One of the major attractions of Russia, and especially the St. Petersburg tour, is the museums. You can find hundreds of museums in St. Petersburg that if you want to visit all of them, even briefly, you’ll need to spend a lot more time on St. Petersburg tour. Though there are several significant museums in St. Petersburg that you have to visit on your tour to Russia, such as the Hermitage, which is the second-largest art museum in the world; the Peterhof, which its Nizhny Park is one of the major attractions of St. Petersburg; the Pushkin that hosts the famous amber room in one of its palaces; or the St. Isaac’s Cathedral that is recognized as one of the top religious museums in St. Petersburg, there are still some other museums in St. Petersburg that despite their worth, you can skip them on your Russia Tour plans.
Those museums are mostly biographical because if you’re not interested in someone’s life and career, you might not enjoy touring their memorial museum. That’s why most of these biographical museums are not included in St. Petersburg tour by default, and if you want to visit them on your own, you need to notify the manager of your tour to Russia so they would clear time in your travel plans.
There are several biographical museums in St. Petersburg about artists, including ballerinas, musicians, writers, poets, opera singers, and theatre people. One of the biographical museums that you can visit on your travel to Russia is the Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Apartment on Zagorodny Prospect, which is the only composer memorial museum in St. Petersburg. The museum is on a par with some of the largest composers museums, such as Tchaikovsky and Skryabin Memorial Museum.
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a brilliant Russian composer, who is known for his participation in The Five: a group of five notable composers in the 19th century, led by Miley Balakirev, who wanted to sharp Russian classical music. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was born in a noble family of the town of Tikhvin in 1844. He was diagnosed with Angina in 1890, which ultimately was the cause of his death in 1908. However, the pressure from the Russian Revolution of 1905, in which he was participating, played a role key in his death. He died in 1908 and buried at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra next to Glinka, Stasov, and Borodin.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was the youngest member of the Five, and in the opinion of most of his adorer, the greatest one of them. Though he was born in Takhvin, he spent most of his life in St. Petersburg. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov is mostly famous for his 15 operas, which almost all of them are about Russian history and folklore. Among his operas, about 11 of them, including the Sadko, The Tsar’s Bride, and the Golden Cockerel were composed in his apartment on Zagorodny Prospect, where he lived his last 15 years from 1893.
After his death in 1908, the apartment was given to his widow, Nadezhda, but she forced to leave the apartment after the October Revolution in 1917. The Rimsky-Korsakov’s apartment turned to a communal house after that, but Nadezhda was able to order Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s manuscripts, photographs, music library, valued gifts, records, posters, and family heritage before she forced to move out. These were the original collections of the current Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Museum.
From the 1910s to the 1960s, three generations of Rimsky-Korsakovs family have tried their best to establish a memorial museum for the great composer. It was only in 1967 when the state had decided to found an apartment museum for the composer, and only then the real work had begun. The apartment on Zagorodny Prospect underwent a lot of significant restoration to be ready to host the museum. Throughout the restoration plans, four of the apartment's rooms were re-created to their original interior layout, including the study room, the dining room, the drawing-room, and the hall, which maintains the grand piano.
The Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov house was one of the main cultural centers of St. Petersburg; many guests would visit the Nikolai house, including some of the significant artists of the time, such as the famous opera singer, Chaliapin, who often visit Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for work. It has said that whenever Chaliapin visits the house, around 100 guests would come to the concert hall to hear the singer's voice on the composer's work of piano.
The museum has several priceless items, including more than 250 items that belonged to the composer himself and has preserved till today by his family; these items were placed in their original spot in the four re-created rooms, which make them more appealing. During the restoration plan, a room was also added to the apartment to host the exhibition. When you visit this museum on your trip to St. Petersburg, you will notice all the elements that suggest the various activities of Nikolai as a composer, leader, and teacher. Various documents show his work in multiple places, including a music school, St. Petersburg conservatory, and university. The most striking item in the exhibition room is the golden pen that was given to the composer on the opening of one of his operas, May Night, in 1880, which from then, he only used that to write his letters, compositions, and journal.
Among other priceless items in the collection, we can point out to the artists and her wife/assistant desks; a Becker piano belonged to the composer, which is obtained by him in 1902; portraits of Rimsky-Korsakov ancestors, and many other fascinating items. The concert hall inside the museum and the recently constructed on the ground floor of the apartment are active and popular among the locals.
We at the Star Travel Group suggest our travelers visit this museum on their travel to Russia, if only they want to learn more about one of the greatest Russian composers of all time on their tour to Russia. This museum is also a magnificent place for those who are curious about opera and musical theatre. The Museum of Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Apartment is a branch of the State Museum of Theatre and Music, just like the Chaliapin Memorial Apartment and the Sheremetev Palace.
We also recommend tourists a visit to our weblog if they want to learn more about the top Russian attractive places, the best places to shop in St. Petersburg and Moscow, The best places to try traditional Russian Cuisine, and other interesting facts about Russia and how to travel to Russia.
