The collection of the Livadia Palace Museum includes the program of the gala performance at the Imperial Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on May 17, 1896, which was organized to celebrate the coronation of Their Imperial Majesties Sovereign Emperor Nicholas Alexandrovich and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
The program consists of 24 pages, 15 of which are chromolithographed. The design was prepared by such famous artists as Andrei Ryabushkin, Ivan Ropet, Konstantin Pervukhin, Alexander von Hohen, and Yelena Samokish-Sudkovskaya. The program is complemented by a white cardboard box featuring an embossed image of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire in the center. The blue flyleaf depicts the gold-colored monogram of Nicholas II and griffins from the Imperial coat of arms.
The gala performance consisted of two parts. The first one was patriotic and started with the opera “A Life for the Tsar” (music by Mikhail Glinka, libretto by Yegor Rosen). This outstanding piece brought Glinka the title of the founder of Russian opera and established a new, “Russian” period in world music. The opera glorified the feat of Ivan Susanin and the Russian people in the fight against the Polish invaders. The opera’s anthem “Slavsya” (English: Glory — Ed.), performed by a choir of 800 singers, was the most prized feature. The corresponding part of the program was designed in the Old Russian style.
The second part of the performance was called “The Pearl” — a new ballet in one act with a lyrical plot. It was a pièce d’occasion for the coronation celebration and was staged by Marius Petipa with music by Riccardo Drigo — the composer and conductor of the orchestra of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater. The ballet featured dancers from two renowned companies of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky Theaters. The corresponding part of the program was designed in the Art Nouveau style. The programs were received by all those invited to the gala performance, which became one of the highlights of the coronation festivities.
The program was issued by the Alexander A. Levenson Fast Printshop Partnership, one of the best and most well-known publishing houses of the Russian Empire.
The program consists of 24 pages, 15 of which are chromolithographed. The design was prepared by such famous artists as Andrei Ryabushkin, Ivan Ropet, Konstantin Pervukhin, Alexander von Hohen, and Yelena Samokish-Sudkovskaya. The program is complemented by a white cardboard box featuring an embossed image of the coat of arms of the Russian Empire in the center. The blue flyleaf depicts the gold-colored monogram of Nicholas II and griffins from the Imperial coat of arms.
The gala performance consisted of two parts. The first one was patriotic and started with the opera “A Life for the Tsar” (music by Mikhail Glinka, libretto by Yegor Rosen). This outstanding piece brought Glinka the title of the founder of Russian opera and established a new, “Russian” period in world music. The opera glorified the feat of Ivan Susanin and the Russian people in the fight against the Polish invaders. The opera’s anthem “Slavsya” (English: Glory — Ed.), performed by a choir of 800 singers, was the most prized feature. The corresponding part of the program was designed in the Old Russian style.
The second part of the performance was called “The Pearl” — a new ballet in one act with a lyrical plot. It was a pièce d’occasion for the coronation celebration and was staged by Marius Petipa with music by Riccardo Drigo — the composer and conductor of the orchestra of the Imperial Mariinsky Theater. The ballet featured dancers from two renowned companies of the Bolshoi and the Mariinsky Theaters. The corresponding part of the program was designed in the Art Nouveau style. The programs were received by all those invited to the gala performance, which became one of the highlights of the coronation festivities.
The program was issued by the Alexander A. Levenson Fast Printshop Partnership, one of the best and most well-known publishing houses of the Russian Empire.
