ABSTRACT
An exhibition of splendid eighteenth-century keyboard instruments is housed at the St Petersburg State Museum of Music and Theatre Arts, where it occupies several halls of Count Peter Borisovich Sheremetev's former palace. The fashion for salon virtuosity, which had peaked in the 1780s, was virtually over by the end of the century. Many musicians from other countries tried their fortunes in Russia, some of them already of international repute. The era of virtuosi and amateur performers had begun. Like most virtuosi, Antonio Lolli played first and foremost his own compositions, and also spent much time composing and teaching. Louis Henri Paisible's initiative had nonetheless made a profound impact upon Russian musical life and endeared the Russian public to the oratorical genre. Anton Ferdinand Tietz, German violinist and composer, was enticed away by the Russian Director of Theatres from the Vienna Court Opera orchestra, where he had worked as concertmaster.
