Verstovsky, Alexey Nikolaevich

Born February 18 ( March 1 ) 1799 in the estate Rastov Garden of the Tambov province ^[3] .

The composer's father was the illegitimate son of General Seliverstov and a captive Turkish woman, who received a truncated surname , but he was assigned to the nobility as a native of the Polish gentry. Mother - Anna Vasilyevna (nee Volkova) - came from a military environment. Since childhood Verstovsky was introduced to the music, because his father contained a serf orchestra and organized home music meetings. Together with his brother Vasily and sister Varvara Verstovsky he studied violin and piano. From the age of nine he performed in concerts in Ufa .

In 1816 he moved to St. Petersburg . There he was assigned to the Institute of the Corps of Engineers of Communications , where he studied for one year, after which he entered the service and served in various institutions until 1823 . Meanwhile, he continued his musical education, took lessons from J. Field and D. Steibelt (piano), Tarquini (singing), F. Beham and L. V. Maurer (violin), Brandt, K. T. Zeiner , Miller (theory compositions). During these years, he began to passionately take a great interest in theater, among his Petersburg friends were outstanding theater figures: Prince Shakhovskaya , P.N. Arapov , A.A. Alyabyev , N.V. Vsevolozhsky , P.Ye. Mansurov, F.F. Yuriev. In addition, Verstovsky was actively involved in amateur performances as a translator of plays, actor, singer and music author for theatrical productions. His first three operas were “Grandmother's Parrots” ( 1819 ), “Quarantine” ( 1820 ), “New Prank, or Theatrical Battle” ( 1822 ) were staged in St. Petersburg and were a great success. The texts of these works were created by Verstovsky’s friend, the playwright N. I. Khmelnitsky , who was popular in Petersburg at that time.

From 1823 until the end of his life, the fate of the composer turned out to be connected with Moscow . At first, he was transferred to Moscow by an official of special assignments of the office under the governor-general D. V. Golitsyn , then to the office of the Directorate of Imperial Theaters. From 1825 he held the position of Inspector of Music of the Directorate of Moscow Theaters, from 1830 he was Inspector of the Repertoire, and from 1842 to 1859 he was the manager of the Moscow Theater Company.

After years of wandering around the rented houses with his wife, a famous actress and singer N. V. Repina , in 1836 they bought their own house on Arbat, in Bolshoy Afanasyevsky lane No. 16/24, where they lived, before moving to Khlebny lane in 1860 . Here they were visited by F. Liszt (in 1843), R. Schumann with his wife Clara (in 1844) and, probably, in 1847 G. Berlioz . This house was demolished in 1971.

The years of life in Moscow were filled for Verstovsky with the most active musical and social activities. The period when Verstovsky was the actual leader of the theatrical life of the city was described by contemporaries as the "Verstovsky era." He proved to be not only an energetic administrator and a skilled leader, but also often acted as a director, teacher. He contributed in every way to enriching the repertoire, improving the work of the theatrical school, raising the artistic level of performances, and paid great attention to the selection and education of actors. His efforts at the Directorate of Moscow theaters opened music classes that prepared orchestra for future work in theater orchestras. In 1826, together with A.I. Pisarev, he published Dramatic Album for Theater and Music Lovers (2 books were published). In 1829 he became a member of the Society of lovers of Russian literature. In 1833 as an external student, he graduated from the Imperial Moscow University . In parallel with this, there was an intensive composing activity.

Alexey Verstovsky died on November 5 (17), 1862 in Moscow . He was buried at the Vagankovskoye cemetery in Moscow.

The author mainly musical and stage works - operas and vaudevil operas, as well as ballads. He created 6 operas - “Pan Tverdovsky” ( 1828 ), “Vadim, or the Awakening of the Twelve Sleeping Maidens” ( 1832 ), “The Thunderer” ( 1854 , 1857 ) and others. The best is “ Askold's Grave ” ( 1835 ) based on the novel of M. N. Zagoskin , which was very popular. The outstanding success of his best opera was noted by the distinguished critic A. Serov . In 1862, after the composer's death, he wrote that “with regard to popularity Verstovsky overpowers Glinka”.

Posted by more than 30 opera-vaudeville - “Grandmother's Parrots” (text by N. I. Khmelnitsky , 1819), “ Who is the brother, who is the sister, or Cheating for deception ” (text by A. S. Griboyedov and P. A. Vyazemsky , 1824) , “Two Notes, or Guilty Without Guilt” (together with A. A. Alyabyev , text by A. I. Pisarev , 1827 ) and others.

He was also famous for his romance - “You heard the voice behind the grove of the night,” “Old husband, formidable husband” (to the poems of A.S. Pushkin ; the last “Gypsy romance” was repeatedly performed by P. Viardo Garcia ), cantatas, spiritual music. In Russian vocal lyric poet, Verstovsky created a new genre - a ballad , or “dramatic cantatas,” as he himself called such compositions. These are narrative-dramatic works for soloist with instrumental accompaniment, written in free form. The best ballads include “Black Shawl” (to poems by A. S. Pushkin ), “Poor Singer” and “Night View” (to poems by V. A. Zhukovsky ), “Three Songs of the Skald” and others.

Operas

• Pan Twardowski (1828),
• Vadim, or the Awakening of the twelve sleeping virgins (on the 2nd part of Zhukovsky's ballad "The Thunderer, or Twelve Sleeping Virgins", 1832)
• Askold's Grave (after Zagoskin , 1835),
• Homesickness (in Zagoskin , 1839),
• Churov Valley, or Sleeping in Jaw (1844),
• The Stormingbird (on the 1st part of the same ballad Zhukovsky , 1854)

Opera-vaudeville and comedy-vaudeville

• Sentimental landowner in a steppe village (1817),
• Grandmother parrots (1819),
• Quarantine (with Maurer, 1820),
• Surprises (together with Kavos, Korsakov, Lebrok, according to E. Scribe, 1821),
• New prank, or theatrical battle (with Alyabyev and Mourer, 1822),
• House of the Mad, or Strange Wedding (1822),
• Who is the brother, who is the sister, or Cheating for deception (text by A. S. Griboedov and P. A. Vyazemsky, 1824),
• Teacher and student, or In a strange feast of hangover (with Alyabyev and F. E. Scholz, the text of Pisarev, 1824),
• Khlopotun, or the case of the master is afraid (with Alyabyev, the text of Pisarev, 1824),
• Petitioner (together with Alyabyev, Mich. Yu. Vielgorsky and Scholz, text Pisarev, 1824),
• Meeting of stagecoaches (with Alyabyev, 1825),
• Amusements of the caliph, or Jokes for one day (with Alyabyev and Scholz, the text of Pisarev, 1825),
• The magic nose, or Talismans and dates (with other authors, the text of Pisarev, 1825),
• Experience of artists, or Avos succeeds (together with Vielgorsky and I. I. Genishta, 1825)
• Thirty thousand people, or Nakhodka worse losses (text Pisarev, 1825),
• Three dozen, or New two-day adventure (with Alyabyev, the text of Pisarev, 1825),
• Proverbs, or Aesop in Xanthus (together with other authors, 1826),
• Two notes, or Guilty Without Guilt (with Alyabyev, Pisarev text, 1827),
• Wandering healers, or Art awakens the dead (Pisarev's text, 1827),
• The shepherdess, the old woman, the sorceress, or What do women like (with Alyabyev, the text of Pisarev, 1827),
• Rehearsals at the station, or the Good serve heart lies (text Zagoskin, 1827),
• The best day in life, or a lesson to rich grooms (with Alyabyev and Scholz, 1827),
• New Year's Eve (together with other authors, Pisarev, 1827),
• Five years at two o'clock, or How is a duck road (text by Pisarev, 1828),
• Means to marry daughters (text Pisarev, 1828),
• Morning after the ball (vaudeville from the play “Fifteen years in Paris, or Not all friends are the same” Pisareva, 1828),
• New Paris (with Alyabyev and Maurer, 1829),
• Stanislav, or Not everyone will do so (1829),
• Diplomat (1829),
• Husband and wife (with Alyabyev, Maurer, Scholz, 1830),
• The Old Hussar, or the Pages of Frederick the 11th (together with Alyabyev and Genishta, 1831) and others.

Vocal and orchestral works

• The triumph of the muses (prologue, together with Alyabyev, Scholz, text MA Dmitriev, 1825, first performed at the opening of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater )
• The Bard Redemption, or the Power of Chanting (Dmitriev's Dramatic Picture, 1827)
• Black Shawl, Three Songs Skalda, The Hermit (ballads for voice and orchestra).

Music to dramatic performances

• Curious, or Guessings at random (1825),
• School of spouses (1827),
• Missolong Day (heroic melodrama, 1829),
• Figaro Wedding (Beaumarchais, 1829),
• Gypsies (the performance of V. A. Karatygin of Pushkin’s poem of the same name, 1832)
• Roslavlev (romantic representation of Shakhovsky, based on Zagoskin's novel, 1832),
• Kremnev, Russian soldier (folk dramatic performance, text by I. H. Skobelev, 1839),
• Parasha-Siberian (Russian Field by HA Field, 1840).

Romances and songs for voice and piano

• Black shawl
• Poor singer
• Night show,
• Gishpanskaya song
• Two crows
• Singer,
• Gypsy song Zemfira,
• Longing for cute
• Bell

Processing of folk songs for different performing compositions

• Not one track in the field,
• At the gate, the girls are,
• My nightingale,
• Beyond the valleys and mountains

Spiritual writings

• Lunch
• Spiritual concert

• Verstovsky Alexey Nikolaevich - Life and Work
• Alexey Nikolaevich Verstovsky: sheet music on the International Music Score Library Project