The Russian Subject in the Ballet Works of Catterino Cavos

Thearticle is devoted to the ballet works created by the Italian composer C.A. Cavos in Russia. Over 50 theatrical works of the composer are almost unknown, but they make a signifi cant contribution to the national culture. The study is conducted on the basis of unpublished sour ces from the archives of St. Petersburg and Moscow. The article traces the history of the national subjects of Russian musical professional theater, from the time of Catherine II to the fi rst quarter of the 19th century. There is reviewed the problem of “Russian” subject in the operas, ballets, drama plays with Cavos’s music. A list of those works is compiled, which demonstrates that the composer regularly collaborated with the writer A.A. Shakhovskoy and choreographer Ch. Didelot. The review includes the historical, common, and fairy-magical subjects. The stylistic features of the works are noted (including their reliance on folk material), by the example of Cavos’s ballet divertissements “Militia, or Love for the Fatherland”, “Village Festival”, music to Shakhovskoy’s drama “Falcon of Prince Yaroslav of Tver, or the Betrothed on a White Horse”. 

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