Past Images of the Month - February 2013

DARGOMÏZHSKY, Alexander Sergeyevich (b.Troitskoye, Tula district, 14 February 1813; d.St Petersburg, 17 January 1869)
Dargomïzhsky is a key figure in Russian music history, whose two major works, the Pushkin-based operas Rusalka (The Water-Sprite) and Kamennïy Gost (The Stone Guest), were to have a profound effect on the composers of the Nationalist Group. In Rusalka, (first performed St Petersburg, 16 May 1856) the character of the Miller provided the Russian operatic repertoire with one of its great bass roles and ensured the work's popularity until well into the twentieth century. The Stone Guest (premiered posthumously St Petersburg, 28 February 1872), with its fidelity to Pushkin's text and use of "mezzo recitative", although it failed to hold the stage, served as a model for composers like Musorgsky, who aimed to reproduce the rhythm and intonation of the spoken word.

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