Vasyl Oleksiyovych Pashkevych (* 1742 - † 20 March 1797) was a Ukrainian and Russian violinist, conductor, and one of the first Russian opera composers.
In 1756, he was accepted into the court service (as noted by music historian Mykola Findeisen), was on the staff of the court church's chapel, and completed his initial training there under the direction of Vincenzo Manfredini.
Pashkevych's operas "Misfortune from the Carriage," "The Miser," and "Fevey" were a success with the public and were staged in many cities of the Russian Empire until the middle of the nineteenth century.
Pashkevych was taken to St. Petersburg as a child, where he received a good musical education at the court choir and soon made a career.
From 1763 he was a violinist in the court orchestra.
In 1783 he was promoted to the rank of chamber musician after the success of his three operas in a row, and was appointed concertmaster of the ballroom music orchestra, with the title of "great chorister".
In 1789, he was promoted to "concertmaster of ballroom music" with the rank of collegiate assessor.
In addition to his court service, he managed the musical part of the Free Theater and was engaged in teaching; researchers believe that he was a teacher of Yevstigney Fomin.
However, in 1796, he was fired and dismissed without a pension by Paul I.
A year later, the composer, who was applauded by the court and whose libretto was written by Catherine II, died in poverty, leaving a widow with a one-year-old daughter, repeating the fate of many talented Ukrainians in tsarist Russia.
He wrote the operas:
"Misfortune from the Carriage", libretto by Yakov Kniazhnin - 1779,
"The Miser, libretto by Yakov Knyazhnyn - 1782, based on Moliere,
"The Pasha of Tunis", libretto by Mikhail Matinsky - 1783 (the opera has not been preserved)
"Fevey, libretto by Catherine II, poems by Vasily Trediakovsky, Mikhail Lomonosov, and others - 1786, the first Russian fairy tale opera,
"Fedul and the Children", libretto by Catherine II - 1791, together with Vicente Martin y Soler,
"As You Live, So You Become Famous" ("St. Petersburg Inn"), libretto by Mikhail Matinsky - 1792,
"The Unfortunate in Love, the Grateful One" - 1795.
Other works:
"The Temple of Universal Triumph" - music for a "theatrical festival" - 1780, together with F. Torelli and Camaschino
"The Initial Rule of Oleg", a dramatic performance - 1790, together with Carlo Canobbio and Giuseppe Sarti
chorus "Cupid and Psyche" based on poems by Gavrilo Derzhavin - 1793,
four-voice spiritual concerts "Now is the time to appear," "Come in the winter," "Rejoice, O people, and be glad," "Glory to God in the highest," and "Hear my voice, Lord" (not preserved).
In Andres Pustusmaa's film 1814 (2007), actors in a theater perform Vasyl Pashkevych's opera The Miser.
