Michael Glinka

Russian Classical Composer

Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (1804–1857) was a Russian composer who is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. Glinka's compositional techniques served as a model for many Russian composers who followed. His two most famous operas, "A Life for the Tsar" (also known as "Ivan Susanin") and "Ruslan and Lyudmila," are considered to be the first major, distinctly Russian operas. Although he did not produce albums in the modern sense, since he lived in the 19th century before recorded music was invented, his works have been performed and recorded by countless artists and orchestras since then.