Description of the attraction
The famous composer's apartment museum is currently the only composer's museum located in St. Petersburg. The museum is located in the courtyard wing of house number 28, which is located along Zagorodny Avenue, where the famous composer spent the last fifteen years of his life, namely from 1893 to 1908. In this house 11 of the 15 operas of the composer were created, including: "The Tsar's Bride", "The Golden Cockerel", "The Tale of Tsar Saltan", "Sadko", "Kashchei the Immortal".
After the revolution, which took place in 1917, the creator's widow Nadezhda Nikolaevna was forced to leave the apartment and at the beginning of the next year moved to her son Andrey. Before the move, the composer's widow managed to sort and group her husband's manuscripts, his music library, programs, posters, valuable gifts, photographs, family heirlooms, and congratulatory addresses. As a result of her labors, a huge collection was formed, which formed the basis of the future museum.
After the death of the composer and his wife, this apartment was communal for 50 years, but all objects and furniture were carefully preserved by the descendants of the composer. It was on their initiative that in 1970, on December 27, in the apartment at number 28 on Zagorodny, a memorial museum was opened, by the authenticity of the interiors, which is on a par with such composer museums in Russia as the P. I. Tchaikovsky House-Museum in Klin and the Museum-Apartment A. N. Scriabin in Moscow.
The memorial part of the museum consists of 4 rooms: a study, a living room, a dining room and an anteroom. The rest of the apartment has undergone reconstruction and now there is an exhibition hall, where you can get acquainted with numerous documents about the life and work of Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as a concert hall for 50 seats.
The office contains the composer's desk, his favorite chair made by Tikhvin craftsmen, an old bureau, a memorable address belonging to the work of Vrubel - a gift for the 35th anniversary of the composer's work. Among the exhibits, the Golden Pen, which was donated to the composer in 1880, has a unique value. Since then, all the musical works Rimsky-Korsakov wrote only to them.
The main decoration of the living room is the grand piano of the famous company "Becker". At one time this piano was played by A. Scriabin, S. Rachmaninov, A. Glazunov and Rimsky-Korsakov himself.
The walls of the dining room are decorated with portraits of the composer's ancestors - he belonged to an old noble family that has been known in Russia since the end of the 14th century. Personalized cutlery is on the dining table, here are also memorable souvenirs: a rusk bowl and a silver salt shaker.
The museum has recreated not only the outer side of the composer's apartment, but also the creative atmosphere that prevailed in it. For many years this house has been one of the central places of the city's cultural life. Many eminent creators visited here: Lyadov and Glazunov, Taneyev and Rachmaninov, Repin and Serov. When Chaliapin was here, there were up to a hundred guests, and the neighboring children, who lived on higher floors, lay down on the floor, thus trying to hear the voice of the famous singer. After the concerts, everyone went to the dining room, where the tea party began. Sometimes tea parties were extended until the morning.
Today the concert life of the museum is also diverse. The concert hall hosts concerts on Wednesdays, where soloists of the city's symphony orchestras and opera houses perform. Also, concerts of young performers are organized here. Concerts are held three times a year in the memorial living room: the beginning and end of the season and March 18 on the birthday of the composer.
