Here's something you might be interested in.
Keeping with the Mighty Handful, who the heck was Cui? He’s kind of like Carreras in The Three Tenors ala Seinfeld, “You know, Pavarotti, Domingo, and that other guy.” So with The Five there’s Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, and that other guy—Cui.
Cui was a general in the Russian Army and specialized in fortifications. He had members of the royal family study fortifications with him while he was a professor. Cui distinguished himself in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.
When it came to music, he composed several operas, art songs, and pretty much everything except a symphony or symphonic poem. None of Cui’s operas were a success but Franz Liszt admired Cui’s setting of Heinrich Heine’s William Ratcliff.
Cui was also a prolific music critic. The sternness of his reviews may not have afforded his own music much leeway with other critics.
Within the context of The Five it is as a critic that he stands out. Well that and he could also build the best blanket fort. Balakirev always tried to rearrange it so Cui eventually left the group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsacuapmLSM&feature=related
Keeping with the Mighty Handful, who the heck was Cui? He’s kind of like Carreras in The Three Tenors ala Seinfeld, “You know, Pavarotti, Domingo, and that other guy.” So with The Five there’s Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Balakirev, and that other guy—Cui.
Cui was a general in the Russian Army and specialized in fortifications. He had members of the royal family study fortifications with him while he was a professor. Cui distinguished himself in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.
When it came to music, he composed several operas, art songs, and pretty much everything except a symphony or symphonic poem. None of Cui’s operas were a success but Franz Liszt admired Cui’s setting of Heinrich Heine’s William Ratcliff.
Cui was also a prolific music critic. The sternness of his reviews may not have afforded his own music much leeway with other critics.
Within the context of The Five it is as a critic that he stands out. Well that and he could also build the best blanket fort. Balakirev always tried to rearrange it so Cui eventually left the group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsacuapmLSM&feature=related