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EDUARD NÁPRAVNÍK, FORGOTTEN CZECH-RUSSIAN MASTER by Anastasia Belina In the west Eduard Frantsevich Nápravník (1839–1916) is arguably one of the least well known among the major musical figures of Tsarist Russia. Although a prolific composer, prominent conductor and excellent pianist, he made his largest contribution as chief conductor of the Russian opera at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg (then the Russian capital), a post he held for a little over half a century, and it is for his performances of both European and Russian operas and symphonic repertoire that he is best remembered. Although the English-language literature on Nápravník is scarce (there is no biography other than in Russian), there are a number of Russian-language sources, which include biographies, published selections of his letters, memoirs and notebooks. Nápravník was a prolific correspondent, exchanging over 12,000 letters with over 500 of the prominent personalities of his day. Among his Russian correspondents were Pyotr and Modest Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, Glazunov, Musorgsky, Anton and Nikolay Rubinstein, Glinka’s sister Ludmila Shestakova, the famous Russian singers Fyodor Chaliapin, Fyodor Stravinsky (father of Igor) and Ivan Melnikov and many others. His international correspondents included Joachim, Mahler, Nikisch, Saint-Saëns and Weingartner, to name only a few. Not only did Nápravník meticulously preserve these letters; most helpfully for the historian, he often drafted his replies on the backs of the letters or envelopes, which makes it possible to establish the content of his responses when they do not survive. Although some of these letters have been published in various Russian-language sources, the majority remain in the Russian 2 archives.1 From 1863 Nápravník kept a diary, in which he recounted daily events, both personal and, of course, professional.
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