French opera with spoken dialogues translated into Russian was a bright phenomenon of Moscow musical life of the last quarter of the 18th century. In this article a unique monument of it is examined: manuscript materials of the first two acts of the Russian version of the opera “Marriages Samnites” by A.-E.-M. Grétry, which has been preserved in the Foundation of Written Sources of the Moscow Museum-Estate Ostankino. In spite of the desire to present the play “as in France” almost every work translated into Russian has been transformed in some way. An example of “Marriages Samnites” is particularly illustrative in this regard. In the article a detailed comparison of the Moscow version of this opera with its French redactions is carried out.
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