Kremlin Chamber Orchestra Presents One-act Operas by Mozart and Salieri

The Kremlin chamber orchestra appears in an unusual quality. It presents one-act operas "The Impresario" by Mozart and "First the Music Then the Words" by Salieri. The performances will be shown on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 25-26.

Both operas appeared due to an interesting coincidence. In 1786 Emperor Joseph II organised a grandiose contest in Vienna, which included an opera contest. The two leading Vienna composers, Mozart and Salieri, were ordered to compose comic operas about backstage theatre world. Two stages were built and two best opera companies of that time, German and Italian, were to perform the operas.

Mozart created a musical improvisation "The Impresario" and Salieri composed an opera "First the Music Then the Words". Mozart's opera was performed in German and Salieri's opera in Italian.

Mozart in "The Impresario" is cognate and traditional. The opera is a light stroke of the musical pen of the optimist of genius. Salieri's music is remarkable as well. Therefore, "First the Music Then the Words" has been enjoying a happy theatre destiny for two centuries.

The historic fact of the rivalry of the two composers entailed many rumours. One of these rumours made their names common, turning Mozart into a radiant man of genius and Salieri into a gloomy envious person.

Another contest, associated with these two operas, took place 217 years later, in the beginning of 2003 in Moscow. Director Kama Ginkas and the Kremlin chamber orchestra announced a contest for the best staging of these operas among students of the Moscow Art Academic Theatre's studio. It was difficult to choose the best out of the seven performances.

Now the audience is to evaluate the work of Moscow actors. The one-act operas will be shown in the Chamber Hall of the Moscow International Music House. Soloists of Moscow's leading opera companies, Gelikon-Opera, the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Music Theatre and the Chamber Music Theatre, headed by Boris Pokrovsky, will perform vocal parts. The staging is sponsored by the cultural committee of the Moscow government.

The Russian Information Agency Novosti is the informational sponsor of the Kremlin orchestra.