ABSTRACT !e Transnationalism of Swedish and Russian National !eatres in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century: How Foreign Performative Art Sharpened the Aesthetics of National Identity In this article, I consider the formation of national theatres in Sweden and Russia under the guidance of King Gustav III and Empress Catherine II. Both Swedish and Russian theatres in the second half of the eighteenth century consolidated their nationalism by appealing to various national cultures and absorbing them. One of the achievements of the Enlightenment was the rise in popularity of thea- tre and its transnationalism. Several European countries, like Russia, Sweden, Po- land, Hungary and others, decided to follow France and Italy’s example with their older traditions, and participate in the revival of the theatrical arts, while aiming at the same time to preserve their national identities. !e general tendency in all European countries of “second theatre culture” was toward transnationalism, i.e. the acceptance of the inter-penetration between the various European cultures with the unavoidable impact of French and Italian theatres. !e historical plays of the two royal dramatists – Gustav III and Catherine II – were based on nation- al history and formulated following models of mainly French and English drama. !e monarchs resorted to the help of French, Italian and German composers, stage designers, architects, choreographers and actors to produce their plays. However, such cooperation only emphasized Swedish as well as Russian national- ism. Despite many similarities, Gustav III and Catherine II di"ered somewhat in how each positioned their own brand of nationalism. By delving deeper into the details of the formation of the national theatres by these monarchs, I will explore similarities and di"erences between their two theatres.

Keywords: Gustav III, Catherine II, Swedish eighteenth-century theatre, Russian eighteenth-century theatre, national theatre, transnationalism, mobile artists.

BIOGRAPHY Maria Berlova is a lecturer in European Art History at the Russian University of !eater Arts (GITIS, Moscow, Russia). She also works as a Senior Researcher at the State Institute for Art Studies. Right now she is working on two book projects: Performing Power. Political Masks of Gustav III in English and !eater of the King in Russian. Berlova received her MA in theater studies at GITIS in 2006, and PhD in 2011. She obtained her second PhD from Stockholm Univer- sity in 2013. Her research interests are European theater history of the eighteenth century, particularly Swedish and Russian theater history. [email protected]

104 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 The Transnationalism of Swedish and Russian National Theatres in the Second Half of the Eighteenth Century How Foreign Performative Art Sharpened the Aesthetics of National Identity

MARIA BERLOVA Both Swedish and Russian theatres of the second non of the formation of national theatres in Swe- half of the eighteenth century consolidated their den and Russia under the guidance of King Gustav nationalism by appealing to various national cul- III, who reigned from 1771 to 1792, and Empress tures and absorbing them. One of the achievements Catherine the Great, who reigned from 1762 to of the Enlightenment was the rise in popularity of 1796. !e similarity between the two monarchs is theatre and its transnationalism. !e openness of not only in being cousins, but also in that both were national cultures and their exposure to mutual in- playwrights and builders of their national theatres.2 #uence in the eighteenth century favoured an ease !e individual histories of the two monarch-play- of communication and a nomadism of ideas across wrights’ processes of creating the Swedish and Rus- geographical and cultural boundaries, factors which sian national theatres are rather similar from the played important roles in the development of the perspective of the transnationalism of their national theatre of the period.1 !e French and Italian the- cultures. !e historical plays of the two royal dram- atres, with comparatively older traditions, were es- atists were based on national history and formulat- pecially in#uential in Europe. In the second half of ed following models of mainly French and English the eighteenth century several European countries, drama. Both Gustav III and Catherine II resorted like Russia, Sweden, Poland, Hungary and others, to the help of French, Italian and German compos- decided to follow France and Italy’s example and ers, stage designers, architects, choreographers and participate in the revival of the theatrical arts, while actors. !us, the cultural nationalism of both mon- aiming at the same time to preserve their nation- archs was a by-product of international collabora- al identities. !e general tendency in all European tion. However, such cooperation only emphasized countries of “second theatre culture” was toward Swedish as well as Russian nationalism. Its consol- transnationalism, i.e. the acceptance of inter-pen- idation was in fact the result of an assimilation of etration between the various European cultures various national cultures. Despite many similarities, with the unavoidable impact of French and Italian Gustav III and Catherine the Great di"ered some- theatres. !us the nationalism of culturally devel- what in how each positioned their own brand of na- oping countries in the age of Enlightenment had tionalism. Gustav III was more eager to form a na- a pan-European legacy source with contemporary tional theatre in Swedish, while the Russian version tendencies. in the hands of Catherine the Great was far more In this article, I intend to study the phenome- open to foreign companies performing in their

Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 105 native-languages: Italian or French. Nevertheless, gered because Peleus has two serious rivals, the gods the Russian Empress felt a greater concern for the Jupiter and Neptune. In the $nale, the betrothal be- originality of national identity in her plays than her tween !etis and Peleus is celebrated on Olympus.3 Swedish cousin. By delving deeper into the details Swedish poet Johan Wellander put Gustav’s libretto of the formation of the national theatres by these into rhyme, but the composer and conductor of the monarchs, I will explore further similarities and dif- opera was Italian, Francesco Uttini (1723-95). Ut- ferences between their two theatres. tini performed with the Italian company in Stock- First, consider the national theatre of Gustav III. holm in 1750 and thereafter stayed on and actively Similar to his mother Queen Lovisa Ulrika (1720- worked in Sweden for the rest of his life. Despite 82), Gustav had been passionate about theatre since his Italian training, the composer had to follow the childhood. As a youngster Gustav acted in court French model of tragédie lyrique, which had $ve acts performances and later, as a king, he took on the with song and dance divertissements at the end of role of a performer both on the court stage as well each act. !e ballet scenes in the opera were staged as in his politics. !eatre often appeared at crucial and rehearsed by Louis Gallodier (ca. 1734-1803), a moments in Gustav’s life. On March 1, 1771 in the French ballet dancer and choreographer, who stayed midst of a performance at the Opera in Paris, Gus- on in Stockholm after the French company was tav was informed his father had died and that he dismissed by Gustav III in 1771 because the King was now King of Sweden. In 1792, Gustav was as- wanted to cut down on expenses and promote the sassinated at the masquerade at the Opera in Stock- national theater. Gallodier spent the majority of his holm, as immortalized by Giuseppe Verdi’s opera career in Sweden, where he had a great in#uence on Un ballo in maschera (A Masked Ball). the development of the ballet in Sweden as master In August 1772, Gustav carried out a blood- of the Royal Swedish Ballet. In accordance with the less coup d’état aimed at the centralization of royal genre of tragédie lyrique, the opera !etis and Peleus power where he successfully performed his role of abounded in spectacular scenic e"ects. As a model monarch by referring to his kingly predecessors for the scenery, Gustav chose examples of French Gustav Vasa (1496-1560) and Gustav II Adolph scenery from the seventeenth century, for instance (1594-1632). Five months later, in January 1773, that of Jean Berain. !us, the $rst Swedish national the Swedish Opera was established and his inaugu- opera was national only in that it was presented in ration took place in Bollhuset or “!e Ball House” the Swedish language (not Italian or French) and which was built in 1627 for ball sports and later featured Swedish singers and dancers. Also, a Swed- used as a theatre. ish twist in this opera was that Gustav III deviated From the very beginning Swedish opera was an from the French model by presenting Neptune as international enterprise. Although the language of a good lord, which made for a transparent parallel the country’s $rst national opera, !etis och Pelée with the mild king Gustav III. But from all other (!etis and Peleus), was Swedish, the opera itself was perspectives, the opera was a synthesis of French modelled on a French one, a strategy which later and Italian theatrical arts.4 To understand the real became characteristic of Gustavian theatre. !e signi$cant di"erence between Gustavian musical genre of the opera – tragédie lyrique – was typical- theatre and that of Catherine the Great it must be ly French. !e Sun King was an immutable model remembered that the main genre in Russian of that for the Swedish King, who even openly borrowed time was not tragédie lyrique, but opéra comique; this French court rituals. !us, as a model for the $rst genre was performed both by foreigners and native national opera, Gustav III chose a performance from artists. the time of Louis XIV, the mythological opera !etis Internationalism in Swedish national opera only and Peleus of 1689, with the text by Bernard Le Bo- increased with time. !e prevalent form of Swed- vier de Fontenelle and the music by Pascal Collasse. ish opera was French, with dance as a signi$cant !etis, a half nymph, and Peleus, an ordinary mor- element and emphasis on the visual e"ects. Recent tal, fall in love. However, their happiness is endan- updates and news of Parisian opera were constant-

106 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 ly o"ered to the King by Swedish diplomats at the turesque. Among his productions are Gustav III’s embassy. !ey regularly sent Gustav III detailed Queen Christina and Gustav Vasa: the latter was a reports, librettos and drawings of costumes.5 It is triumphal success.6 worth noting that besides French tragédie lyrique, Besides French choreographers and a French which was aesthetically close to baroque theater, the stage designer, there were also foreign composers new trends in opera also reached Sweden. In 1773, who greatly contributed to the formation of the Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice was performed in Swedish National !eater. French opera music Stockholm, which had had its premiere in Paris only was not in favor in late eighteenth century Europe. a year earlier. !at same year Handel’s Acis and Ga- !erefore composers were brought to Stockholm latea was also staged and another opera by Gluck, initially from Italy and later Germany. !e German Iphigenia in Tauris, was performed in 1778. composers who worked in Sweden were Johann Who were the foreigners who traveled to Swe- Gottlieb Naumann (1741-1801) and Joseph Mar- den and whose cultural background enriched the tin Kraus (1756-92). In 1777, Naumann, a com- Swedish National !eater? Besides Gallodier, Gus- poser, conductor and Kapellmeister from Dresden, tav invited another French choreographer and bal- was appointed to reform the Stockholm Hovkapell let dancer, Antoine Bournonville (1760-1843), the (Court Choir) and assist King Gustav III in his father of the famous August Bournonville. Antoine opera plans. His most famous opera works were the Bournonville was the premier dancer and ballet in- 1782 production of his opera Cora och Alonzo at the structor at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm inauguration of the new Opera house in Stockholm from 1782 until 1792. He was also active as an and the 1786 production of Gustav Vasa. actor, singer and choreographer. During his stay in Kraus moved to Sweden at age 22 and died at Sweden he wrote the ballets Les Meuniers provençaux the age of 36 in Stockholm. He is often called “the (1785) and Les Pêcheurs (1789). Swedish Mozart”. His big success was the opera In 1783-84, Gustav III embarked on a long Proserpina with its libretto by Gustav III, which journey that took him to Italy. !is enterprise, his- the poet Johan Henric Kellgren versi$ed. !e opera torically known as the Italian Journey of Gustav III, premiered successfully at Ulriksdal Palace on 6 June was of signi$cant importance to Swedish culture. 1781. Kraus was appointed vice-Kapellmeister of !e King was inspired to create a forum for ancient the Royal Swedish Opera and director of the Royal sculpture in Sweden. With this purpose in mind, Academy of Music. In order for him to learn more he purchased a number of sculptures and other art about theater, Gustav III sent Kraus on a Grand objects that laid the foundation for the Royal Mu- Tour of Europe lasting $ve years. Kraus was an in- seum, established after Gustav III’s death in 1792. novative composer and conductor. Besides music !e collection is preserved today as Gustav III’s Mu- for theater, he wrote many symphonies and concer- seum of Antiquities. !e Italian journey of Gustav tos and much chamber music. Although he was best III also had an impact on his theater because during known for writing stage music, his greatest work, his visit the King encountered Louis Jean Desprez Aeneas in Carthage, remained unperformed during (1737-1804). !is French artist and architect, who his lifetime. For the theatrically staged funeral of at that time worked in Italy, was hired to become a Gustav III, Kraus wrote a funeral cantata and the stage designer of Gustav III’s opera and drama per- Symphonie funèbre, which were played at the burial formances. Desprez moved to Sweden and actively ceremony on April 13, 1792. worked there until Gustav III’s death. After 1792 Georg Joseph Vogler, also known as Abbé Vogler Desprez lost his popularity and died destitute in (1749-1814), a German composer, organist, teach- Stockholm in 1804. !e stage scenery of Desprez er and theorist, also worked in Sweden. Although as well as dramas by Gustav III can be attributed Vogler is mostly known as an experimenter in ba- to pre-romanticism. Desprez’s misty and mysterious roque and early classic music, he also wrote both landscapes, architectural structures and interiors sacred music and operas. His major piece for theater were known to be extremely impressive and pic- was the opera Gustav Adolf och Ebba Brahe, based

Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 107 on Gustav III’s play and staged in 1788. Vogler also by Voltaire, Charles Collé, Baculard d’Arnaud and founded a music school in Stockholm in 1786.7 others, inevitably served as a model for the King. During the 1780s, after the Swedish National According to Marie-Christine Skuncke, all Swedish opera was formed, Gustav III formed the Nation- drama of Gustav’s time can be de$ned as a Fran- al drama theatre in the Swedish language. Howev- co-Swedish hybrid, but it should also be noted that er, the King’s $rst step toward the formation of a there were other in#uences on Swedish drama such Swedish drama theatre had been controversial and as Italian, Spanish, English, Danish and German. caused displeasure amongst the Swedish nobility. In Usually, non-French drama was accessible in French 1771 Gustav III had dismissed the French troupe translations.9 However, in spite of the borrowed of his parents in order to form the national theat- French form, Gustav’s plays were $lled with Swed- er, but ten years later, through the Swedish ambas- ish content. !us, Gustav’s dramas were based on sador in Paris, he hired another French troupe led Swedish history and the great Swedish kings and by Jacques-Marie Boutet de Monvel (1745-1812), queens such as Gustav Vasa, Gustav II Adolph and the playwright and eminent actor of the Comédie- Queen Christina, all main characters of some of his Française. In the beginning, Monvel’s troupe con- plays.10 sisted of 16 members, who performed for royalty As a great example of the truly national char- in the court theaters. Beginning in 1783 the troupe acter of multi-cultural Gustavian theatre, let me also regularly performed for the general public in mention Gustav III’s play Gustav Vasa, which was Ballhuset. !e repertoire of the troupe was mostly turned into rhyme by the Swedish poet Johan Hen- French classical drama, as well as Voltaire, Claude ric Kellgren and staged as an opera in 1786. Alexis Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, Michel-Jean Sedaine, Piron’s French drama Gustave (1733) and Henry Monvel, Philippe Néricault Destouches, Denis Brooke’s Irish tragedy Gustavus Wasa (1739) had Diderot, Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais an impact on Gustav III’s play. Gustav Vasa was and others. !e model for Monvel was Lekain, the based on national history: the liberation of Swe- favorite actor of Voltaire. !us, Monvel brought den from Denmark in the beginning of the six- Lekain’s acting style to Sweden. A passionate actor teenth century. !e opera’s language was Swedish, and a true master of declamation, Monvel taught a but the composer, Johann Gottlieb Naumann, was whole generation of young Swedish actors. Gustav German. Its scenery was designed by French artist III worried that Monvel would run away from Swe- Louis Jean Deprez. Its choreographer was also the den and had the police guard him, but even that Frenchman Louis Gallodier. !e leading roles were didn’t work because in 1787 Monvel got permis- performed by Swedes, Carl Stenborg and Kristofer sion to travel to France and never returned. With Kristian Karsten as well as the Danish opera singer the death of Gustav III in 1792, the French troupe Carolina Müller. !e collaboration of international ceased to perform in Stockholm.8 artists resulted in an enormous success. !e cap- Although Gustav III involved French actors in tivating music in the tradition of Gluck was con- the process of forming the national dramatic the- sidered Naumann’s best piece. It was perceived as atre, his main goal as King was to create a nation- highly patriotic and even today remains well-known al repertoire in the Swedish language. In order to in Sweden. Deprez’ scenery was also stunning and achieve this, Gustav III himself wrote and produced the performance abounded in captivating stage ef- plays in Swedish. !us, the King became the main fects. Despite the international character of Gustav playwright of his time and founding father of both Vasa, it was considered a national opera. !e na- the national theatre and the national dramatic rep- tionalism of Gustav Vasa was not only due to the ertoire. In 1788, Gustav III founded the Dramat- history on which the opera was based, but also the ic !eatre (Dramaten). Gustav’s Swedish national striking correspondence between the theme taken drama serves as a great example of transnationalism from national history and contemporary events. Ac- and illustrates how nomadic the ideas of theatre cording to Erik Lönnroth, Gustav III was preparing were in his time. French plays, for instance those to go to war against Denmark at that time.11 In the

108 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 context of the political events, the opera became a a Swedish king in her drama during the war with powerful instrument of royalist propaganda in that Sweden. Actually, she did quite the opposite, as we it strengthened national consciousness and caused will see later in the discussion of Catherine’s play an incredible rise of patriotism among Swedes. (As about Gustav III. we will see, contemporaneous examples (although !e process of forming the national theatre in maybe not on the same scale) of multicultural na- Russia was rather similar to what occurred in Swe- tional musical performances similar to Gustav Vasa den, although even more complex. Compared to can be found in the Russian theatre of Catherine the a poor Sweden, Russia was a prosperous empire Great, in that the Empress also enlisted foreigners to which had many opportunities to import theatrical produce her plays.) arts from Western Europe. In his article About Rus- Paradoxically, in other productions of Gustav III, sian !eatre of Non-Russian Origin and Non-Russian international tendencies only strengthened Swedish Structure,13 Nikolai Evreinov, the Russian theatre nationalism. For instance, in 1790, during the war practitioner, theorist and historian who worked at between Sweden and Russia (1788-90), Gustav III the beginning of the twentieth century, claims that anonymously staged his play Alexey Mikhailovich Russian theatre is not original and that, “it is not and Natalia Narishkina, which glori$ed the Rus- only of non-Russian origin, but it also doesn’t have sian Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, the father of Peter any original Russian structure”.14 the Great. !e play was staged as a musical comedy According to Evreinov, the Russian theatre is the with songs and dance. Alexey Mikhailovich, based product of foreign culture and was imitative of it on a historical anecdote, is about the Russian Tsar throughout almost its entire history. Although Evre- who married Natalia Narishkina, despite the fact inov’s idea may be questioned, it obviously deserves that she was from an impoverished noble family attention. From the perspective of a non-Russian and brought up in a village. !e Tsar preferred her original and a non-Russian structure, Evreinov trac- innocence and spontaneity to the stu&ness and cer- es the history of Russian theatre from its origin to emoniousness of the court ladies. In the way that the beginning of the twentieth century. I will ad- Gustav III represents these ladies during a review of duce some of Evreinov’s arguments and supplement eventual brides at the palace, one can see a satire on them with my own so that the situation of the Rus- contemporary morals. In 1789, while the King was sian theatre at the time of Catherine the Great will writing this play, the attitude of the nobility towards become clear. him was extremely bellicose because of its displeas- In Russia, the $rst theatre performance was ure with the policies of the Monarch and especially organized by the well-educated Johann Gottfried the Russian-Swedish war. By directing his satire at Gregory (1631-75), a German pastor of the Lu- the court ladies, the King was retaliating against the theran church sent to Moscow as a Saxon elector. opposition of the upper classes. !us, the parallels Gregory, with the help of other Germans (Georg between the events of Russian history and Gus- Hübner, his translator, and Lorenz Ringuber, his tavian Sweden made the play $t into the National stage director), organized the production in West- Swedish repertoire. !ere was also another reason ern European style on July 4, 1672, during the why this play, glorifying the Russian Tsar during reign of Aleksey Mikhalovich (1645-76). During the Russian-Swedish war, actually served to glori- the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1721), Grego- fy the Swedish National theatre. By staging Alexey ry’s successor was Johan Christian Kunst and after Mikhailovich, Gustav III wanted to show, for the him Otto Fürst, both of whom were German. !e $rst time in the history of the Swedish theatre, the performances were also mainly in German. At the luxurious Russian-style costumes and decorations time of Peter the Great, some Russian plays were on the stage of Dramaten.12 !us, Gustavian theatre written but were simple imitations of Western Eu- consolidated its nationalism by appealing to various ropean ones, Jesuit school dramas and French mira- national cultures and absorbing them. !e Russian cle and morality plays. During the reign of Peter the Empress did the same, though she would not praise Great’s successors, until the reign of Catherine the

Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 109 Great, the foreign troupes working in Russia were with a diagonal axis, introducing an angular per- the German troupes of I.-G. Mann, a commedia dell’ spective along the diagonal. arte troupe from Italy, Friederike Caroline Neuber’s Catherine the Great’s reign was the time of the troupe from Leipzig (from 1740 to 1742), Charles development of the national theatre and it became De Sérigny’s troupe from France (from 1742), the possible thanks to Western European theatrical art. German troupe of Konrad Ernst Ackermann (from !e plays of Catherine the Great serve as a great 1747 to 1752), and the Giovanni Battista Locatel- example of signi$cant Western European in#uence, li troupe from Italy (from 1757 to 1762). Mikhail just as her cousin’s plays do. Her comedy Oh, !ese Lomonosov, the famous Russian scientist and poet, Times! was modelled on the comedy Die Beschwester wrote his tragedies Tamara and Selim (1750) and by Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, the German poet. Demophon (1751) under the in#uence of Nicolas !e Empress’ comedy !is ’tis to have Linen and Boileau-Despréaux’s Art poétique, which was trans- Buck-Baskets is an imitation of Shakespeare’s !e lated into Russian. Finally, the Russian National Merry Wives of Windsor, just as her historical plays !eatre was founded on August 30, 1756, during !e Life of Rurik and !e Initial Period of Oleg’s Reign the reign of Elisabeth from 1741 to 1762. Alexan- were written in imitation of Shakespeare’s chronicle der Sumarokov, a prominent Russian playwright, plays. Other Russian playwrights of that period fol- became the director of the Russian !eatre. He was lowed the example of the Empress. !e play Brig- highly inspired by the French classical theatre and adier, written by Denis Fonvisin, the famous Rus- Jean-Baptiste Racine in particular. Jakov Kniazh- sian playwright, has as a model Jean de France by nin, another Russian playwright of this time, imi- Ludvig Holberg, the Danish playwright. Moreover, tated and translated Pierre Corneille, Jean-Baptiste Fonvisin’s comedy Young Ignoramus has an obvious Racine and François Voltaire, even though his in- relationship with French neoclassicism. According tention was to create a theatre to depict everyday to Evreinov, the rest of the Russian playwrights at Russian life. that time were at best compilers and at worst copy- Just like the Russian playwrights, the $rst Rus- cats.15 However, not everyone agrees with Evreinov sian actors were also heavily in#uenced by foreign as I will attempt to demonstrate later. Nevertheless, theatre as in Gustavian Sweden. Fyodor Volkov, one has to admit the fact that there was an obvious known as the $rst Russian actor, had Melissino and predominance of translated and imitative plays over Osterwald as his teachers. Volkov also became an the original ones. admirer of Konrad Ernst Ackermann and adopted If Russian drama developed under the in#u- his acting style. Ivan Dmitrevsky, another eminent ence of French drama, Russian opera and ballet Russian actor of that epoch, fell under the in#uence were highly in#uenced by Italian theatrical art. In of Lekain and David Garrick, whom he saw during 1735-38, during the reign of Anna Ioannovna from his journeys abroad. !e biggest in#uence on Rus- 1730 to 1740, an Italian troupe dominated in Rus- sian actors was Jean-Aufresne-Rival, an actor of the sia. Francesco Domenico Araja was a composer and Comédie-Française whose acting style was consid- Antonio Rinaldi, known as Fossano, was a chore- ered simple and natural, who broke away from the ographer of this troupe. !ere were certain e"orts classical style prevailing in France at that time and made to stage Russian operas, but stage directors had to move to Russia in 1785 where he performed and composers were Italians, as for instance in the and taught. Russian opera Cephalus and Prokris with music by In contrast to Sweden, where the Frenchman Francesco Araja and a libretto by Alexander Suma- Desprez was in charge of scenery and costumes, rokov (the language was Russian), staged in 1755. in Russia, costumes and scenery were produced by Although Italians brought ballet to Russia, its Italians. An example of this is Giuseppe Valeriano, a further development was in#uenced by Frenchmen. follower of Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, who in scen- At the same time as Fossano, his rival Jean-Baptiste ery construction replaced the central (vertical) axis Landé, the French choreographer, worked in Russia.

110 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 It was he who opened the $rst ballet school in St. Pe- formed in the Hermitage !eatre. Forming the tersburg in 1738, known today as the Vaganova Bal- national theatre, the Empress welcomed foreign let Academy. In 1759, Franz Hilverding, the Austri- theatrical art, as she realized that without its contri- an choreographer, came to Russia. He is considered bution the Russian theatre would never #ourish. In to be the predecessor of Jean-George Noverre, the the second half of the eighteenth century, the pop- creator of ballet d’action. In 1766, Hilverding was ular theatrical genre in Russia was Italian opera seria succeeded by Gaspare Angiolini who attempted to and, later, beginning in 1770, it was also opera bu"a. introduce elements of Russian culture into his own In eighteenth-century Russia, the positions of court work through the use of songs, folk dances and Rus- chapel masters were always held by Italians. At the sian themes. After this came Giuseppe Canziani and time of Catherine the Great, these were Tommaso then Charles le Picq, who subsequently introduced Traetta (from 1768 to 1776), Giovanni Paisiello Noverre’s ballet to Russia. (from 1776 to 1784), Giuseppe Sarti (from 1784 In eighteenth-century Russia, even theatre to 1802) and Domenico Cimarosa (from 1787 to buildings were constructed on the initiative of for- 1791). !us, the operas by these composers as well eigners. Unlike Sweden, where the new building as the operas by Antonio Salieri and Vicente Martín of the Royal Opera by the Swedish architect Carl y Soler were performed in the Hermitage !eatre. Fredrik Adelcrantz opened in 1782, the $rst public Among the distinguished Italians who contrib- theatre in St. Petersburg was founded in 1783 on uted to Russian theatrical art, one has to mention the initiative of Karl Knipper, the leader of the Ger- Pietro Gonzaga, the Italian stage designer, architect man theatrical troupe. Moreover, the public theatre and theorist of art who worked in Russia from 1792 in Moscow was $rst founded in 1758 on the initi- until his death in 1831. Just as Louis Jean Deprez in ative of Giovanni Battista Locatelli, the director of Sweden, Gonzaga was an innovator in stage design. the Italian troupe. When this theatre burned down, His stage sets depicting architectural structures and Michael Maddox, the Jewish-English entrepreneur, landscapes are characteristically tinged with a ro- founded the Petrovka theatre in 1780. Today the mantic mood. It is not without reason that his the- Bolshoi !eatre is located on its site.16 oretical treatise described the art of scenery painting !e Russian theatre building from the eight- as “music for the eye”. eenth century which deserves special mention and Although the Italian opera was popular, French is still preserved today is the Hermitage !eatre of comedy remained by far the most popular form Catherine the Great. It was the second theatre of throughout Catherine’s rule. It signi$cantly out- the Winter Palace and replaced the Russian Impe- numbered Italian and Russian productions. !e rial !eatre, which operated from 1764 until 1783. French troupe performed plays by such French Although the Hermitage !eatre was a court thea- authors as François Voltaire, Jacques-Marie Boutet tre designed for three hundred spectators who were de Monvel and Charles-Simon Favart. !e second courtiers and foreign ministers, this theatre played most frequently staged theatrical form was the Rus- an important role in the formation of national the- sian comedy, both original and translated. !e Her- atre as the plays by Catherine the Great and many mitage !eatre’s Russian troupe performed the ad- other Russian playwrights of that time had their aptations, or literal translations of the best plays by $rst production there. !e theatre was built from Western European dramatists, particularly French, 1783 to 1789 by Giacomo Quarenghi, the famous such as by Molière, Beaumarchais, G.-B. Regnard Italian architect. !e Hermitage !eatre is connect- as well as the Irishman Richard Brinsley Sheridan. ed with the Hermitage by a gallery on top of the In addition, plays by such Russians authors as Fon- arch spanning the Winter Canal. visin, Sokolov, Ye$myev, Emin and Plavilshchikov !e internationality of the Hermitage !eatre (who were to some extent in#uenced by French re#ected very well the theatrical situation in the drama), were performed in the Hermitage !eatre. country. French, Italian and Russian troupes per- !e reign of Catherine the Great is noted as an

Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 111 epoch of comic operas. !e operas bu"a by Paisiello, tackles such contemporary national problems as ig- Cimarosa, Sarti and Martin-y-Soler were performed norance, superstition, Gallomania, fear of progress, at the Hermitage !eatre. Many of the most famous and anything she perceived as mysticism.”19 Italian comic operas were produced as free transla- Catherine based her imitations of Shakespeare’s tions into Russian and performed by local actors historical plays on Russian history. !e main char- and companies. !us, transnationalism contribut- acters of the Empress’ plays were national heroes, ed to the formation of national theatre. It is worth similar to the historical dramas of Gustav III. For mentioning that it is at this time that Russian com- example, Catherine’s main characters were Oleg, the posers also appeared.17 uncle and preceptor of Prince Igor who ruled from In addition, Catherine the Great wrote plays 912 to 945, and the ruler of the Russian Kiev in which were staged as comic operas. !e theatrical !e Initial Period of Oleg’s Reign, and the Varangi- works of Catherine the Great, which were staged an Prince Rurik who ruled from 862 to 879, the not only in the Hermitage !eatre but also in the father of Igor and the founder of the principality of public theatres of St. Petersburg and Moscow, serve Novgorod in the play !e Life of Rurik. as a good example of how the foreign form could Oleg was staged as an opera during the theatrical have original content. I do not agree with Evrei- season of 1790-91. It was the most grandiose stag- nov, who argues that the Russian playwrights of ing of any of Catherine’s plays. !e music was com- the second half of the eighteenth century, including posed partly by the Italians Carlo Canobbio and Catherine the Great, had no originality. Just as in Sarti, and partly by the Russian Vasily Pashkevich. Gustavian Sweden, the originality of the national !e choreographers were Giuseppe Canziani and theatre in late-eighteenth-century Russia was born Charles Le Picq. Just as in the case of Gustav’s Gus- out of a synthesis of various theatrical cultures and tav Vasa, Catherine’s Oleg was also an international this theatre acquired a local colour. For instance, enterprise and also had a strongly expressed nation- Russians playwrights such as Vladimir Lukin and al spirit. For the production, Catherine introduced Peter Plavilshchikov wrote original plays by touch- old Russian ceremonies, as illustrated by the wed- ing upon original Russian themes. Let me illustrate ding between Prince Igor and Prekrasa. Also, the my point by using Catherine’s plays. Empress actively participated in the design of beau- It is known that Catherine the Great uttered tiful costumes made in the old-Russian style. the following dictum: “!eatre is the school for the What also made the production truly national people. I am the chief master in this school and I am was the political context. Just like Gustav III’s plays, responsible before God for the morals and manners Catherine’s drama was $rmly inscribed in her pol- of the people.”18 !us, Catherine’s drama, which itics. Catherine’s play shows Oleg in his successful not only included comic operas, but also comedies, campaign against Constantinople. After he con- imitations of Shakespeare and proverbes (a French cludes a favourable peace, he is received with due genre of a short moralizing play), had as its main honours by the Emperor Leo and Empress Zoe. It is purpose, besides entertaining, to educate the mass- noteworthy that during the staging of Oleg, Russia es and teach them morals. !at idea corresponded was engaged in a successful war with the Ottoman with French neoclassical drama, which served as the Empire (1787-91) and the patriotic feelings that main model for Catherine as a playwright. It is worth the play inspired became a kind of compensation mentioning that she also imitated Shakespeare and for the unrealized “Greek project” of Catherine II produced partial adaptations of plays by Calderón directed at the submission of the Ottoman Empire and Sheridan. However, despite borrowing foreign and the division of its territory between Russia, the forms, Catherine succeeded in $lling them with Holy Roman Empire and the Venetian Republic. original content. !e realities of her plays are very Catherine II contemplated the revival of the Byz- Russian. As Lurana Donnels O’Malley points out, antine statehood under the leadership of her grand- in her numerous comedies, the Empress addresses son who was named Constantine in honour of the speci$cally Russian concerns and audiences. “She founder of Constantinople.

112 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 !ere are many similarities between the thea- (1772). In this play, nine men and women descend tres of Catherine the Great and that of her Swed- upon the foyer of the nobleman Khrisanf’s house, ish cousin. Both enlightened monarchs formed the but do not get a chance to meet him, only his serv- national theatre. Both monarchs wrote plays. Both ants and assistants. Most of the characters are Rus- monarchs used foreign dramas as the models for sians, but three of them are foreign: a German, a their dramatic works. Moreover, both Gustav and Frenchman and a Turk. Catherine mocks their mis- Catherine achieved originality in their plays by ap- use of the Russian language of which she was an pealing to national history as well as the contem- ardent advocate. porary life of the nation. Both monarchs inscribed !e focus of Catherine the playwright was al- their theatres in the political context. Both Cathe- ways on Russian life. If she were a Swede, she would rine and Gustav resorted to the help of foreigners in have never written an Alexey Mikhailovich and Na- order to create their national theatres. !e coopera- talia Narishkina, a play praising a foreign leader, tion of the two monarchs with foreign theatre artists as Gustav III did. When Catherine wrote Woeful sped up the formation of new national cultures: in Knight Kosometovich, a play about Gustav III who Sweden the national theatre, opera and ballet were started the war against Russia in 1788, it was a po- established in just $fteen years. Although there are litical pamphlet against him. Although Catherine’s many similarities between the national theatre of play was about the Swedish king, the empress did Gustav and that of Catherine, there are some di"er- not restrain from strongly expressing her national- ences as well. Catherine was not as much obsessed ism. !e play was based on a Russian fairy-tale, the by the idea of the creation of the national theatre characters were Russian and the play’s language was as Gustav III, who dismissed the French troupe of inspired by Russian folklore. his parents in order to form the national theatre. Nevertheless, Catherine’s nationalism, just as !e Russia of Catherine the Great abounded in for- that of Gustav’s, always needed international sup- eign troupes, which performed their original reper- port. It was Martin y Soler, an Italian, who wrote the toires. !us, the Russian national theatre had only music for Catherine’s highly nationalistic play about a modest place on the theatrical map of the coun- her Swedish cousin, which was staged as a comic try. However, the question of national identity was opera at the Hermitage !eatre in 1789. !us, no- more acute in Russia than Sweden, where Swedish madic artists contributed greatly to the formation of theatre, according to Skuncke, was both a national national theatres in Sweden and Russia, particular and cosmopolitan enterprise.20 !is matter was very in shaping the aesthetics of national identity. important for Catherine herself. Although Gustav III was of German stock, he was born in Sweden and considered himself a Swede, and the Swedish language was his native tongue. Catherine II, a Ger- man by birth, was born and raised in Prussia until she moved to Russia. However, Catherine consid- ered herself Russian and she emphasized her nation- al identity by all possible means, which is re#ected in her plays. Catherine wrote her plays in Russian, with the only exception being the proverbs written in French.21 While assimilating foreign cultures, Catherine fervently advocated Russian originality. In her comedies based on French models, Catherine II mocked Gallomania, just as many other Russian playwrights of her time. Similarly, Catherine mocked the foreigners in her comedy Prominent Nobleman’s Entrance Hall

Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 Nordic Theatre Studies vol. 27: no. 1 113 NOTES AND REFERENCES в Театральные новации), Tyretia strazha, Petrograd 1 Dmitry Trubotchkin, “Italianskiy teatr XVIII veka” in Is- 1922. toria iskusstv stran Zapadnoy Evropy. XVIII vek (Дмитрий 14 Evreinov, op. cit., p. 42. Трубочкин, “Итальянский театр XVIII века” в 15 Evreinov, op. cit., p. 49. Истории искусств стран Западной Европы. XVIII 16 !e overview of the Russian eighteenth century the- век), State Institute of Art Studies, Moscow, forthcom- atre was based on Evreinov, op. cit. and also on Vse- ing. volod Vsevolodskiy-Gerngross, Istoria rysskogo teatra, 2 Despite striking similarities there was an essential dif- I (Всеволод Всеволодский-Гернгросс, История ference between the two monarchs. It was an additional русского театра I), Moscow, Leningrad 1929. hobby of Gustav III to be an actor of the court theater 17 !e overview of the century Hermitage !eatre is based for a period of time, whereas Catherine the Great never on Dmitry Varygin, Irina Etoeva, Yermitazhniy teatr acted on stage. (Дмитрий Варыгин, Ирина Етоева, Эрмитажный 3 Marie-Christine Skuncke, “Gustaviansk teater” in Ny театр), Gosydarstvennyi Ermitazh, Slavia, St. Peters- svensk teaterhistoria. 1, Teater före 1800, Tomas Forser, burg 2005. Sven Ǻke Heed, eds., Gidluns förlag, Hedemora 2007, 18 Istoria rysskogo dramaticheskogo teatra ot ego istokov do p. 191. kontsa XX veka (История русского драматического 4 Skuncke, op. cit., pp. 190-2; Georg Nordensvan, Svensk театра от его истоков до конца XX века), GITIS, teater och svenska skådespelare från Gustav III till våra Moscow 2009, p. 54. dagar, del I, Bonnier, Stockholm 1917, pp. 5-6. 19 Lurana Donnels O’Malley, !e Dramatic Works of Cath- 5 Skuncke, op. cit., p. 193. erine the Great. !eater and Politics in Eighteenth-Century 6 Barbro Stribolt, “Louis Jean Deprez. An Introduction” Russia, Ashgate Publishing Company, Farnham 2006, p. in Gustavian Opera. Swedish Opera, Dance and !eatre 12. 1771-1809, Almqvist and Wiksell Trycker, Uppsala 20 Skuncke, “Gustav III och dramatiken”, op. cit., p. 279. 1991, pp. 123-5. 21 Like Gustav III, Catherine the Great had some assistants 7 It is worth noting that the Russian opera under Cather- who helped edit her plays. ine the Great was mainly in#uenced by Italian compos- ers, conductors and musicians. 8 Skuncke, op. cit., pp. 204-6; Nordensvan, op. cit., pp. 14-15. Just as with the Swedish drama theater, the Rus- sian drama theater of that period was mainly in#uenced by the French. 9 Marie-Christine Skuncke, “Sweden and European drama 1771-1796. A presentation of cross-cultural contacts” in Gustavian Opera, op. cit., p. 151. 10 Likewise, the in#uence of French drama as well as na- tional history was also characteristic of Catherine’s plays. 11 Erik Lönnroth, “Prologue” in Gustavian Opera, op. cit., p. 18. 12 Marie-Christine Skuncke, “Gustav III och dramatiken” in Katarina den stora och Gustav III. Nationalmuseum 9 oktober 1998 - 28 februari 1999, Magnus Olausson, ed., Nationalmuseum, Helsingborg 1998, p. 279. 13 Nikolai Evreinov, “O rysskom teatre ne-rysskogo prois- hozhdeniya i ne-rysskogo yklada” in Teatral’nye nova- tsii (Николай Евреинов, “O русском театре не- русского происхождения и не-русского уклада”

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