Yevstigney Fomin – Orfeo ed Euridice

An event highly significant in the development of Russian culture occurred at the end of Empress Catherine II’s reign in the 4 late 18th century. A melodrama based on the Classical myth of Orpheus and Eurydice by dramatist Yakov Knyazhnin and composer Yevstigney Fomin was highly acclaimed by theatre audiences, first in St Petersburg and then Moscow.
The forthcoming premiere in Moscow was announced in the following terms in a supplement to the newspaper ‘Mosskovskiye vedomosti’ in the year 1795: ‘On February 5th… the new melo- drama Orpheus will be performed with the accompanying ballets and choruses of the infernal Furies. Music for the choruses and the melodrama as a whole written by the composer Fomin in the Ancient Greek style has been received very favourably in St Petersburg.’ This event was remembered in Russia for many years afterwards.