person

Maria Savina

Savina

also: Савина, М. Г. Савина, Maria Gavrilovna Savina

Maria Gavrilovna Savina (1854-1915), one of the most celebrated actresses of the Imperial Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, renowned for lively, natural performances especially in comedy and contemporary drama, and a major influence on Russian theatrical life (later a founder of the Russian Theatrical Society). The noble father in "The Critic" savages her as having no talent, only "assumed liveliness and playfulness" unfit for a serious stage -- the drunken narrator's bile, not a real critical judgment; Savina was in fact widely admired by contemporaries including Chekhov himself, who corresponded with her.

Reading notes

The Critic §42 Savina
Maria Gavrilovna Savina (1854-1915) was one of the most celebrated actresses of the Imperial Alexandrinsky stage, admired for natural, lively performances and later an influential figure in Russian theatrical life; Chekhov himself corresponded with her. The noble father's claim that she has "not a trace" of real talent, only "assumed liveliness," is the character's drunken bluster at its most extreme, since Savina's liveliness was precisely what contemporaries prized in her.
To I. L. Leontyev, 7 November 1888. Moscow. §3 You recommend Savina and Sazonov? Fine. Tikhonov recommends Dalmatov and Vasilyeva
Two competing pairs of Petersburg Alexandrinsky-company actors proposed for a censored free copy of "The Bear": Shcheglov recommends Maria Savina and Nikolai Sazonov (both already attested in this corpus as leading Alexandrinsky performers), while Tikhonov recommends Vasily Dalmatov and an unidentified Vasilyeva. Chekhov professes indifference between the two pairs since he does not know the Petersburg company personally; the pairs are kept distinct and not conflated.
To I. L. Leontyev, 11 November 1888. Moscow. §3 Maria Gavrilovna
The actress Maria Gavrilovna Savina, referred to first by surname ("Savina's wish") and then, mid-paragraph, by name and patronymic alone ("the divine Maria Gavrilovna"); rendered with an explicit gloss here to keep the referent unambiguous in English, since the patronymic-only usage could otherwise read as introducing a second person.
To A. S. Suvorin, 11 November 1888. Moscow. §3 Thank you, Alexei Sergeyevich, for Savina -- that is, for the news of her.
Continues the ongoing thread about which actress will take on "The Bear"; Chekhov here receives word, via Suvorin, that Savina is willing to do it, only to report in the same section a rival claim on the play from Abarinova's camp. Consistent with Savina's established standing in this corpus as a leading Alexandrinsky actress.
To A. S. Suvorin, 11 November 1888. Moscow. §3 I've heard a great deal that's good about Savina; I don't know Abarinova at all, and so I have no reason to share Shcheglov's joyful tone.
Chekhov's own stated grounds for favoring Savina's claim on the play over Abarinova's: known goodwill and an existing understanding with Savina versus total unfamiliarity with Abarinova, not any slight against Abarinova's talent or standing.
To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 13 November 1888. Moscow. §9 Savina wants to put on my "Bear"
Maria Gavrilovna Savina, the leading Alexandrinsky Theatre actress already catalogued in this corpus; here shown taking up Chekhov's one-act vaudeville "The Bear" (cf. letters 512 and 519, tracking its earlier run at Korsh's theater) for a new production, having called on Alexei Suvorin to get Chekhov's address and the relevant issue.
To I. L. Leontyev, 16–17 November 1888. Moscow. §3 if Abarinova and Savina give way to each other
Continues the casting muddle over "The Bear" reported in full in (\S3): Maria Gavrilovna Savina and Antonina Ivanovna Abarinova, the two Petersburg Alexandrinsky actresses with competing claims on the play. Here, several days on, Chekhov treats the still-unresolved tangle with deliberate indifference ("if it goes on -- good; if it doesn't -- no matter") rather than pressing for a resolution. Tagged to Savina as the entity with the fuller established profile; see also the paired mention to in this letter's entity-mentions.
To Al. P. Chekhov, 23 November 1888. Moscow. §3 Savina
Maria Gavrilovna Savina, the actress angling to stage "The Bear"; Chekhov's wariness here about Alexander "philosophizing" with her and being forced into the position of suitor continues the same "Bear" staging negotiations already underway in, and.
To M. V. Kiseleva, 13 December 1888. Petersburg. §10 I have just this moment been talking on the telephone with Savina.
Maria Gavrilovna Savina, the celebrated Alexandrinsky Theatre actress, extensively established elsewhere in the 1888 Petersburg correspondence (letters 3-529, 3-530, 3-531, 3-534, 3-538).
To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 30 December 1888. Moscow. §6 with Strepetova and Savina
Maria Gavrilovna Savina, the Alexandrinsky Theatre actress already established in this corpus, most recently in letter 3-531 as having taken up Chekhov's "The Bear" for a new production; the same figure here, now named alongside Strepetova as prospective cast for the Alexandrinsky benefit production of "Ivanov" -- see also letter 3-553, where the Alexandrinsky "Ivanov" casting is discussed further with Suvorin (Ivanov himself cast to Davydov).
To A. S. Suvorin, 30 December 1888. Moscow. §4 The director considers Ivanov a superfluous man in the Turgenev vein; Savina asks: why is Ivanov a scoundrel?
The unnamed "director" is not otherwise identified in this letter -- almost certainly connected to the Alexandrinsky Theatre's staging plans for "Ivanov," but no name is given; catalogued as an unresolved reference with no assignable entity_id. Savina is the actress Maria Gavrilovna Savina, whose one-line question is the proximate occasion for the entire craft essay that follows; see also \S20 where Chekhov distinguishes his motives from any wish to please her.
To A. S. Suvorin, 7 January 1889. Moscow. §4 I feel sorry for poor Savina, that she has to play a lifeless Sasha.
MOSCOW CASTING, DISTINCT FROM THE PETERSBURG THREAD -- this mention of Maria Savina refers to her casting as Sasha in the MOSCOW production of "Ivanov" opposite Davydov as Ivanov, the subject of this letter's extended casting complaint. This is a separate thread from the Petersburg casting correspondence discussed in, and (where Savina is also mentioned, in connection with the Alexandrinsky production and Tatishchev's dining habits at her table); the two should not be conflated even though they concern the same actress and the same play in different cities during the same week.
To F. A. Fedorov, 8 January 1889. Moscow. §5 Marya Gavrilovna Savina has agreed to play Sasha in my play
Continues the Moscow "Ivanov" casting thread already discussed at length in (where Chekhov calls the same casting news "the honor M. G. is doing my play" and worries the role is too thin for her), reusing and; this business letter to the copyist Fyodorov(-Yurkovsky) is the practical follow-through on that news -- instructing him not to rush the fair copies while Chekhov reworks Sasha's part.
Notebooks. Diaries §606 Savina is to actors
Maria Gavrilovna Savina (1854-1915), the leading actress of the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Petersburg and a Chekhov correspondent; held up here as the actors' equivalent of a top-rank writer.