Music of Alexander III’s era performed in the Presidential Library

The regular concert of the musical and educational project “Music of the Russian Statehood”, dedicated to the era of Emperor Alexander III, took place in the Presidential Library.

Alexander III was not only a great politician, but also a fan, a disseminator of the arts in the Russian Empire. Since childhood, the crown prince found a rare desire for his age to listen to classical music and to play wind instruments. Alexander was in his third year when he picked up a toy "tune", and over the years he mastered playing several wind instruments. The inventory of things in the personal rooms of the emperor in the Gatchina Palace mentions musical instruments that were kept “at hand”. So, in the working room of Alexander III there was a French horn, in the next rooms - a pipe-baritone and a pipe.

On the musical preferences of the emperor Count S. D. Sheremetev wrote in his memoirs. He recalled, in particular, that the tsar “loved church music very much, appreciated Bortnyansky, but preferred Lvov for his sincerity. His favorite Cherubikon was authored by Lvov. He appointed to sing it on the day of his coronation ... ".  

Alexander III also liked "light" music, especially Strauss waltzes. He followed the musical novelties, but his reviews about the music and performance were always careful. He never judged by first impression.

The historian Alexander Myasnikov told the audience about all the features of the musical life of the reign of Alexander III in a lively and casual manner. In particular, about the fact that the sovereign played the trombone and baritone-helicon professionally, he highly appreciated the music of P. I. Tchaikovsky, the participants of the “Mighty Group” - N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M. P. Mussorgsky, A. P. Borodin, Cesar Cui, M. A. Balakirev. The purpose of the emperor was to support the national musical culture in different parts of Russia.

“Emperor Alexander III was a very Russian man, and this was manifested not only in his foreign policy, but also in matters that seemed to be not very important. So, for example, he established that the faces of the retinue, who were granted them, had a monogram on his epaulets, full of Slavonic script”, - said Alexander Myasnikov. The emperor loved soulful Russian songs, he sang in the choir. Alexander liked folk instruments, he even introduced the balalaika as an indispensable instruments for the soldiers of the Russian army.

It was the balalaika, which became the decoration of the evening along with the beautiful vocal performances. It is not by chance that the music of the era of Alexander III in this concert was illustrated by unique groups - the N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Orchestra of Russian Folk Instruments of the St. Petersburg State Conservatory and "Unison Balalayek".  

The concert included music by A. K. Glazunov, V. V. Andreev, S. V. Rachmaninoff, M. I. Glinka, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, L. D. Malashkin, and Russian folk songs.

The evening was soloed by the honored artist of Russia Natalia Shkrebko (domra) and Olga Krasnitskaya (gusli).

The romances that P. I. Tchaikovsky dedicated to the emperor's wife, Princess Dagmar, were performed by the Honored Artist of Russia, the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater, Olga Trifonova (soprano). It is unlikely that anyone was left indifferent by the exciting baritone and bright artistry of the soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Grigory Chernetsov.

The project “Music of the Russian Statehood” is a cycle of ten multimedia concerts accompanied by the fascinating narration of the historian Alexander Myasnikov, which has been implemented using a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society provided by the Presidential Grants Foundation.

All the events are held in the Presidential Library.

The concert was broadcasted live on the Presidential Library's website in the “Live broadcasts” section.