Semester of Graduation

Spring 2026

Degree

Master of Music (MM)

Department

Musicology

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Information about French cellist Lisa Cristiani (1825–1853) and her travels through Imperial Russia has mainly reached us thanks to two articles in French periodicals published around the first decade since her death. These sources prioritized the journey itself, centering the narrative on her travels rather than on her musical activities. Recent scholarship on Cristiani has expanded our previously limited knowledge about her life. Scholars such as Hoffmann (2011) and Deserno (2018) have focused on biographical and feminist analysis, and DeVries (2014) has unveiled new documents from Russian sources. Nonetheless, a detailed examination of her musical performances within Imperial Russia has remained peripheral to such research. By compiling, contextualizing, and analyzing information from German, Dutch, French, and Russian sources—particularly the reports by Cristiani’s adoptive grandfather NicolasAlexandre Barbier in Journal des débats (1860), the reports of Ferdinand de Lanoye in Le tour du monde (1863), and the memoirs of Russian diplomat Bernhard Struve (1889)—this thesis offers a study of Cristiani’s musical encounters and performances as she traveled through the Russian Empire between late 1848 and her death in October 1853. During this time, Cristiani participated in an expedition to Kamchatka, organized by the Governor-General of East Siberia, Nikolai N. Muravyov; later, she visited the Russian left flank of the war for the conquest of the Caucasus, under the command of Prince Lieutenant-General Aleksandr Baryatinsky. Many of these musical exchanges occurred under conditions, in venues, and for audiences that would have been far outside the norm for a nineteenth-century European classical music performer. Analysis of these musical events shows how Cristiani was able to take advantage of the uncommon situation she was in, providing her traveling companions with musical entertainment and boosting their morale. She also served as a cultural ambassador of western Europe at a time vii when the Russian Empire was consolidating as a colonial power; that she did this without access to traditional concert infrastructure is remarkable. These and other accomplishments justified the efforts that Muravyov, Baryatinsky, and their subordinates made to accommodate the inclusion of a musician and her invaluable Stradivarius cello into sometimes treacherous military operations.

Date

4-10-2026

Committee Chair

Howe, Blake

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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