Russian composer
Antoine Bullant, also Anton Bullandt (, 9 February 1751 in Mělník, Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire – 25 [OS 13] June 1821 St Petersburg) was a Czech musician (bassoon player) and opera composer who worked first in France but primarily in Imperial Russia.
Antoine Bullant is also sometimes referred to as Jean Bullant (Жан Бюлан) or Anton Bullandt. However, most current scholarly sources refer to him as Antoine Bullant as all 18th-century printed and manuscript copies of his own works spell the name ‘Bullant’. In Russian his name was also transliterated as Булан, Булант, Буллант and sometimes "trans-transliterated" in other languages (e.g., in German, in lists of operas) as Bulant, Bullanto, Bullault, Bullandt, Bulan.
The "Grove Dictionary of Music" describes him as a French composer and bassoonist of Czech origin, born in Amiens (?), who in 1771 or 1772 settled in Paris, where he published four symphonies (1773) and some chamber instrumental ensembles.
There is some controversial information that Bullandt came to Russia in 1780, and entered the service in Imperial St Petersburg Theatres in 1783 and was a founder of "St Petersburg Philharmonic Society". Biographical data about him are scarce.
Works.
He wrote a large number of operas with Russian librettos, often within Russian national settings, some of which were written by Yakov Knyazhnin. The most successful of them was "Sbitenshchik" ("Сбитеньщик — Sbiten Vendor"), comic opera in 3 acts, written to the libretto by Yakov Knyazhnin. It was a remake of Molière's "L'école des femmes". The opera was staged 1783 or 1784 in St Petersburg, at the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, and was played until 1853;
He was also credited for several famous comic operas of that time probably by mistake, because some of them, were also attributed to other composers like Ivan Kerzelli and Vasily Pashkevich):