"All shall be forgotten, and time will end..."

“Tsar Berendey is a portrait of Nikolai Andreyevich [Rimsky-Korsakov].”
From Anna Vrubel's letter to Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel. July 29, 1909*

* From Anna Vrubel's letter to Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel. July 29, 1909*

The composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) and the painter Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910) were among the greatest Russian artists of the Silver Age. They did, however, belong to different generations - Vrubel’s entire career fit into this exceptional period in Russian cultural life, whereas Rimsky-Korsakov began writing music as early as the 1860s. Nonetheless, the composer reached his prime and created his best work in exactly that era, the late 19th to the early 20th centuries.

Mikhail VRUBEL. Tsar Berendey. 1898-1899
Majolica, relief, multi-coloured painting. 46 × 34 × 16 cm. © Abramtsevo Museum-Reserve

Just like his friends the composers Modest Mussorgsky and Vladimir Stasov, Rimsky-Korsakov knew many famous Russian artists personally; unlike his friends, Rimsky-Korsakov was not really that interested in their art. Thus, Rimsky-Korsakov met Vasily Vereshchagin, who would later become a famous war artist, when they both studied at the Naval Cadet Corps. Ilya Repin won Rimsky-Korsakov’s affection for being a personable man and a great conversationalist (Repin’s celebrated 1893 portrait of Rimsky-Korsakov is now at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg). Later in life, Rimsky-Korsakov valued the work of Viktor Vasnetsov and sat for Valentin Serov, who created two excellent portraits of the composer in an oil painting and a drawing. Still, Vrubel was the only painter with whom Rimsky-Korsakov developed an artistic connection. Vrubel designed the sets for several of Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera productions at Savva Mamontov’s Russian Private Opera, and Vrubel’s wife, Nadezhda Zabela, sang almost all the lyric soprano roles in Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas, including the main roles in “The Snow Maiden”, “Sadko”, “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”, “The Tsar’s Bride”, “The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga” and “Kashchey the Immortal”. She also performed in “May Night”, “The Maid of Pskov” and an abridged concert version of “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia”, and sang many of the composer’s romantic songs in concert. Zabela’s inimitable voice inspired Rimsky-Korsakov to create a variety of new musical images.

Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel as Volkhova in Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Sadko”. 1900
Photograph: A. Pazetti. Inscription on the photo: “From the depth of the sea and my soul, as a keepsake to dear Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Kors. Princess Volkhova Nadezhda Zabela. April 21, 1898”

Vrubel saw music as an all-consuming force of nature, not as entertainment or a source of pleasure. Indeed, it was not by chance that the key subject of his art came from Anton Rubinstein’s opera “The Demon”, which the young artist saw on stage in Kiev. It was not so much Rubinstein’s music or Ioakim Tartakov’s - by many accounts outstanding - performance in the title role that left such a mark on Vrubel: it was the subject and the imagery of this well-received opera.

Vrubel’s taste in music was quite refined: he revered Rimsky-Korsakov, was indifferent to Tchaikovsky, loved Glinka, and adored Wagner, especially “Tristan and Isolde” and “The Ring of the Nibelung”. Vrubel’s wife, who was a professional opera singer, was amazed by the truth and accuracy of the comments he made when she rehearsed new arias, as well as his extraordinary ability to remember music and actually sing the entire scores of a few favourite operas from beginning to end. And then there were the last happy moments at the end of his life, when the artist, blind and semi-conscious, listened to his wife’s quiet singing.

Vrubel truly loved Rimsky-Korsakov’s music and the fact that he attended close to 90 performances of “Sadko” is a testament to that. When Zabela, who beautifully sang the role of the Sea Princess, asked her husband if he were tired of this music, Vrubel told her that he was always happy to listen to the beautiful melodies of the sea. His least favourite of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas was “The Tsar’s Bride”, even though it was actually Zabela’s voice that had inspired the composer when he wrote the piece, and the title character’s role was intended for her. Vrubel’s less than enthusiastic attitude towards The Tsar’s Bride” may be due to the fact that the story takes place in real life, with human passions at its core. Vrubel was drawn to a different world; in his own words, “art goes to the greatest lengths to create an imaginary, illusory world for the human soul to dwell in, and elevate it from the trivial and the ordinary through its lofty images.”[1] Remarkably, these words from the artist’s letter to his sister echo Rim- sky-Korsakov’s own conviction that it is only “the extraordinary” that may be at the basis of a good opera plot: “it is only the truly incredible and extraordinary that can be conveyed by extraordinary means.”[2]

Vrubel first met Rimsky-Korsakov at the turn of the 20th century, in 1898, but the composer’s influence on his art had probably originated much earlier, possibly in 1884. It was back then that Vrubel created a series of drawings for Rimsky-Korsakov’s tone poem “Sadko” after attending a performance at the Imperial Academy of Arts. In 1898, Vrubel wrote to the composer pointing out that he credited the latter’s “good influence” for his decision “to dedicate my art entirely to the Russian fairy tale.”[3] As a result, Vrubel painted his “Pan” (1899), who was much more like the Slavic Leshy, the forest spirit and kinsman of the characters from “The Snow Maiden”.

Vrubel defined Rimsky-Korsakov’s music as, most importantly, “music written by a man of integrity, not someone conflicted by the abstract notions of the regulated, fragmented and pale West.”[4]

Who would think that Vrubel, “an incorrigible decadent” in the eyes of the public and even Vladimir Stasov, would share an aesthetic with Rimsky-Korsakov, the head of the Russian national school of music and, according to popular opinion, a “traditionalist”? What did the creator of “Sadko” have in common with the creator of “The Demon”?

Rimsky-Korsakov described his artistic worldview as “awareness of the Universe”.[5] Above all, he focused his attention on its most magnificent manifestations (the sky, the Sun, the stars and the seas), as well as on the most momentous events in human life, such as birth, love, and death. When the composer talked about art, his favourite words were “contemplation”, “artist i c reflection”, “supreme clarity”; when discussing music, he used such terms as “sound contemplation” and “musical plasticity”. By chance, Rimsky-Korsakov’s casual notes on aesthetics are extant; here is the opening statement: art is “a contemplative pursuit”, where the object of contemplation is “the life of the human spirit and nature, revealed through their mutual influences.”[6] Vrubel would have agreed with them all, and his own words in an 1885 letter he wrote to Vasily Savinsky from Venice are a testament to that: “there is so much beauty in Russia! And you know what is at the core of this beauty? It is form that Nature created forever. It does not come with a certificate of international aesthetics, but is, nonetheless, invaluable, because it is the vessel for the soul that would open for you alone, and will tell you about your own [soul].”[7] Vrubel would not have hesitated to use the following dictum by Rimsky-Korsakov to describe his own art: “The notion of beauty is exceedingly complex.”[8]

When based on mythological themes and fairy tales, Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas clearly shared the artistic “pulse” of Vrubel’s “Russian” canvases. Indeed, Vasnetsov’s beautiful stage designs and costumes for “The Snow Maiden” were mainly suited to the opera’s fairytale and folk ceremonial passages, while everything else about the music, especially in the final scene, when the Snow Maiden melts, was more resonant with Vrubel’s mysterious images, be it Rimsky-Korsakov’s Princess Swan and Vrubel’s “The Swan Princess”, or the 33 bogatyrs from “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” and Vrubel’s “Bogatyr”.

At the turn of the 20th century, Rimsky-Korsakov had lots of friends and connections in various circles of Moscow society. He was involved with the Private Russian Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre, was friendly with his favourite conductor Vasily Safonov, who served as the director of the Moscow Conservatory, the composer and educator Sergei Taneyev, and many others. Even so, Rimsky-Korsakov’s deep personal connection to the Vrubel family was especially meaningful to him.

Naturally, the composer valued and respected the talented artists who performed his music. However, he certainly did not appreciate “new renditions”, “interpretations”, or “versions” of his works, any interference with his score or attempts by some singers to “recite” over it or overact. He resented conductors, like the very popular Arthur Nikisch, who arbitrarily changed the music’s tempo, and so on. The composer was even ambivalent about Feodor Chaliapin - as much as he appreciated the calibre of the singer’s talent, Rimsky-Korsakov thought that there were some occasions when Chaliapin’s mere presence on the stage disrupted the performance by distracting the audience from the music.

Rimsky-Korsakov often said that he would be happy to be called a lyric composer, and upset to be called a dramatic one.[9] For instance, he tried to cool off his friends’ enthusiasm for the newly released “dramatic” “Mozart and Salieri”, urging them to take another listen to the “lyrical” “The Tsar’s Bride”. For Rimsky-Korsakov, both Nadezhda Zabela's voice and stage presence personified the lyrical element in art, so it was natural that he singled her out. They regularly interacted at rehearsals and during performances, at the theatre and concerts. Rimsky-Korsakov was also a frequent guest at the Moscow residence Zabe- la shared with Vrubel and invited them to his house in St. Petersburg, all of which gave the composer many chances to see the artist. On top of that, Vrubel worked as a stage designer for all of Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas at the Mamontov Theatre and Private Russian Opera, beginning with “Sadko” and ending with “Kashchey the Immortal”. The artist created many works in different media, including paintings, drawings and sculptures, which were based on themes from Rimsky-Korsakov’s operas.

The composer did not think of himself as a connoisseur of the visual arts and therefore refrained from sharing his opinions in public. Vrubel was an exception: Rimsky-Korsakov felt that the creative bond the artist and the singer shared was unbreakable and recognised how much Zabela’s singing owed to the influence of her brilliant husband. Rimsky-Korsakov clearly enjoyed the company of the exceptionally well-educated Vrubel and he could not help feeling grateful when the artist expressed his admiration for the composer’s work, which Vrubel did both in conversation and in writing.

The Vrubels gave Rimsky-Korsakov the esteem that his work deserved, which, strange as it may seem, did not happen to him that often, even though the public overwhelmingly admired his music and celebrated the milestones of his life with lavish events. Naturally, many of those close to the composer cherished his music, but old and trusted friends (such as Vladimir Stasov and Semyon Kruglikov) and even some younger ones, including the composer’s biographer Vasily Yastrebtsev, still did not really fully understand - occasionally going so far as to reject - the kind of music Rimsky-Korsakov was composing. True, philosophically deep understanding and commensurate appreciation or, better put, adoration of his music came from Vladimir Belsky, who wrote librettos for Rimsky-Korsakov’s later operas, perhaps a few other young people, and the Vrubels.

Zabela and Vrubel, along with Belsky, were not just Rimsky-Korsakov’s friends: they became coworkers and allies. They motivated his creativity - Belsky directly, as his librettist, and Zabela and Vrubel indirectly, with her wonderful voice and his costumes and set designs. As a whole, Rimsky-Korsakov was not drawn to the innovative art of the “Mir Iskusstva” movement; nevertheless, he was quite impressed with Vrubel’s “Bogatyr,” even though Serge Diaghilev initially refused to show the painting. Next to his desk, Rimsky-Korsakov kept a gift from the Private Russian Opera, an anniversary card decorated with his portrait by Vrubel, in which the artist had depicted the composer as an ancient bard. More than once, Vrubel created sculptures of the legendary Russian bard Boyan with a great likeness to Rimsky- Korsakov, something Zabela mentions in her memoirs. The composer was always grateful when Vrubel worked on set designs for his operas, even though the public was not always thrilled with them.

When Vrubel became seriously ill, Rimsky-Korsakov helped Zabela obtain a position with the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He personally appealed to the Imperial Theatres Board of Directors, pled with influential acquaintances, and was able to secure an audition, which was a success: Zabela joined the company. However, this was far from a triumph. At the Mariinsky, Zabela was given minor roles, such as Sirin in “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia”, and mostly gave concert performances. Zabela also often appeared at the regular musical evenings that Rimsky-Korsakov hosted at his home, where she sang his music and the music of his students Nikolai Cherepnin, Mikhail Gnessin, Maximilian Steinberg and Aleksander Spendiarov, as well as many other Moscow-based musicians, including Sergei Rachmaninov, who was an admirer of Zabela’s talent. Thanks to these engagements, Zabela developed a new chamber repertoire and was first to sing the role of Fevronia when “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh” was performed in a home setting. Zabela also included Fevronia’s monologue from the opera’s first act in her concert appearances. It is safe to assume that Rimsky-Korsakov was inspired by Zabela’s voice when he wrote music for the vocally and dramatically challenging role of Fevronia, even though it was obvious that Zabela would not be able to sing it on the grand Imperial stage, where it premiered.

Confined to a hospital, in the last stages of his illness, Vrubel painted images that echoed the mysterious, “mystical” scenes from “The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh”, the city's sinking into Lake Svetloyar, Sirin and Alkonost singing as Fevronia enters the invisible city, and Kitezh’s transformation in the opera's finale: “All shall be forgotten, and time will end...”

1. E.P. Gomberg-Verzhbinskaya, Y.N. Podkopaeva, Y.V. Novikov, Vrubel: Correspondence; Remembering the Artist [Vrubel. Perepiska. Vospominaniya o khu- dozhnike], (Moscow, 1976), p. 95. (below: Vrubel)
2. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Collected Works: Literary Oeuvre and Correspondence [Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy: Literaturniye proiz- vedeniya I perepiska], (Moscow, 1982, vol. VIII B), p. 134.
3. “Letter to Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov” May 8 1898, [“Pismo N.A. Rimskomu-Korsakovu ot 8 maya 1898”] in: Vrubel, p. 88.
4. Ibid. 57.
5. N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Collected Works: Literary Oeuvre and Correspondence [Polnoye so- braniye sochineniy: Literaturniye proizvedeniya I perepiska], (vol. II), p. 63-64.
6. Ibid. 62.
7. Vrubel, p. 5.
8. Ibid. 64.
9. An example is his letter to Mikhail Vrubel of November 5, 1898: “I assure you that I think of music as a lyrical art at its core, and if I were called a lyrical [composer], it would make me proud, but if I am called a dramatic composer, I would be a bit offended”, in: Vrubel, p. 102.