comic opera

Naming characters is an opportunity for a playwright not only to indicate the attitude towards a character, but also to defi ne their role in the system of characters and the plot. In the plays of Catherine II, anthroponyms are formed on the basis of four key characteristics: the vice or virtue embodied by the character, significant events in his or her biography, social status, and exotic origin. Charactonyms are mainly used in comedies, while common nouns prevail in comic operas.

The article studies the formation and development of the Russian musical theatre of the XVIIIth century. It focuses on the opera oeuvre of V. A. Pashkevich; close links between the Russian literature and music are traced in it; the major typological features of the Russian comic opera are singled out.