It is our pleasure to inform you that another lecture in the educational series The Long 19th Century is now available in Manege’s VKontakte community and on its YouTube channel. We would like to remind you that the supplementary program of the Serenity and Delight project is being delivered online. Our guest speakers discuss 19th-century Russian art, literature, music, philosophy, and history from inside the exhibition space.

This time our guest speaker is Aleksey Parin, a theater historian, music critic, director, libretto writer, poet and poetry translator, and author of several books and monographs. In his lecture “Russian Bel Canto, or How Russian Peasants Expressed Love of Their Homeland in Song”, Aleksey Parin explores the innermost essence of what composer Mikhail Glinka was conveying in his opera A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin).

You will find out how it came to pass that Italian vocal tastes and German musical techniques were harnessed to assert Russian national identity. It will also be revealed how, in the iconography of Russian musical theater, dancing came to represent foes of Russia, and what new dimensions of meaning Glinka’s opera develops in the overall European context.

Manege’s educational program partner — Mikhial Bazhenov Foundation.

Media partner for Manege’s lecture program — VK Video.