Catterino Cavos

Who was Catterino Cavos?

Catterino Albertovich Cavos, born Catarino Camillo Cavos, was an Italian composer, organist and conductor settled in Russia. He played an important role in the history of Russian opera and was the father of Alberto Cavos.

Cavos is celebrated in Russian musical history as the man who composed the opera Ivan Susanin in 1815, 20 years before Mikhail Glinka's opera of the same name. The plot, based on an episode from Russian history, tells the story of the Russian peasant and patriotic hero Ivan Susanin who sacrifices his life for the Tsar by leading astray a group of marauding Poles who were hunting him.