Chapter 4 - Reminiscences of Rimsky-Korsakov, His Family and Artistic Circle

Summary

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s apartment in St Petersburg, at 28 Zagorodny Prospekt, was famous for its hospitality. Twice a month, at fortnightly intervals, the composer’s family hosted musical evenings known as ‘Korsakov’s Wednesdays’. Here would gather friends and colleagues representing every aspect of the city’s vibrant artistic community: music, theatre, literature and art. Regular visitors included the composer Alexander Glazunov, the concert pianist and conductor Felix Blumenfeld, Vasily Yastrebtsev (Rimsky-Korsakov’s first biographer)¹ and the art and music critic Vladimir Stasov (who first applied the term Moguchaya kuchka to ‘The Mighty Handful’), the painter Mikhail Vrubel’ and his wife, coloratura soprano Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel’ as well as the legendary bass Fyodor Chaliapin; both of these singers regularly performed at the Maryinsky Theatre in productions of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas.