Author Topic: Russian Social Season????????  (Read 14465 times)

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Offline griffh

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2005, 09:53:45 AM »
Here is some more information on the opening of the Season in St. Petersburg from a book of memoirs of an American Diplomat's wife published in Jan. 1912, though I think the description must date from the late 1890's or early 1900's.

"It was upon the Russian New Year, two weeks after the one in our calandar, that the season began.  Everyone in the diplomatic and offical world, the army and the navy, presented their congradulations at the Winter Palace, the Russians at eleven o'clock, sa the sovereigns passed through the state apartments to attend Mass in the palace chapel, and the foreigners at twelve o'clock, as the royal procession wended its way returning.  The afternoon was the busiest one of the year, the ambassadors and sescretaries taking separate carriages from their wives, and driving about in as haste as dignity would permit, to write their names upon the caller's book at the palace of each member of the imperial family, and to call personally upon their own colleagues.  Etiquette required that it must all be done between two and six; and every one arrived home exhausted, just in time to dress for the first state ball.  This was a general mustering of society, some four thousand people, whose equipages created intense excitement in the crowded streets near the Winter Palace, as their drivers made the rush in quick succession up to the entrance, and discharged their passangers as if shot from the mouth of a cannon, into the shelter of the protecting canvas.  The big palace doors opened and shut almost as quickly, and guests trooped up the marble stairs, where for three flights up the walls on both sides were lined with huntsmen, grooms, and all the staff of the imperial hunt, in dark-blue or green kaftans, edged with gold lace, the jockeys in richly embroidered jackets, buckskin breeches, and topboots.

The St. Nicholas Hall, with its sixteen windows overlooking the Neva, and colossal sideboards laden with gold plate, upon which, according to one of the oldest Russian customs, bread and salt had been offered as homage to the sovereigns by different cities throughout the empire,--had its gold and white walls hung with garlands of fresh flowers; and it was flooded with thousands of electric lights, reproducing all the beauties of the ceiling decorations upon the polished inlaid floors.  The St. George's Hall and the Concert Hall opened out upon it, and a large conservatory was transformed into an Italian garden, a sincle incandescent light from above shedding soft rays like moonlight through the tops of the palms and over splashing fountains and marble statues."

I will post more latter, but that does give quite an marvellous sense of the pagentry of the opening of the season's first ball.  Griff

hikaru

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2005, 12:28:08 PM »
I think that it is not first ball of the season - it is first ball of the season  in the Winter Palace .

Offline Belochka

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #17 on: March 26, 2005, 07:58:51 PM »
Quote
Here is some more information on the opening of the Season in St. Petersburg from a book of memoirs of an American Diplomat's wife published in Jan. 1912, though I think the description must date from the late 1890's or early 1900's.
 Griff


Hi Griffh,

Could you please provide the full citation of your book?

Thank you. :)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Belochka »


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AlexP

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #18 on: July 31, 2005, 09:34:07 AM »
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During fall and winter private gatherings for literature readings were organized in salons which were all the rage. They were held by friends of notable socialites, the cream of the literati and members of the intelligensia. Interestingly, it was usually at these occassions when one would use the Russian language.

 


Belochka,

This posting surprised me quite a bit.  My grandparents lived on the Ulitsya Millionaya (I don't know what the name of it is today) and there is one acerbic comment that my grandmother used to make :

They spoke French at home, Russian to the staff and to the peasants, and German at their country house in Courlandia.  That I can attest to, 100%.

I think my grandmother would have banned anyone at one of her soirees who spoke more than 50% Russian, again that I can attest to.  It just wasn't done at all.

As to the quality of the Russian, my grandmother always had a strong "kartavitz" in Russian and a Russian "r" in French.  It was just so strange....but real.

There were a great many balls in Petersburg, but note that there was also a great deal of religiosity so that the season started prior to the Christmas Fast (old style), continued through New Year's (Old Style), abated during the Great Lent, and then went full stretch from the week after Pasca (when everyone who was anyone with any self-respect opened his house to all) until about early May, at which point many of the dvoritasvo left for their country estates and a different style of life.

The years prior to the Revolution saw a tremendous outburst of musical and literary creations but each society Madame had her own form of entertainment.  Actually, the Countess Shuvalova was considered an "A" list hostess while the Countess von Kleinmichel was considered a "B" list hostess.


Offline rudy3

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #19 on: July 31, 2005, 10:56:36 AM »
Ulitsa Millionnaya has got back its old name. In between it was called ulitsa Khalturina.

hikaru

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #20 on: July 31, 2005, 11:00:11 AM »
Millionnaya ulitsa now is Millionnaya ulitsa.
(During Soviet times, it was ulitsa Khalturina  - maybe because he tried to bomb the winter palace?)

But russian was official language for ceremonies, official documents ....
(according to the law) - i.e. that men were obliged to have  more knowledge of russian than women?

hikaru

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #21 on: July 31, 2005, 11:09:04 AM »
As for home use - a lot used french at home.
Before reading a one book about Peter the Great , I just did not think why they used a foreign  language?
For the people of 19th century it was a common noble language .
But it was Peter the Great who Ordered to use the foreign language at home for nobility in order to not let the servants any ifm.
During the Peter time  - German was such language , but it was replaced by French very quickly.

Naslednik Norvezhskiy

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #22 on: February 21, 2010, 06:25:07 PM »
As to the quality of the Russian, my grandmother always had a strong "kartavitz" in Russian and a Russian "r" in French.  It was just so strange....but real.
Interesting! Could you explain what a kartavitz is? Was her French like that of Grand Duchess Leonida in this Youtube clip from "Memoires d'Exil: 'L'autre Russie'"? As we have discussed in the Let's Speak French thread also some non-Russian royals rolled their r's in French, e.g. Queen Marie of Romania.

ashdean

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #23 on: February 23, 2010, 03:47:33 PM »
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I also have another question related to the SP social season, I have a pritty famous photo (waay to big to post, even if I knew how) and its of a party held by a Countess Yeltzive (not sure about her name), Iv read about her though, she was an invalid and was into occult type stuff, anyway, she used to host a big ball called like 'the ball of the coloured wigs'?? > does anyone have more info on this, or other specific annual events held during the social season???

Hi James,

As soon as you mentioned the Wig Ball I remembered the very photograph to which you were refering. One appears in Ometev's book St Petersburg Portrait of an Imperial City @ p128.

The hostess was Countess Yelizaveta (Elizabeth) Shuvalova. That function was apparently one of the last important socials in that season because WWI was just around the corner, followed by the revolution. It was held in the Shuvalov residence located along the Fontanka Embankment.

[/q"Betsy" was the childless widow of Count Paul Shouvalov and had the life interest in his immense fortune...by birth a Princess Bariantinsky she was a consummate hostess.She escaped the revolution and died in Paris in August 1938.

Naslednik Norvezhskiy

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #24 on: April 19, 2010, 09:17:20 PM »
As to the quality of the Russian, my grandmother always had a strong "kartavitz" in Russian and a Russian "r" in French.  It was just so strange....but real.

Oh, so a kartavitz is a "burr" / Parisian / uvular r? In that case your grandmother's idiolect certainly was unique!
Were uvular r's widespread in the nobility too (in either French or Russian) or was it mostly limited to Jews?
« Last Edit: April 19, 2010, 09:46:33 PM by Fyodor Petrovich »

Offline Kalafrana

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Re: Russian Social Season????????
« Reply #25 on: April 20, 2010, 06:45:46 AM »
Johann Strauss II performed every summer at Pavlovsk with his orchestra from 1856-65.

Ann