The Polish group includes Karl Kasimir Kurpinski (d. 1857), in 1810-41 conductor at Warsaw, with nearly 25 facile operas (1811-26), besides ballets; Victor Kazynski, with 3 fairly successful works (1840-8) at Wilna, Warsaw and St. Petersburg; and Stanislaw Moniuszko (d. 1872), who was trained at Warsaw and Berlin, from 1840 worked at Wilna and from 1858 was conductor at Warsaw, with 15 tuneful operas (from before 1845), much church music and many songs.
In Russia musicians from foreign countries had long been made welcome, so that the public was familiar with many different styles. A conspicuous early instance in the operatic field was that of the Venetian Catterino Cavos (d. 1840), the first (1799) of his 13 Russian operas being so successful as to lead to his becoming court-conductor.
Alexis Werstowski (d. 1862), a prominent Moscow official, wrote 7 operas, of which Askold's Grave (1835) had signal success, being the pioneer work of truly Russian quality.
Michail Glinka (d. 1857), born of noble family in 1804, is, however, usually counted as the founder of Russian opera. Trained at St. Petersburg and Moscow, and in Italy and Germany, he early became a fine pianist, but made his reputation by the operas Life for the Czar (1836) and Russlan and Liudmilla (1842), which were not only thoroughly Russian, but eminently modern in dramatic and musical workmanship. After 1844 Glinka made long visits to France, Spain, Italy and Germany, partly to introduce his works. He also wrote brilliant instrumental and vocal music.
The violinist Alexis Lwoff (d. 1871), a high army officer, in 1836-55 conductor of the imperial choir, wrote three operas (1840-6), besides a youthful work. The noted pianist Alexander Dargomyzski (d. 1869), who at first followed Italian and French styles, won his place as an opera-writer by Esmeralda (1847, but written in 1839) and still more by Russalka (1856), leaving also a third opera (1872), written upon modern lines.
Anton Rubinstein (d. 1894), already referred to as a pianist (see sec. 202), was specially ambitious in dramatic composition, producing not only 13 operas (from 1852), about half of them in German, but also 5 sacred concert-operas (from 1870), all in German. In his style the mixture of native and acquired elements seems to have been unfortunate, his romanticism lacking delicacy, his Slavic intensity leading to gigantic efforts that are more grandiose that sublime, and his invention being unequal to the strain he put upon it. His best dramatic works all belong to the recent period, and have suffered from inevitable comparison with those of other composers.
Belonging to a very different group was Alexander Serow (d. 1871), an enthusiastic Wagnerite, who led the way toward the 'New-Russian' school with 3 powerful works, Judith (1863), Rogneda (1865) and Wrazyia siela (1871).
From the long list of famous operatic singers of the period only a selection can be made of some whose international renown was striking:—
The sopranos included from 1819 the French Cinthie (Montalant) Damoreau (d. 1863); from 1828 the Italians Guilia Grisi (d. 1869), and, from 1832, Fanny (Tacchinardi) Persiani (d. 1867); from 1834 the Spanish Maria Dolores Nau,
