State Opera and Ballet Theatre of the St. Petersburg Conservatory

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STATE OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory; in 1923-89, known as Opera Studio of the Conservatory, and called the Musical Theatre of the Conservatory from 1989 to 1994. It was opened in 1923 for student's stage practice and soon won the popularity as a youth musical theatre. Its performances took place in the Bolshoy Hall of the Conservatory. Originally, soloist students were joined by young trainee performers. The orchestra and choir consisted of students of orchestral department and choral department. One of the founders, stage directors and teachers of the studio was I.V. Ershov, who undertakes the first production of the theatre - C. Gounod's Faust staged in 1923. Ershov staged another eight operas before 1941: The Mermaid (1924) and The Stone Guest (1925) by A.S. Dargomyzhsky, W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (1924), A.G. Rubinstein's Demon (1938) etc. E.I. Kaplan, who staged performances from 1923 to 1950, also played a significant role as a stage director, artist and teacher in the development of the theatre. His staging of Mozart's opera Bastien und Bastienne (1925) enjoyed tremendous success in Salzburg, during the first foreign tour of the theatre. Kaplan produced 15 performances in the close co-operation with conductors S.V. Yeltsin, N.S. Rabinovich and E.P. Grikurov. These performances included operas rarely staged in Russia, like Kaschey the Immortal by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov (1926), Die Hohle von Salamanca by B. Paumgartner (1928), Fra Diavolo by F. Aubert (1937). The basic repertoire of the theatre constituted of classical works, such as P.I. Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, G. Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and The Tsar's Bride by Rimsky-Korsakov. From the 1960s to 1990s productions were carried out by M.D. Slutskaya, A.N. Kireev, R.I. Tikhomirov, D.I. Kosakovsky, Y.I. Alexandrov, A.V. Stepanyuk, and L.G. Potapova; the chief conductor was V.A. Chernushenko. The best performances of the recent years include Les Troyens by H. Berlioz (staged for the first time in Russia; conducted by S. Stadler with V.M. Kramer as stage director). Since 2000, the functions of the musical director of the theatre have been performed by A.V. Sladkovsky. The theatre also comprises a ballet company which gives regular performances. The chief ballet-master is N.A. Dolgushin.

References: Ленинградская консерватория в воспоминаниях, 1862-1962. Л., 1962; Слуцкая М. Д. Э. И. Каплан (1895-1962): Заметки к творч. биографии // Музыкальный театр: Сб. науч. тр. СПб., 1991. С. 241-270. (Пробл. музыкознания; Вып. 6).

E. V. Tretyakova. Aubert Louis Francois Marie
Berlioz Hector
Chernushenko Vladislav Alexandrovich
Dargomyzhsky Alexander Sergeevich
Dolgushin Nikita Alexandrovich
Ershov Ivan Vasilievich
Gounod Charles
Grikurov Eduard Petrovich
Kaplan Emmanuil Iosifovich
Kramer Viktor Moiseevich
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus
Paumgartner Bernhard
Potapova Leonora Grigorievna
Rabinovich Nikolay Semenovich
Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolay Andreevich
Rossini Gioacchino
Rubinstein Anton Grigorievich
Sladkovsky Alexander Vitalievich
Stadler Sergey Valentinovich
Stepanyuk Alexey Olegovich
Tchaikovsky Peter Ilyich
Yeltsin Sergey Vitalievich
Слуцкая М. Д. Э. И. Каплан (1895-1962): Заметки к творч. биографии // Музыкальный театр: Сб. науч. тр. СПб., 1991
Ленинградская консерватория в воспоминаниях, 1862-1962. Л., 1962 Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory