Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Theatre Square and the conservatory in 1913

The N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory (Russian: Санкт-Петербургская государственная консерватория имени Н. А. Римского-Корсакова) is a music school in Saint Petersburg. In 2004, the conservatory had around 275 faculty members and 1,400 students.

History

The conservatory was founded in 1862 by the Russian pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein. On his resignation in 1867, he was succeeded by Nikolai Zaremba. Rimsky-Korsakov was appointed in 1871 and the conservatory has borne his name since 1944. In 1887, Rubinstein returned to the Conservatory with the goal of improving overall standards. He revised the curriculum, expelled inferior students, fired and demoted many professors, and made entrance and examination requirements more stringent. In 1891, he resigned again over the Imperial demand of racial quotas.

The current building was erected in the 1890s on the site of the old Bolshoi Theatre of Saint Petersburg and still preserves its grand staircase and landing. As the city changed its name in the 20th century, the conservatory was duly renamed Petrograd Conservatory (Петроградская консерватория) and Leningrad Conservatory (Ленинградская консерватория).

The school alumni have included such notable composers as Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Artur Kapp, and Rudolf Tobias and Dmitri Shostakovich, who taught at the conservatory during the 1960s, bringing it additional fame. Amongst his pupils were German Okunev and Boris Tishchenko.

Composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov taught at the Conservatory for almost forty years, and his bronze monument is located outside the building in Theatre Square.

The youngest musician ever admitted to the Conservatory was five-year-old violinist Clara Rockmore, who later became one of the world's foremost theremin players.

Directors and rectors

• Anton Rubinstein (1862–1867 and 1887-1891)
• Nikolai Zaremba (1867–1871)
• Mikhail Azanchevsky (1871–1876)
• Karl Davydov (1876–1887)
• Yuli Johansen (1891–1897)
• Auguste Bernhard (1897–1905)
• Alexander Glazunov (1905–1928 (formally 1930) – rector)
• A. Mashirov (1930–1933)
• Veniamin Buchstein (1935–1936)
• Boris Zagursky (1936-1939 - rector)
• Pavel Serebryakov (1939—1952, 1962—1977)
• Yuri Briushkov (1952–1962)
• Yuri Bolshiyanov (1977–1979)
• Vladislav Chernushenko (1979–2002)
• Sergei Roldugin (2002–2004)
• Alexander Chaikovsky (2004–2008)
• Sergei Stadler (2008–2011)
• Mikhail Gantvarg (2011-)

Notable faculty

Notable graduates

George Balanchine – choreographer Alexander Barantschik - violin Alexander K. Borovsky – pianist Anastasia Braudo - organist Richard Burgin – violinist, conductor Semyon Bychkov - composer Leonid Desyatnikov – composer Peter Chernobrivets – composer, musicologist Sergei Diaghilev – impresario Sandra Drouker - pianist Vladimir N Drozdoff - composer, pianist Heino Eller – composer Gagik Gaboyan – bassoonist Valery Gergiev – conductor Jascha Heifetz – violinist Andrej Hoteev[1] – pianist Alexander Ilyinsky Mariss Jansons – conductor Alfrēds Kalniņš – composer, organist Artur Kapp – composer Yuri Khanon – composer, writer, laureate of the European Film Awards. Eduard Khil – singer Gustav Kross - pianist Aleksandra Kroutikova – singer Miroslav Kultyshev Nadine Koutcher – opera singer Eugene Levinson - Double bassist Anatoly Lyadov Sasha Mäkilä – Finnish conductor Witold Maliszewski Nathan Milstein – violinist

Anna Netrebko - opera singer Nevsky String Quartet Nikolai Obukhov – composer Leo Ornstein – composer Sergei Prokofiev – composer Nadia Reisenberg - pianist Clara Rockmore Dmitri Shostakovich – composer Vladimir Sofronitsky – pianist Grigory Sokolov – pianist Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – composer Yuri Temirkanov – conductor Dimitri Tiomkin – pianist, composer Zino Vinnikov – violinist Solomon Volkov – musicologist Ivan Yershov – singer Anna Yesipova – pianist Mikhail Youdin – composer Maria Yudina – pianist Zagursky Svjatoslav - cellist David Serero - opera singer Anatoly Zatin - composer, pianist, conductor Valery Zhelobinsky – pianist, composer Efrem Zimbalist - violinist

Graduates of the Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg Conservatory include Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sergey Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and George Balanchine.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint Petersburg Conservatory.

• Official site (in Russian, French and English)
• Documentary A Music Lesson on Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Coordinates: 59°55′34″N 30°17′54″E / 59.9260°N 30.2982°E / 59.9260; 30.2982