Ivan Susanin in the labyrinths of the Russian opera project: lecture of Maria Shcherbakova

#Mariinsky_education “Ivan Susanin“ in the Russian musical world is strongly associated with Mikhail Glinka’s opera, renamed so in Soviet period, and originaly titled “A Life for the Tsar“ (1836). But few know about its predecessor, opera “Ivan Susanin“ by Catterino Cavos premiered in 1815. On April 29, 2021, the rare work by Cavos was performed in concert at the Mariinsky Concert Hall. The director of Music Library and Archives of the Mariinsky, professor Maria Shcherbakova talks about the opera and its context in the wide historic perspective from Catherine the Great’s cultural policy till post-Glinka’s development of the Russian musical world.