Verstovsky, Aleksey Nikolayevich (1799 - 1862), a musician

Subject / Art/Personnel
VERSTOVSKY, Aleksey Nikolayevich (1799–1862), composer, theatre worker. He graduated from the University of Railway Engineering in St.Petersburg, at the same time he studied playing the piano (teachers D. Fild and D. Steibelt) and the violin (teachers F. Bem and L. Maurer). Since 1822 he lived in Moscow, he started to work for Theatre Management Office. Verstovsky is an author of more than 30 vaudevilles (some of them in co-authorship with A.A. Alyabyev), he is one of the founders of this genre in Russia. In the end of 1820s Verstovsky turned to writing classical operas. He wrote six operas, in particular, “Pan Tvardovsky” (“Polish Landowner Tvardovsky”)(1828) and “Askoldova Mogila” (“Ascold’s Grave”) (1835). Verstovsky is an author of popular love songs and ballades (“Chernaya Shal” (“Black Shawl”) to A.S. Pushkin’s poem, “Bedny Pevets” (“Poor Singer”) and “Nochnoy smotr” (“Night Inspection”) to V.A. Zhukovsky’s poems, etc.). In 1827 and 1828 he issued two “Muzikalny Albom” (“Musical Albums”) consisting of musical and literary parts – one of the first attempts to issue a musical magazine. In the period 1820-30s Verstovsky several times visited A.N. Olenin in his country estate Priyutino and his friend V.A. Vsevolozhsky in his country estate Ryabovo. Kruzhnov, Yuri Nikolayevich
Alyabyev, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich
Bem, Franz Ludwig
Fild, John
Maurer, Ludwig Wilhelm
Olenin, Aleksey Nokolayevich
Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich
Steibelt, Daniel
Verstovsky, Aleksey Nikolayevich
Vsevolozhsky, Vsevolod Andreyevich
Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreyevich
Leningrad Oblast, the/Vsevolozhsk District/Vsevolozhsk Town
Доброхотов Б. А.Н.Верстовский. Жизнь, театральная деятельность, оперное творчество, М.; Л., 1949
"Priyutino", a literary and art estate-museum