneda were smash hits in their day, none of his operas are part of the standard operatic repertoire today. A CD recording of Judith (with some cuts) was made in 1991 by the forces of the Bolshoi Theatre under conductor Andrey Chistiakov. This page lists famous operas arranged by composer. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bolshoi Theatre (For the rock music band Bolshoi, see The Bolshoi. ... See Conductor for other possible uses of the word. ...

Operas

• Judith (Юдифь, 1861-1863)
• Rogneda (Рогнеда, 1863-1865)
• The Power of the Fiend (Вражья сила, 1867-1871; completed by V.S. Serova and N.F. Solov'ev)

Bibliography

Taruskin, Richard. Opera and Drama in Russia As Preached and Practiced in the 1860s. New ed. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1993. Richard Taruskin is an American musicologist known as a specialist of Russian music. ...