Molchanov, Kirill (Vladimirovich)

Molchanov, Kirill (Vladimirovich), Russian composer; b. Moscow, Sept. 7, 1922; d. there, March 14, 1982. He was attached to the Red Army Ensemble of Song and Dance during World War II, and after demobilization, he studied composition with Anatoly Alex-androv at the Moscow Cons., graduating in 1949. From 1973 to 1975 he served as director of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow and accompanied it on its American tour in 1975. He was primarily an opera composer, his musical style faithfully following the precepts of socialist realism. His most successful work, the opera The Dawns Are Quiet Here, to his own libretto depicting the Russian struggle against the Nazis, was first performed at the Bolshoi Theater on April 11, 1975. It became the melodramatic event of the year, accompanied by an unabashed display of tearful emotion; however, its American performance during the visit of the Bolshoi Theater to N.Y. in June 1975 met with a disdainful dismissal on the part of the critics.

Works

dramatic:Opera: The Stone Flower (Moscow, Dec. 2, 1950); Dawn (1956); Romeo, Juliet, and Darkness (1963); The Unknown Soldier (1967); A Woman of Russia (1969); The Dawns Are Quiet Here (Moscow, April 11, 1975). orch.: 3 piano concertos (1945, 1947, 1953). VOCAL: Song of Friendship, cantata (1955); Black Box, suite for Voice, Recitation, and Piano (1968).

Bibliography

Y. Korev, K. M. (Moscow, 1971).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire