Brover-Lubovsky , Bella Nachal´noe upravlenie Olega (The Early Reign of Oleg): Music by Carlo Canobbio, Vasilij Pashkevich, and Giuseppe Sarti for the Play by Catherine the Great (review)

Abstract

SEER, 97, 3, JULY 2019 548 The fifth analytical chapter of the book (pp. 43–46) considers significant figures of this age of folly, demonstrating Žybuĺ’s use of masks in his most recent book, Dziaciel i duplo (2016). As earlier, she illustrates the ludic absurdity of his poems about the types listed in the previous chapter, and hails the poet for not repeating himself like a woodpecker but for the inventiveness and wit with which he attempts to resist the ills of society. In the next chapter (pp. 57–64) the poet, whose wife and son are also poets, reflects on life, beginning with variations on well-known lines by Shakespeare, Julius Caesar and others, ending with a review of some of the prizes he has won. A bibliography is followed by an interview with Žybuĺ, whose replies will allow interested readers to find out more about the man behind his constant poetic mask. The book ends with two short but interesting essays by its academic editors, Liudmila Sińkova and Sierž Minskievič, praising Skarapanava’s enterprising work, and placing her subject in the overall picture of contemporary Belarusian literature, but also referring back as far as the 1920s when Stalin murdered the flower of Belarusian culture and especially literature. It is rare for a relatively young writer to be the subject of a book-length study, but the author has done her subject proud with a work that is modest in size and price (a little over 3 US$) but rich in information and ideas. It may be hoped that it will attract new readers to one of the most original Belarusian poets of today. London Arnold McMillin Brover-Lubovsky, Bella. Nachal´noe upravlenie Olega (The Early Reign of Oleg): Music by Carlo Canobbio, Vasilij Pashkevich, and Giuseppe Sarti for the Play by Catherine the Great. Recent Researches in the Music of the Classical Era, 109. A-R Editions, Inc., Middleton, WI, 2018. xxviii + 463 pp. Full score with underscored and transliterated Russian. Illustrations. Table. Notes. Appendices. $520.00 (paperback). Saxon Princess Sophia came to Russia a Lutheran without a word of Russian. In 1791 she created the first grand opera in Russian, The Early Reign of Oleg. By publishing the opera with the text translated into English, Bella BroverLubovsky has made this unique work accessible to aficionados of eighteenthcentury opera. From 1700–50 every court and public theatre was enamoured with the genre of Italian opera seria. These long operas, based on heroes drawn from GrecoRoman history and mythology, were presented as lavish extravaganzas which REVIEWS 549 interleaved lighter entertainment such as intermezzi and/or ballets. They were based on libretti by the greatest Italian dramatists such as Metastasio with each drama being set to music as many as ninety times. Opera was presented in honour of royal birthdays, marriages and accession to the throne, depicting a ruler or conqueror of the past displaying benevolence and magnanimity. Bravura arias interspersed into sung dialogue conveyed the human passions. The audience would include heads of state, aristocracy on the Grand Tour and influential businessmen who would wine and dine their guests during the performance. No composition was enshrined in copyright, but composers, librettists, performers and opera producers would collaborate ‘to create a kind of drama which was conceived not as an instrument for posterity but as a living experience for the present’ (Pierpaolo Polzonetti, ‘Opera as Process’, in A. R. DelDonna and P. Polzonetti [eds], The Cambridge Companion to EighteenthCentury Opera, Cambridge and New York, 2009, p. 10). Although Maria Antonia of Bavaria (1724–80) was both a composer and singer and Maximilian III Joseph (1727–77) a renowned symphonist, Catherine was the only documented ruler capable of creating art with a political purpose. Paradoxically, one of the reasons why The Early Reign of Oleg has remained a well-kept secret is because of Soviet aversion to art which was not perceived as authentically Russian. Catherine had an Italian opera company at her disposal, but The Early Reign of Oleg defies convention and creates a unique fusion of Russian nationalism and Greek art. Prior to writing this drama, Catherine had written a number of libretti for opera komicheskaia, conferring...