Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Saint Petersburg Conservatory
The conservatory, as seen in 2013
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Websitehttps://www.conservatory.ru/en

The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (Russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) (formerly known as the Petrograd Conservatory and Leningrad Conservatory) is a school of music in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.

History

Theatre Square and the conservatory, as seen in 1913

The conservatory was founded in 1862 by the Russian Music Society and Anton Rubinstein, a Russian pianist and composer.[1] On his resignation in 1867, he was succeeded by Nikolai Zaremba. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed as a professor in 1871, and the conservatory has borne his name since 1944, the centenary of his birth.[1] In 1887, Rubinstein returned to the conservatory with the goal of improving overall standards. He revised the curriculum, expelled inferior students, fired and demoted many professors, and made entrance and examination requirements more stringent. In 1891, he resigned again over the Imperial demand of racial quotas.

The current building was erected in the 1890s on the site of the old Bolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg. As the city changed its name in the 20th century, the conservatory was renamed Petrograd Conservatory (Петроградская консерватория) and Leningrad Conservatory (Ленинградская консерватория).

School alumni have included such composers as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Artur Kapp, Rudolf Tobias, and Dmitri Shostakovich, who taught at the conservatory during the 1960s. Amongst his pupils were German Okunev and Boris Tishchenko. Composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov taught at the conservatory for almost forty years, and his bronze monument is located outside the building in Theatre Square. The youngest musician ever admitted to the conservatory was four-year-old violinist Clara Rockmore, who later became one of the world's foremost theremin players.

Directors and rectors

Notable faculty

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Notable graduates

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See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d E. S. BARUTCHEVA (1979). "N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Leningrad Conservatory". Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya.
  2. ^ Rubinstein. A., Autobiography of Rubinstein (New York, Haskell House Publishers Ltd, 1969. 1st Published 1890) pp.104-105
  3. ^ Biography of Sidor Belarsky at Florida Atlantic University
  4. ^ Brigham Young University Special Collections - Biography of Sidor Belarsky on lib.byu
  5. ^ Ellis Island Interviews: Immigrants Tell Their Stories In their Own Words. Coan, Peter M. Fall River Press, 1997 p. 268 Interview & biography of Isabel Belarsky - daughter of Sidor Belarsky on Google Books
  6. ^ "Jewish Frontier" Labor Zionist Letters Inc. 1995 p. 22 Sidor Belarsky On Google Books
  7. ^ Vaitmaa, Merike (2001). "Kuldar Sink". Grove Music Online. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.25881. (subscription required)
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59°55′34″N 30°17′54″E / 59.9260°N 30.2982°E / 59.9260; 30.2982