Politically correct and incorrect Glinka

Synopsis

Nineteenth-century Russian composer Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka founded a distinctive national style of Russian classical music, and he wrote first great Russian opera, which premiered in St. Petersburg on today’s date in 1836.

That opera tells the story of Ivan Susanin, a folk hero of the early 17th century, who gave his life to protect the newly elected Tsar Mikhail, the first of the Romanov dynasty. Glinka’s original title for his opera was Ivan Susanin, but after the then-current Tsar Nicholas I attended a rehearsal, Glinka changed it to A Life for the Tsar, to honor — and frankly flatter the current ruler in the Romanov line. 

After the Bolshevik Revolution deposed Tsar Nicholas II in 1917 and executed his whole family, any opera praising the Romanovs, no matter how culturally significant, was unperformable in the Soviet Union. But in 1939, Glinka’s opera returned to Russian stages under its original title Ivan Susanin, thanks to a Soviet poet who removed all references to the Tsar from its libretto and adjusted its storyline to be “politically correct” for Stalinist Russia.

These days, when Glinka’s landmark opera is staged, it’s under its original title and with its original, pro-Tsarist storyline restored.

Music Played in Today's Program

Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857): A Life for the Tsar Overture; USSR State Symphony; Yevgeny Svetlanov, conductor; Regis RRC 1142

On This Day

Births

• 1837 - French composer Emil Waldteufel, in Strasbourg

• 1882 - Spanish composer and pianist Joaquín Turina, in Seville

Premieres

• 1721 - Handel: opera Floridante in London at the King's Theater in the Haymarket (Gregorian date: Dec. 20)

• 1832 - Berlioz: the lyric monodrama Lélio, ou Le Retour à la Vie (Lelio, or The Return to Life) — performed with Symphonie Fantastique as its sequel — in Paris, with François-Antoine Habaneck conducting and the composer performing as an extra timpanist

• 1836 - Glinka: opera A Life for the Tsar, at the Main Theater in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Nov. 27). This work was originally to be titled Ivan Susanin after its lead character, but as a tribute to the Tsar was retitled (After the Russian Revolution, it was staged under its original title).

• 1842 - Glinka: opera Russlan and Ludmilla, at the Main Theater in St. Petesrburg (Julian date: Nov. 27)

• 1900 - Debussy: Nuages and Fêtes (two of the three Nocturnes for orchestra), in Paris at a Lamoureux concert conducted by Camille Chevillard

• 1905 - R. Strauss: opera Salome, in Dresden at the Hofoper, conducted by Ernst von Schuch

• 1906 - Glazunov: Symphony No. 8, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 22)

• 1926 - Milhaud: Carnival d’Aix for piano and orchestra, in New York, with the composer as the piano soloist

• 1928 - Castelnuovo-Tedesco: Piano Concerto No. 1, in Rome

• 1938 - Cage: Trio for Percussion, in Santa Monica, Calif.

• 1939 - Cage: First Construction (in Metal), for six percussionists, in Seattle

• 1942 - Copland: Danzón Cubano for Two Pianos at a League of Composers 20th Anniversary concert at the Town Hall Forum, with the composer and Leonard Bernstein. At this concert, the piece was billed as Birthday Piece (on Cuban Themes).

• 1949 - Barber: Piano Sonata, by Vladimir Horowitz, in Havana, Cuba

• 1950 - Miaskovsky: Symphony No. 27, posthumously, in Moscow

• 1969 - Peter Maxwell Davies: Vsalii Icones, in London

• 1974 - Lou Harrison: Suite for Violin with American Gamelan, at Lone Mountain College, San Francisco, with violinist Lauren Jakey