Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov
Birth Date: March 18, 1844
Death Date: June, 20, 1908
Place of Birth: Tikhvin, Russia
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov was a famous Russian national composer and music teacher. He wrote 15 operas based on the Russian tales by Russian writers Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol and including the Russian history.
Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was born on March 18, 1844 in the town Tikhvin, near Novgorod city in Russia in a noble family. In 1856 following the family tradition he joined the Saint-Petersburg Russian Imperial Naval College and at the same time took the piano lessons from the famous pianist Kanille F. Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov got acquainted with the professional music society and decided to devote his life to music. But after graduating from the college, he was sent on the circumnavigation on the clipper "Almaz" for 3 years. Upon the return to Saint-Petersburg, Rimsky-Korsakov continued his music studies and composed his first symphony based on Russian national style, "the Serbian fantasy", his well known orchestral piece "Sadko" (1867), the suite for the orchestra "Antar" (based on the Arabic tale).
In 1871 Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov became the professor of composition, orchestration and the music theory in the Saint-Petersburg conservatory. He was the teacher of many well-known composers: Alexander Glazunov, Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky. Rimsky-Korsakov also edited the compositions of other well-known composers - Mussorgsky M. and Borodin A.
In 1872 his first opera "The Maid of Pskov" was performed on the stage of the Saint-Petersburg Mariisnky theatre. In 1873 Rimsky-Korsakov accepted the post of the inspector of the Naval orchestras, in 1874 he became the director of the musical school.
In 1879 he composed the 3-act opera "May Night", by the book of Nikolai Gogol, in 1881 - the "Snow maid", by the book of Ostrovsky.
The famous "Sheherazade", "Capriccio espagnol", "Russian Easter Overture" (1888) were created in the late 1880s.
The last period of the creativity of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov began in 1889 from the creation of the fantastic opera-ballet "Mlada", then the creation of "The Immortal Koschei" (1902), opera "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (1899), based on the book by famous Russian writer Alexander Pushkin; "Christmas Eve" (1894), based on the book by Gogol.
Other famous operas by Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov are: "The Barber of Baghdad", "Mozart and Salieri" (by Pushkin) (1898), "The Tsar's Bride" (1898), "Sevilla" (1901), "Pan Voyevoda", "The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia" (1903), "The Golden Cockerel" (by Pushkin) (1907), "Stenka Razin", "Heaven and Earth".
Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov died in 1908 in his own country estate in Lubensk, near Pskov in Russia.
Some of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's greatest works and links to their Audio CDs:
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Capriccio Espagnol; Russian Easter Overture
 by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Andrew Litton, Erich Leinsdorf, Felix Slatkin, and Concert Arts Symphony Orchestra (Audio CD - 1995)
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Greatest Hits
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Andrey Tchistyakov, Eugene Ormandy, Harry Rabinowitz, and Leonard Bernstein (Audio CD - 1995)
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Overture and Suites from the Operas
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Neeme Järvi, and Scottish National Orchestra (Audio CD - 2006)
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Great Orchestral Works
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, David Zinman, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and Roberta Alexander (Audio CD - 1995)
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Glinka: Grand Sextet in E flat; Rimsky-Korsakov: Piano and Wind Quintet in B flat
by Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Capricorn [ensemble] (Audio CD - 2004)
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Rimsky-Korsakov: 3 Symphonies; Capriccio espagnol; Russian Easter Overture
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Neeme Järvi, and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (Audio CD - 1990)
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Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade; Capriccio Espagnol; Flight of the Bumblebee
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Kurt Masur, New York Philharmonic, and Glenn Dicterow (Audio CD - 1999)
- Rimsky-Korsakov: Golden Cockerel Suite; Tsar Saltan Suite; Chrismas Eve Suite
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Loris Tjeknavorian, Digran Gevorgian, Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra, and Yuri Boghosian (Audio CD - 1993)
- Rimsky-Korsakov: Kashchey the Immortal
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Valery Gergiev, St.Petersburg Kirov Orchestra, Alexandr Gergalov, and Alexandr Morozov (Audio CD - 1999)
- Rimsky-Korsakov: Night on Mount Triglav/Pan Voyevoda
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Bystrik Rezucha, and Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra (Audio CD - 1992)
- Rimsky-Korsakov / Snegurochka (Snow Maiden)
by Rimsky-Korsakov, Charles Bruck, ORTF Symphony Orchestra, Bernard Cottret, and Freda Betti (Audio CD - 2006)
- Panorama: Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Herbert von Karajan, Igor Markevitch, Lorin Maazel, and Neeme Järvi (Audio CD - 2000)
- Rimsky-Korsakov: Suites
by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Neeme Järvi, and Scottish National Orchestra (Audio CD - 1992)
Some books by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, books about this famous Russian composer and his music
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