Yevstigney Fomin
Yevstigney Ipat'yevich Fomin[1] (Russian: Евстигне́й Ипа́тьевич Фоми́н) (born St. Petersburg 16 August [O.S. 5 August] 1761 – died St. Petersburg c 27 April [O.S. 16 April] 1800) was a Russian opera composer of the 18th century
Biography
Fomin was born in St. Petersburg into the family of a
In 1782 he went to
The famous one-act opera
Operas
- St Petersburg)
- St Petersburg)
- Soirées (Вечеринки или гадай, гадай девица — Vecherinki, ili Gaday, gaday devitsa, 1788 St Petersburg)
- Magician, Fortune-teller and Match-maker (Колдун, ворожея и сваха - Koldun, vorozheya i svakha, 1789 St Petersburg)
- St Petersburg)
- St Petersburg)
- St Petersburg)
- The Golden Apple (Золотое яблоко — Zolotoye yabloko, 27 April 1803 St Petersburg)
also:
- Yaropolk and Oleg (Ярополк и Олег - Yaropolk i Oleg) - Choruses to a tragedy by Vladislav Ozerov (1798)
Discography
Opera
- Orfey i Evridika (sung in Russian) European Festival Orchestra, conductor William Keitel, 20 July 2004, 1CD, Arte Nova Records
- Orfeo ed Euridice (sung in Russian). Performed by Maria Shorstova, Alexey Ivashchenko et al., The Horn Orchestra of Russia, Pratum Integrum Orchestra, cond. Pavel Serbin. Recorded in 2008. Moscow, Russia: Essential Music, ℗2009. Caro Mitis CM 0012008
- The Americans (sung in Russian) cond. Vladimir Andropov. USSR Bolshoi Theatre Chamber Orchestra (rec. 1988) C10 28271 009
- The Coachmen (Ямщики на подставе) cond. Vladimir Chernushenko. Leningrad State Conservatory Opera Orchestra (rec. 1982) C10 19625 009
- The Coachmen (Ямщики на подставе) cond. All-Union RadioArchive. ~ first revival since premiere.
Orchestral, chamber and instrumental
- The Golden Age - Moscow Concertino ensemble of soloists (CD)[3]
Quotations
"Yevstigney Fomin, one of the most talented composers of his day and age and the founding father of Russian musical drama, also [like Vasily Pashkevich] died in poverty... His melodrama, based on the well-known legend about Orpheus and Eurydice, is a real masterpiece whose red-hot passions and tragic collisions have since been put to music with equal excellence. Orpheus premiered at Count Nikolai Sheremetev’s theatre in 1792 to the strains of a choir, orchestra and with a large cast of ballet dancers and actors. For more than two decades Orpheus ran thousands of times to invariable applause of local and visiting theatergoers. And still, the money Fomin earned for his labors was dwarfed by the exorbitant royalties picked up by his Italian colleagues invited to work in St. Petersburg. "The Voice of Russia 2003"
Notes
- ^ The Romanized spelling of his name is variable: Yevstignei (Evstigney, Evstignei, Ewstigney or Evstignej) Ipatovich (Ipatyevich or Ipatevich) Fomin.
- ^ a b See Gerald Abraham's The Concise Oxford History of Music, Oxford 1979, p.479.
- ^ On this website you can listen to all the tracks that also include music by Bortnyansky and Alyabyev (see the CD information).
The first four tracks are as follows:
- Yevstigney Fomin. Music from the melodrama Orpheus and Eurydice
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Adagio
- 3. Dance of the furies
- 4. Overture to the comic opera The Americans
Bibliography
- Sokolova, A.: Fomin, the article in "Tvorcheskie portrety kompozitorov", Moskva, Muzyka, 1989, p. 360-362
- Abraham, Gerald: The Concise Oxford History of Music, Oxford 1979, p. 479-481
- Fomin, Yevstigney Ipat'yevich by ISBN 0-333-73432-7