CHAPTER XIII.
THE best part of a day was consumed in the Kremlin and in the Church of St. Basil. Further investigation of old Moscow was postponed to the morrow.
In the evening our friends went to the Opera-house to listen to some national music, but more particularly to see the house, which is one of the curiosities of the city. The "Bolshoi Teatre," or "Great Theatre," is one of the finest opera-houses in the world. It was built in 1855-56, to replace the smaller opera-house which had been destroyed by fire about two years before. A few months after it was opened there was a performance in the theatre, entitled "1756 and 1856," to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of government theatres in Russia.
From the material in the possession of the youths, and by a careful use of eyes and note-books, Fred wrote the following account of the Moscow Opera-house, and added to the information about theatrical matters which appears in a previous chapter.
"The first recorded representation of a theatrical character in Russia is assigned to the reign of Alexis Michailovitch, father of Peter the Great. It was given in the house of the father-in-law of Alexis, but very little is known of its character. Russian writers say their first regular dramas were in the time of Feodor Alexeivitch (half-brother and predecessor of Peter the Great), and were written by the Czar's tutor. They were produced in one of the suburban palaces, and had a religious character, as we infer from the titles 'Prodigal Son,' 'King Nebuchadnezzar,' 'Three Men in the Fiery Furnace,' and 'The Golden Calf.' The Czar's tutor was a monk, and the plays were performed by the students attached to the monastery.
