Alexander Serov

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For the cyclist, see Alexander Serov (cyclist).
Composer Alexander Serov by Valentin Serov, 1887-1888
Composer Alexander Serov by Valentin Serov, 1887-1888

Alexander Nikolayevich Serov (Александр Николаевич Серов in Cyrillic; Aleksandr Nikolaevič Serov in transliteration) (11/23 Jan. 1820- 20 Jan./1 Feb. 1871 was a Russian composer and music critic. He was also the father of the painter Valentin Serov. He was not only one of the most important music critics in Russia during the 1850s and 1860s, but also the most significant Russian composer of opera in the years between Dargomyzhsky's Rusalka and the early operas by Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky, and Tchaikovsky.

Grave of Alexander Serov on Tikhvin Cemetery in Saint Petersburg
Grave of Alexander Serov on Tikhvin Cemetery in Saint Petersburg

Early in life Serov made friends with Vladimir Stasov, but later the two became enemies over the relative values of Glinka's two operas. Serov's admiration for Richard Wagner likewise did not endear him to The Mighty Handful, especially the younger competing critic César Cui, who, like Stasov, had been on better terms with Serov earlier.

Although Serov's operas Judith and Rogneda were quite successful in their day, none of his operas are frequently performed today. A CD recording of Judith (with some cuts) was made in 1991 by the forces of the Bolshoi Theatre under conductor Andrey Chistiakov.

[edit] Operas

[edit] Bibliography

Taruskin, Richard. Opera and Drama in Russia As Preached and Practiced in the 1860s. New ed. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 1993.