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Entries / Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre

Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre


Categories / Art/Music, Theatre/Theaters, Concert Organizations

MUSSORGSKY OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE. Dates back to 1918, when it was established in the building of the Mikhailovsky Theatre (1 Iskusstv Square; 1833, architect А. P. Bryullov, rebuilt in 1859 by architect А. K. Cavos). The theatre changed names several times: from 1919 it was known as the State Academic Comedy Opera Theatre, from 1921 as the Maly Petrograd Academic Theatre, from 1926 the State Academic Maly Opera Theatre (Malegot), from 1964 as the State Academic Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre, and in 1989 received its current name. It was intended to be affiliated with the Mariinsky Theatre, acting as its experimental ground without having a troupe of its own. It wasn't until 1931 that the theatre's own troupe gave its first performance, though an orchestra and choir was established as far back as 1918. The theatre continued to develop its repertoire, staging rarely-performed operas, operas-comique, and classical and contemporary operettas, including A. Thoma's Mignon, 1918; G. A. Lortzing's Tsar and Carpenter 1919; D. F. Auber's Fra Diavolo 1920; C. A. Cui's Mandarin's Son 1921; and F. Lehar's Wo die Lerche singt (Where the Lark Sings) and Yellow Jacket 1923). In the early 1930s the theatre had the reputation of being the main experimental space of Soviet opera. It featured the premieres of Shostakovich's The Nose and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1930, 1934), as well as I. I. Dzerzhinsky's opera The Quiet Don (1935), D. B. Kabalevsky's Colas Breugnon (1938), and A. F. Pashchenko's Pompadour (1939). The first 20 years of the theatre's history are closely associated with conductor S. A. Samosud and director N. V. Smolich. Later came associations with conductors B. E. Khaikin and E. P. Grikurov, and directors B. А. Pokrovsky and E. E. Pasynkov. During the Great Patriotic War the theatre was evacuated to the city of Chkalov (today Orenburg), where it operated until 1944. Prokofiev's opera War and Peace premiered in 1946. Later works by contemporary composers were staged, such as S. M. Slonimsky's Virinea (1967); Mary Stuart (1981), G. Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1968), and R. K. Shchedrin's Not Only Love (1973). In 1972, S. Gaudasinsky assumed the directorship of the theatre. The theatre saw vocal performances by N. L. Welter, Е. S. Gorokhovskaya, P. M. Zhuravlenko, Y. V. Ivshin, R. L. Izgur, N. I. Krivulya, T. N. Lavrova, S. P. Leiferkus, Y. M. Marusin, V. L. Matusov, А. Y. Modestov, Е. G. Olkhovsky, V. R. Pankratov, А. I. Popova-Zhuravlenko, I. L. Prosalovskaya, V. K. Retyunsky, N. I. Romanova, Е. V. Ustinova, and Е. P. Tselovalnik. In 1931, on F. V. Lopukhov's initiative, the opera ballet troupe was reorganised into an experimental choreographic theatre. Lopukhov choreographed R. E. Drigo's Arlekinada (1933), L. Delibes' Coppelia (1934), and Shostakovich's The Limpid Stream (1935). In the mid-1930s, L. M. Lavrovsky took up Lopukhov's experiments with L. Delibes' Fadette (1936) and B. V. Asafyev's The Caucasian Prisoner (1938). During the post-war years, the troupe was directed by B. А. Fenster. His affinity leaning toward dramatic theatre, he staged M. I. Chulaki's ballets The False Bridegroom (1946) and Youth (1949), Asafyev's Lady Peasant (1951) and a number of others. In the mid-1950s P. А. Gusev cultivated dance culture by adding classical ballet pieces to the repertoire. I. D. Belsky also used this approach in his choreography of Shchedrin's The Little Hump-backed Horse (1963), Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11 (1969), and Tchaikovsky's Nut cracker (1969). It was during these years that new choreographers joined the theatre and established their own interpretation of many ballets, such as A. I. Chernyshov staging of E. L. Lazarev's Antony and Cleopatra (1964), and G. R. Zamuel's production of E. Irszai's Don Juan, or The love of Geometry (1973). O. M. Vinogradov did his best-known choreographic work on B. I. Tishchenko's Yaroslavna (1974). A number of classic ballets were performed in 1973-77, including A. Bournonville's Sylphida to H. Levenshell's music (1975). In 1977, N. N. Boyarchikov began to concentrate on new productions: Prokofiev's Tsar Boris (1978), S. Kallos' Macbeth (1984), S. P. Banevich's Petersburg (1992), and L. S. Lebedev's choreography of Y. A. Simakin's The Legend of the Bird of Donenbai(1983). Troupe-soloists from over the years included G. М. Abaydulov, V. K. Adzhamov, Е. G. Alkanova, N. N. Boyarchikov, Z. A. Vasilyeva, N. А. Dolgushin, G. R. Zamuel, N. А. Zubkovsky, G. I. Isaeva, L. P. Kamilova, R. I. Kuzmicheva, Y. А. Kuks, М. B. Kurshakova, А. S.Linnik, М. P. Mazun, V. S. Mukhanova, V. B. Ostrovsky, V. P. Panov, Y. N. Petukhov, G. N. Pirozhnaya, G. V. Pokryshkina, V. А. Rosenberg, М. А. Rostovtseva, L. N. Safonova, V. M. Stankevich, G. V. Sudakov, Т. I. Fesenko, А. S. Khamzin, S. K. Sheina, N. S. Yananis. The theatre hall holds 1151 persons.

References: Балет Ленинградского государственного академического малого театра оперы и балета. Л., 1964; Малый театр оперы и балета, 1918-1968. Л., 1968; Санкт-Петербургский государственный Академический театр оперы и балета имени М. П. Мусоргского / Е. В. Третьякова и др. СПб., 2001.

G. N. Dobrovolskaya, E. V. Tretyakova.

Persons
Abaydulov Gali Myagazovich
Abaza Alexander Aggeevich
Adzhamov Vladimir Kasumovich
Alkanova Elena Georgievna
Asafyev Boris Vladimirovich
Auber Daniel Francois Esprit
Aubert Louis Francois Marie
Banevich Sergey Petrovich
Belsky Igor Dmitrievich
Bournonville August
Boyarchikov Nikolay Nikolaevich
Bryullov Boris Pavlovich
Cavos Albert Katarinovich
Chernyshev Igor Alexandrovich
Chulaki Mikhail Ivanovich
Cui Cesar Antonovich
Delibes Leo
Dolgushin Nikita Alexandrovich
Drigo Richard Evgenievich
Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich
Fenster Boris Alexandrovich
Fesenko Tatyana Ivanovna
Gaudasinsky Stanislav Leonovich
Gershwin George
Gorokhovskaya Evgeniya Stanislavovna
Grikurov Eduard Petrovich
Gusev Peter Andreevich
Haykin Boris Emmanuilovich
Irszai E.
Isaeva Galina Ivanovna
Ivshin Yury Vasilievich
Izgur R.L.
Kabalevsky Dmitry Borisovich
Kallos Sandor Ernestovich
Kamilova Lyudmila Pavlovna
Khamzin Adol Sagmanovich
Krivulya Nikolay Ivanovich
Kuks Ya.A.
Kurshakova Margarita Borisovna
Kuzmicheva R.I.
Lavrova Tatyana Nikolaevna
Lavrovsky (real name Ivanov) Leonid Mikhailovich
Lazarev Eduard Leonidovich
Lebedev Leonid S.
Lehar Ferenc (Franz)
Leiferkus Sergey Petrovich
Levenshell Herold
Linnik A.S.
Lopukhov Fedor Vasilievich
Lortzing Albert
Marusin Yury Mikhailovich
Matusov Vladimir L.
Mazun Maria Pavlovna
Modestov Alexander Yulievich
Mukhanova Valentina Sergeevna
Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich
Olkhovsky Evgeny Grigorievich
Ostrovsky Vasily Borisovich
Pankratov Vladimir R.
Panov Valery Matveevich
Pashchenko Andrey Filippovich
Pasynkov Emile Evgenievich
Pirozhnaya Galina Nikolaevna
Pokrovsky Boris Alexandrovich
Pokryshkina Galina Vasilievna
Popova-Zhuravlenko A.I.
Prokofiev Sergey Sergeevich
Prosalovskaya Inessa L.
Retyunsky Viktor K.
Romanova Nina I.
Rosenberg Valentina Maximovna
Rostovtseva M.A.
Safronova L.N.
Samosud Samuil Abramovich
Shchedrin Rodion Konstantinovich
Sheina Svetlana Konstantinovna
Shostakovich Dmitry Dmitrievich
Simakin Yury A.
Slonimsky Sergey Mikhailovich
Smolich Nikolay Vasilievich
Stankevich Vera Mikhailovna
Sudakov Gennady Vladimirovich
Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich
Thomas Ambroise
Tishchenko Boris Ivanovich
Tselovalnik Evgenia P.
Ustinova Elena Vasilievna
Vasilyeva Zinaida Anatolievna
Vinogradov Oleg Mikhailovich
Welter Nadezhda Lvovna
Yananis Natalia Stanislavovna
Zamuel German Rafailovich
Zhuravlenko Pavel Maximovich
Zubrovsky Nikolay Alexandrovich

Addresses
Iskusstv Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 1

Bibliographies
Балет Ленинградского государственного академического малого театра оперы и балета. Л., 1964
Малый театр оперы и балета, 1918-1968. Л., 1968
Санкт-Петербургский государственный Академический театр оперы и балета имени М.П. Мусоргского / Е.В. Третьякова и др. СПб., 2001

The subject Index
Mariinsky Theatre

Chronograph
1833
1934


Asafyev B. V. , (1884-1949) music theorist and composer

ASAFYEV Boris Vladimirovich (penname Igor Glebov) (1884, St. Petersburg - 1949), music theorist, composer, People"s Artist of the USSR (1946), member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1946)

Bryullov A.P. (1798-1877), architect

BRYULLOV Alexander Pavlovich (1798 - 1877, St. Petersburg), architect, aquarellist, architecture theorist, specialist in construction technique. Brother of K. P. Bryullov

Glebova Т.N. (1900-1985), artist

GLEBOVA Tatyana Nikolaevna (1900, St. Petersburg - 1985), painter and graphic artist. She studied in A. I. Savinov's studio in 1924-25 and under P. N. Filonov from 1925

Iskusstv Square

ISKUSSTV SQUARE, situated between Inzhenernaya Street and Italyanskaya Street. Known as Mikhaylovskaya Square from 1834 to 1918, then called Lassalya Square until 1940, in memory of German socialist F. Lassal (1825-64)

Jazz

JAZZ. Instrumental groups, dance and concert jazz music on city stages, appeared in Leningrad in the late 1920s. On April 28, 1927 the hall of the Capella hosted the debut concert of L.Y. Teplitsky's First Concert Jazz-Band. A year later G.V

Kaplan E.I. (1895-1961), stage director

KAPLAN Emmanuil Iosifovich (1895, St. Petersburg - 1961, Leningrad), singer (tenor), stage director, teacher. Graduated from the Architecture Department of the Academy of Arts (1925)

Komissarzhevskaya Theatre

KOMISSARZHEVSKAYA THEATRE (19 Italyanskaya Street). Established in 1942 as the City ("Besieged") Theatre, being legitimized as a drama theatre in 1943, named after V.F. Komissarzhevskaya in 1959, and granted academic status in 1994

Lopukhov F.V., (1886-1973), choreographer

LOPUKHOV Fedor Vasilievich (1886, St. Petersburg - 1973, Leningrad), ballet dancer, choreographer, and teacher, people's artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1956). A student of N. G

Meyerhold V.E., (1874-1940), director

MEYERHOLD Vsevolod Emilievich (Karl Kazimir Teodor Meiergold, before Orthodox christening in 1895) (1874-1940), director, actor, pedagogue, theatre worker, People's Artist of the Republic (1923)

Mussorgsky М.P., (1839-1881), composer

MUSSORGSKY Modest Petrovich (1839-1881, St. Petersburg), composer. Lived in St. Petersburg from 1849, he studied at St. Petrischule and the Guards and Cavalry Cadets College in 1852-56, situated at the present-day 54 Lermontovsky Avenue

Prokofiev S.S., (1891-1953), composer

PROKOFIEV Sergey Sergeevich (1891-1953), composer, pianist, director, People's Artist of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1947). He lived in St. Petersburg (Petrograd) between 1904 and 1918

Radlov Sergey Ernestovich (1892-1958), director

RADLOV Sergey Ernestovich (1892-1958), director, pedagogue, Honoured Worker of the Arts of RSFSR (1940). He graduated from the history and philosophy department of the St. Petersburg University (1916)

Stravinsky I.F., (1882-1971), composer

STRAVINSKY Igor Fedorovich (1882, Oranienbaum - 1971), composer and director, son of F.I. Stravinsky. In 1900-05 he studied at the Faculty of Law at Petersburg University, taking composition classes from N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov between 1903 and 1905

Tsentralny (Central) District

TSENTRALNY (CENTRAL) DISTRICT, an administrative-territorial entity within St. Petersburg, with the territorial administration situated at 176 Nevsky Prospect. The district was set up in 1994, when Smolninsky District

Utesov L.O., (1895-1982), singer

UTESOV Leonid Osipovich (real name Weisbein Lazar Iosifovich) (1895-1982), singer, actor, jazz band leader, People's Artist of the USSR (1965). Studied at the Faig Odessa Commercial School

White Nights, festival

WHITE NIGHTS, A musical and theatrical festival succeeding the Leningrad Festival of Arts held from 1958 to 1963. The annual festival was conducted in Leningrad from 1964 to 1990, on 21-29 June