Ivan Susanin by Catterino Cavos and A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka: Comparing the Incomparable

The myth of Mikhail Glinka still divides the history of Russian musica, to the point that any infliuence on the creation of Russian opera before him is considered part of 'pre-history' in artistic terms. This is certainly true for the works of Catterino Cavos, a Venetian composer who made his career as a music director at the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres. The main purpose of this article is to compare Cavos's opera Ivan Susanin (1815) with Glinka's A Life for the Tsar (1826), in order to highlight aspects of continuity in the process of creating the Russian operatic tradition. In this analysis, both Western and Russian traditions will be taken into consideration, which will enable a better assessment of Cavos's contribution to the evolution of Russian music within a European frame.