The year the Bolshoi Theater was founded. About Us

In continuation of a series of stories about the world's opera houses, I would like to tell you about the Bolshoi Opera House in Moscow. The State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Russia, or simply the Bolshoi Theater, is one of the largest in Russia and one of the largest opera and ballet theaters in the world. Located in the center of Moscow, on Teatralnaya Square. The Bolshoi Theater is one of the main assets of the city of Moscow

The origin of the theater dates back to March 1776. This year Groti ceded his rights and obligations to Prince Urusov, who undertook to build a stone public theater in Moscow. With the assistance of the well-known M.E.Medox, a place was chosen in Petrovskaya Street, in the parish of the Church of the Savior, in Kopyo. By the vigilant labors of Medox, it was built in five months The Bolshoi Theatre, according to the plan of the architect Roseberg, which cost 130,000 rubles. The Petrovsky Theater of Medox stood for 25 years - on October 8, 1805, during the next Moscow fire, the theater building burned down. The new building was built by K. I. Rossi on Arbat Square. But it too, being made of wood, burned down in 1812, during the invasion of Napoleon. In 1821, the construction of the theater began on the original site according to the design of O. Bove and A. Mikhailov.

The theater opened on January 6, 1825 with the performance "Triumph of the Muses". But on March 11, 1853, the theater burned down for the fourth time; the fire only preserved the stone outer walls and the colonnade of the main entrance. In three years, the Bolshoi Theater was restored under the direction of the architect A.K. Kavos. Instead of the alabaster sculpture of Apollo that died in the fire, a bronze quadriga by Pyotr Klodt was erected over the entrance portico. The theater was reopened on 20 August 1856.

In 1895, the theater building was overhauled, after which many wonderful operas were staged in the theater, such as "Boris Godunov" by M. Musorgsky, "The Pskovite Woman" by Rimsky-Korsakov with Chaliapin as Ivan the Terrible and many others. In 1921-1923, the next reconstruction of the theater building took place, and the building was also reconstructed in the 40s and 60s.

Above the pediment of the Bolshoi Theater is a sculpture of Apollo, the patron saint of the arts, in a chariot drawn by four horses. All figures of the composition are hollow, made of sheet copper. The composition was made by Russian craftsmen in the 18th century after the model of the sculptor Stepan Pimenov

The theater includes a ballet and opera company, the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra and the Scenic Brass Orchestra. At the time of the theater's creation, the troupe included only thirteen musicians and about thirty artists. At the same time, initially there was no specialization in the troupe: dramatic actors took part in operas, and singers and dancers - in dramatic performances. So, the troupe at different times included Mikhail Schepkin and Pavel Mochalov, who sang in the operas of Cherubini, Verstovsky and other composers

Throughout the history of the Bolshoi Theater of Moscow, its artists, apart from admiration and gratitude from the public, have repeatedly received various signs of recognition from the state. During the Soviet period, more than 80 of them received the title of People's Artists of the USSR, Stalin and Lenin Prizes, eight were awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor. Among the soloists of the theater are such outstanding Russian singers as Sandunova, Zhemchugova, E. Semyonova, Khokhlov, Korsov, Deisha-Sionitskaya, Salina, Nezhdanova, Chaliapin, Sobinov, Zbrueva, Alchevsky, E. Stepanova, V. Petrov, Pirogov brothers, Katulskaya, Obukhova, Derzhinskaya, Barsova, L. Savransky, Ozerov, Lemeshev, Kozlovsky, Reisen, Maksakova, Khanaev, M.D. Mikhailov, Shpiller, A.P. Ivanov, Krivchenya, P. Lisitsian, I. Petrov, Ognivtsev, Arkhipova, Andzhaparidze, Oleinichenko, Mazurok, Vedernikov, Eisen, E. Kibkalo, Vishnevskaya, Milashkina, Sinyavskaya, Kasrashvili, Atlantov, Nesterenko, Obraztsova and others.
Among the singers of the younger generation who came forward in the 80-90s, I. Morozov, P. Gluboky, Kalinina, Matorin, Shemchuk, Rautio, Tarashchenko, N. Terentyeva should be noted. Major conductors Altani, Suk, Cooper, Samosud, Pazovsky, Golovanov, Melik-Pashaev, Nebolsin, Khaikin, Kondrashin, Svetlanov, Rozhdestvensky, Rostropovich worked at the Bolshoi Theater. Rachmaninov performed here as a conductor (1904-06). Among the best directors of the theater are Bartsal, Smolich, Baratov, B. Mordvinov, Pokrovsky. The Bolshoi Theater hosted the world's leading opera houses on tour: La Scala (1964, 1974, 1989), Vienna State Opera (1971), Berlin Komische-Opera (1965)

Repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater

During the existence of the theater, more than 800 works have been staged here. The Bolshoi's repertoire includes such operas as Robert the Devil by Meyerbeer (1834), The Pirate by Bellini (1837), Hans Geiling by Marschner, The Postman from Longjumeau by Adam (1839), The Favorite by Donizetti (1841), "Mute from Portici" by Aubert (1849), "La Traviata" by Verdi (1858), "Troubadour", "Rigoletto" by Verdi (1859), "Faust" by Gounod (1866), "Minion" by Tom (1879), "Masquerade Ball Verdi (1880), Siegfried by Wagner (1894), Trojans in Carthage by Berlioz (1899), The Flying Dutchman by Wagner (1902), Don Carlos by Verdi (1917), A Midsummer Night's Dream by Britten ( 1964), "Castle of Duke Bluebeard" by Bartok, "Spanish Hour" by Ravel (1978), "Iphigenia in Aulis" by Gluck (1983) and others.

The Bolshoi Theater hosted world premieres of Tchaikovsky's operas Voevoda (1869), Mazepa (1884), Cherevichki (1887); Rachmaninov's operas Aleko (1893), Francesca da Rimini and The Miserly Knight (1906), Prokofiev's The Gambler (1974), a number of operas by Cui, Arensky and many others.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the theater reaches its heyday. Many St. Petersburg artists are seeking the opportunity to participate in the performances of the Bolshoi Theater. The names of F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, A. Nezhdanova become widely known throughout the world. In 1912 Fyodor Chaliapin puts on the opera by M. Mussorgsky "Khovanshchina" at the Bolshoi Theater.

In the photo Fyodor Chaliapin

During this period, Sergei Rachmaninov collaborated with the theater, who proved himself not only as a composer, but also as an outstanding opera conductor, attentive to the peculiarities of the style of the work performed and who sought to combine ardent temperament with fine orchestral decoration in the performance of operas. Rachmaninov improves the organization of the conductor's work - so, thanks to Rachmaninov, the conductor's console, which was previously located behind the orchestra (facing the stage), is transferred to its modern place.

In the photo Sergey Vasilievich Rachmaninov

The first years after the 1917 revolution were characterized by the struggle to preserve the Bolshoi Theater as such and, secondly, to preserve part of its repertoire. Operas such as The Snow Maiden, Aida, La Traviata and Verdi in general were attacked for ideological reasons. There were also proposals to destroy ballet as a "relic of the bourgeois past." However, despite this, both opera and ballet continued to develop in Moscow. The opera is dominated by works by Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky. In 1927, a new version of Boris Godunov was born by the director V. Lossky. Operas by Soviet composers are staged - "Trilby" by A. Yurasovsky (1924), "Love for Three Oranges" by S. Prokofiev (1927).

In the 1930s, Joseph Stalin's demand for the creation of "Soviet opera classics" appeared in print. Works by I. Dzerzhinsky, B. Asafiev, R. Glier are staged. At the same time, a strict ban is introduced on the works of foreign composers. In 1935, the premiere of D. Shostakovich's opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District was held with great success with the public. However, this work, highly appreciated around the world, causes sharp discontent at the top. The well-known article "Muddle Instead of Music", authored by Stalin, became the reason for the disappearance of Shostakovich's opera from the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater

During the Great Patriotic War, the Bolshoi Theater was evacuated to Kuibyshev. The theater marks the end of the war with bright premieres of S. Prokofiev's ballets Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet, where Galina Ulanova shone. In subsequent years, the Bolshoi Theater turned to the work of composers of the "fraternal countries" - Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary, and also revisited the performances of classical Russian operas (new productions of Eugene Onegin, Sadko, Boris Godunov, Khovanshina and many other). Most of these productions were performed by the opera director Boris Pokrovsky, who came to the Bolshoi Theater in 1943. His performances during these years and the next few decades served as the "face" of the Bolshoi Theater

The Bolshoi Theater troupe often tours, having success in Italy, Great Britain, the USA and many other countries.


At present, the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater preserves many classical productions of opera and ballet performances, but at the same time the theater strives for new experiments. Operators who have already gained fame as filmmakers are involved in the work on the operas. Among them are A. Sokurov, T. Chkheidze, E. Nyakroshus and others. Some of the new productions of the Bolshoi Theater have caused disapproval of part of the public and honored masters of the Bolshoi. Thus, the scandal accompanied the staging of L. Desyatnikov's opera "Children of Rosenthal" (2005), due to the reputation of the author of the libretto, writer V. Sorokin. The famous singer Galina Vishnevskaya expressed outrage and rejection of the new performance “Eugene Onegin” (2006, director D. Chernyakov), refusing to celebrate her anniversary on the stage of the Bolshoi, where such productions are taking place. At the same time, the aforementioned performances, in spite of everything, have their fans.

The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, located in the center of the capital, on Teatralnaya Square, is one of the symbols of Russia and the brilliant skill of its artists. Its talented performers: vocalists and ballet dancers, composers and conductors, choreographers are known all over the world. More than 800 works were performed on his stage. These are the first Russian operas and operas of such celebrities as Verdi and Wagner, Bellini and Donizetti, Berlioz and Ravel and other composers. World premieres of operas by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Arensky took place here. The great Rachmaninoff conducted here.

Bolshoi Theater in Moscow - history

In March 1736, the provincial prosecutor, Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov began construction of a theater building on the right bank of the Neglinka River, at the corner of Petrovka. Then he began to be called Petrovsky. But Pyotr Urusov failed to complete the construction. The building burned down. After the fire, his companion, English entrepreneur Michael Medox, completed the construction of the theater building. This was the first professional theater. His repertoire included drama, opera and ballet performances. Both singers and dramatic actors took part in opera performances. The Petrovsky Theater was opened on December 30, 1780. On this day, the ballet-pantomime "The Magic Shop" staged by J. Paradiz was shown. Ballets with a national flavor, such as Village Simplicity, Gypsy Ballet and The Taking of Ochakov, were especially popular with the audience. Basically, the ballet troupe was formed by pupils of the ballet school of the Moscow Orphanage and the serf actors of the troupe E. Golovkina. This building served 25 years. It died in a fire in 1805. The new building, built under the leadership of K. Rossi on Arbat Square, also burned down in 1812.

Designed by A. Mikhailov in 1821-1825 a new theater building is being built on the same site. The construction was supervised by the architect O. Bove. It was significantly increased in size. Therefore, at that time it was called the Bolshoi Theater. On January 6, 1825, the performance "Triumph of the Muses" was given here. After a fire in March 1853, the building was restored for three years. The work was supervised by the architect A. Kavos. As contemporaries wrote, the appearance of the building "captivated the eye with the proportionality of the parts, in which lightness was combined with greatness." So it has come down to our days. In 1937 and 1976. the theater was awarded the Order of Lenin. During the Great Patriotic War, he was evacuated to the city of Kuibyshev. On November 29, 2002, the New Stage opened with the premiere of Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden.

Bolshoi theater - architecture

The building, which we can now admire, is one of the finest examples of Russian classical architecture. It was built in 1856 under the direction of the architect Albert Kavos. During the reconstruction after the fire, the building was completely rebuilt and decorated with a white-stone portico with eight columns. The architect replaced the hipped roof with a gable with gables, repeating the shape of the portico pediment along the main facade and removing the arched niche. The Ionic order of the portico was replaced by a complex one. All exterior details have been changed. Some architects believe that the changes to Kavos have diminished the artistic value of the original building. The building is crowned with the world-famous bronze Apollo quadriga by Peter Klodt. We see a two-wheeled chariot with four harnessed horses galloping across the sky and the god Apollo driving them. A plaster double-headed eagle, the state emblem of Russia, was installed on the pediment of the building. Nine muses with Apollo at the head are placed on the plafond of the auditorium. Thanks to the work of Albert Kavos, the building fits perfectly into the surrounding architectural structures.

The five tiers of the auditorium can accommodate over 2,100 spectators. In terms of its acoustic properties, it is considered one of the best in the world. The length of the hall from the orchestra to the back wall is 25 meters, width - 26.3 meters, height - 21 meters. The stage portal is 20.5 by 17.8 meters, the depth of the stage is 23.5 meters. This is one of the most beautiful architectural structures in the capital. It was called "a palace of sunlight, gold, purple and snow." The building also hosts important state and public celebrations.

Reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater

In 2005, the reconstruction of the theater began and after 6 years of colossal work, on October 28, 2011, the opening of the country's main stage took place. The area of ​​the Bolshoi Theater doubled and amounted to 80 thousand square meters, an underground part appeared and the unique acoustics of the hall was restored. The stage now has the volume of a six-story building, all processes in which are computerized. The paintings in the White Foyer have been restored. The jacquard fabrics and tapestries in the Round Hall and the Imperial Foyer were restored by hand over 5 years, restoring every centimeter. 156 craftsmen from all over Russia gilded interiors 5 microns thick with an area of ​​981 square meters, which took 4.5 kg of gold.

There are 17 elevators with buttons for floors from 10th to 4th, and 2 additional floors located below are occupied by mechanics. The auditorium can accommodate 1768 people, before reconstruction - 2100. The theater buffet has moved to the 4th floor and this is the only room where windows are located on both sides. Interestingly, the tiles in the central foyer are made in the same factory as in the 19th century. Particularly beautiful is a chandelier with a diameter of over 6 meters with gilded pendants. A double-headed eagle and the word Russia are embroidered on the new curtain.

The modern Bolshoi Theater includes an opera and ballet company, a stage brass band and an orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater. The names of the opera and ballet school are the property of all Russia and the entire theatrical world. More than 80 artists were awarded the title of People's Artists of the USSR during the Soviet period. The title of Hero of Socialist Labor was awarded to eight stage masters - I. Arkhipova and Y. Grigorovich, I. Kozlovsky and E. Nesterenko, E. Svetlanov, as well as world-famous ballerinas - G. Ulanova, M. Plisetskaya and M. Semyonova. Many artists are People's Artists of the Russian Federation.

The Bolshoi Theater in Moscow presents one of the world's main theater stages. He played an outstanding role in the formation of the Russian musical stage school and in the development of Russian national art, including the renowned Russian ballet.

The history of the Bolshoi Theater, which celebrates its 225th anniversary, is as majestic as it is confusing. From it, you can create an apocryphal and an adventure novel with equal success. The theater was repeatedly burned down, rebuilt, rebuilt, its troupe merged and separated.

Born Twice (1776-1856)

The history of the Bolshoi Theater, which celebrates its 225th anniversary, is as majestic as it is confusing. From it, you can create an apocryphal and an adventure novel with equal success. The theater was repeatedly burned down, rebuilt, rebuilt, its troupe merged and separated. And even the Bolshoi Theater has two dates of birth. Therefore, its centenary and bicentennial anniversaries will not be divided by a century, but by only 51 years. Why? Initially, the Bolshoi Theater counted its years from the day when an eight-column theater full of splendor with the chariot of the god Apollo over the portico arose on Teatralnaya Square - the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater, the construction of which became a real event for Moscow at the beginning of the 19th century. The beautiful building in the classical style, inside decorated in red and gold tones, according to contemporaries, was the best theater in Europe and was second only to Milan's La Scala in scale. Its opening took place on January 6 (18), 1825. In honor of this event, the prologue "Triumph of the Muses" by M. Dmitriev was given with music by A. Alyabyev and A. Verstovsky. It allegorically depicted how the Genius of Russia, with the help of muses on the ruins of the Medox theater, created a new wonderful art - the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater.

However, the troupe, by whose forces it was shown, which caused universal delight, "Triumph of the Muses", had already existed for half a century by that time.

It was started by the provincial prosecutor, Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov in 1772. On March 17 (28), 1776, there followed the highest permission "to contain all kinds of theatrical performances for him, as well as concerts, voxals and masquerades, and besides him, no one should be allowed any such amusements at all the time appointed by privilege, so that he would not be undermined."

Three years later, he petitioned Empress Catherine II for a ten-year privilege to maintain a Russian theater in Moscow, undertaking the obligation to build a permanent theater building for the troupe. Alas, the first Russian theater in Moscow on Bolshaya Petrovskaya Street burned down even before it opened. This led to the decline of the prince's affairs. He handed over the affairs to his companion, the Englishman Michael Medox, an active and enterprising man. It was thanks to him that in the wasteland, regularly flooded by Neglinka, despite all the fires and wars, the theater grew up, eventually losing its geographical prefix Petrovsky and remaining in history just like the Bolshoi.

And yet, the Bolshoi Theater begins its chronology from March 17 (28), 1776. Therefore, in 1951, the 175th anniversary was celebrated, in 1976 - the 200th anniversary, and ahead is the 225th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia.

Bolshoi theater in the middle of the 19th century

The symbolic name of the performance that opened the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater in 1825, "Triumph of the Muses" - predetermined its history over the next quarter of a century. The participation in the first performance of the outstanding stage masters - Pavel Mochalov, Nikolai Lavrov and Angelica Catalani - set the highest performing level. The second quarter of the 19th century is the awareness of Russian art, and the Moscow theater in particular, of its national identity. The work of composers Alexei Verstovsky and Alexander Varlamov, who were at the head of the Bolshoi Theater for several decades, contributed to its extraordinary rise. Thanks to their artistic will, a Russian opera repertoire was formed on the Moscow Imperial stage. It was based on Verstovsky's operas "Pan Tvardovsky", "Vadim, or Twelve Sleeping Maidens", "Askold's Grave", ballets "The Magic Drum" by Alyabyev, "The Fun of the Sultan, or the Seller of Slaves", "Boy-with-Finger" by Varlamov.

The ballet repertoire was as rich and diverse as the operatic one. The head of the troupe, Adam Glushkovsky, a pupil of the St. Petersburg ballet school, a student of S. Didlo, who headed the Moscow ballet even before the Patriotic War of 1812, created distinctive performances: "Ruslan and Lyudmila, or the Overthrow of Chernomor, the Evil Wizard", "Three Belts, or Russian Sandrillon "," Black Shawl, or Punished Infidelity ", brought the best performances of Didlo to the Moscow stage. They showed the excellent training of the corps de ballet, the foundations of which were laid by the choreographer himself, who also stood at the head of the ballet school. The main parts in the performances were performed by Glushkovsky himself and his wife Tatyana Ivanovna Glushkovskaya, as well as the Frenchwoman Felitsata Gyullen-Sor.

The main event in the activities of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater in the first half of the last century was the premiere of two operas by Mikhail Glinka. Both of them were first staged in St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that it was already possible to get from one Russian capital to another by train, Muscovites had to wait for new products for several years. "A Life for the Tsar" was first performed at the Bolshoi Theater on September 7 (19), 1842. “... How to express the surprise of true music lovers when from the first act they were convinced that this opera was solving a problem that was important for art in general and for Russian art in particular, namely: the existence of the Russian opera, Russian music ... With Glinka's opera is what has long been looking for and not found in Europe, a new element in art, and a new period begins in its history - the period of Russian music. Such a feat, let's say, in all honesty, is not only a matter of talent, but genius! " - exclaimed the outstanding writer, one of the founders of Russian musicology V. Odoevsky.

Four years later, the first performance of Ruslan and Lyudmila took place. But both of Glinka's operas, despite favorable reviews from critics, did not last long in the repertoire. They were not even saved by participation in performances by guest performers - Osip Petrov and Ekaterina Semenova, temporarily ousted from St. Petersburg by Italian singers. But decades later, it was “A Life for the Tsar” and “Ruslan and Lyudmila” that became the favorite performances of the Russian public, they were destined to defeat the Italian opera mania that arose in the middle of the century. And according to tradition, each theatrical season, the Bolshoi Theater opened one of Glinka's operas.

On the ballet stage, by the middle of the century, performances on Russian themes created by Isaac Ablets and Adam Glushkovsky were also supplanted. Western romanticism ruled the ball. "Sylphide", "Giselle", "Esmeralda" appeared in Moscow almost after the European premieres. Taglioni and Elsler drove Muscovites crazy. But the Russian spirit continued to live in the Moscow ballet. Not a single guest performer was able to outshine Catherine Bank, who performed in the same performances as visiting celebrities.

In order to accumulate strength before the next ascent, the Bolshoi Theater had to go through many shocks. And the first of them was a fire that destroyed Osip Bove's theater in 1853. Only a charred skeleton remained of the building. The sets, costumes, rare instruments, and a music library were lost.

Architect Albert Kavos won the competition for the best theater restoration project. In May 1855, construction work began, which was completed in 16 (!) Months. In August 1856, a new theater was opened with the opera Puritans by V. Bellini. And there was something symbolic in the fact that it opened with an Italian opera. The actual tenant of the Bolshoi Theater shortly after its opening was the Italian Merelli, who brought a very strong Italian troupe to Moscow. The audience, with the enthusiasm of the new converts, preferred Italian opera to Russian. All Moscow flocked to listen to Desiree Artaud, Pauline Viardot, Adeline Patti and other Italian opera idols. The auditorium at these performances was always crowded.

The Russian troupe had only three days a week left - two for ballet and one for opera. The Russian opera, which had no material support, was abandoned by the public, was a sad sight.

And nevertheless, despite all the difficulties, the Russian operatic repertoire is steadily expanding: in 1858 A. Dargomyzhsky's The Mermaid was presented, two operas by A. Serov were staged for the first time - Judith (1865) and Rogneda (1868) , "Ruslan and Lyudmila" by M. Glinka is resumed. A year later, P. Tchaikovsky made his debut with the opera Voevoda at the Bolshoi Theater.

The turning point in public tastes occurred in the 1870s. In the Bolshoi Theater, one after another, Russian operas appear: "The Demon" by A. Rubinstein (1879), "Eugene Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky (1881), "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky (1888), "The Queen of Spades" (1891) and Iolanta (1893) by P. Tchaikovsky, The Snow Maiden by N. Rimsky Korsakov (1893), Prince Igor by A. Borodin (1898). Following the only Russian prima donna, Ekaterina Semyonova, a whole galaxy of outstanding singers appears on the Moscow stage. These are Alexandra Alexandrova-Kochetova, and Emilia Pavlovskaya, and Pavel Khokhlov. And already they, and not Italian singers, become favorites of the Moscow public. In the 70s, the owner of the most beautiful contralto, Evlalia Kadmina, was especially fond of the audience. “Perhaps the Russian public never knew, either earlier or later, such a peculiar performer full of real tragic power,” they wrote about her. The unsurpassed Snow Maiden was called M. Eichenwald, the idol of the audience was the baritone P. Khokhlov, whom Tchaikovsky highly appreciated.

In the middle of the century, the Bolshoi Ballet featured Marfa Muravyova, Praskovya Lebedeva, Nadezhda Bogdanova, Anna Sobeshchanskaya, and in their articles about Bogdanova, journalists emphasized "the superiority of the Russian ballerina over European celebrities."

However, after their departure from the stage, the Bolshoi Ballet found itself in a difficult situation. Unlike St. Petersburg, where a single artistic will of the choreographer prevailed, ballet Moscow in the second half of the century was left without a talented leader. Arrivals by A. Saint-Leon and M. Petipa (who staged Don Quixote at the Bolshoi Theater in 1869 and debuted in Moscow before the fire, in 1848) were short-lived. The repertoire was filled with occasional one-day performances (the exception was Sergei Sokolov's "Fern, or Night on Ivan Kupala", which lasted a long time in the repertoire). Even the production of Swan Lake (choreographer - Wenzel Reisinger) by P. Tchaikovsky, who created his first ballet especially for the Bolshoi Theater, ended in failure. Each new premiere caused only irritation of the public and the press. The auditorium at ballet performances, which in the middle of the century provided a solid income, became empty. In the 1880s, there was a serious question about the liquidation of the troupe.

And yet, thanks to such outstanding masters as Lydia Geyten and Vasily Geltser, the Bolshoi ballet was preserved.

On the eve of the new XX century

Approaching the turn of the century, the Bolshoi Theater lived a stormy life. At this time, Russian art was approaching one of the peaks of its heyday. Moscow was at the center of a seething artistic life. A few steps from Teatralnaya Square, the Moscow Art and Public Theater opened, the whole city was eager to see the performances of Mamontov's Russian private opera and symphony meetings of the Russian Musical Society. Not wanting to lag behind and lose viewers, the Bolshoi Theater was rapidly making up for lost time in previous decades, ambitiously wanting to fit into the Russian cultural process.

This was facilitated by two experienced musicians who came to the theater at that time. Ippolit Altani led the orchestra, Ulrich Avranek led the choir. The professionalism of these groups, which had grown significantly not only in quantity (each had about 120 musicians), but also in quality, invariably aroused admiration. Outstanding masters shone in the Bolshoi Opera Company: Pavel Khokhlov, Elizaveta Lavrovskaya, Bogomir Korsov continued their careers, Maria Deisha-Sionitskaya came from St. Petersburg, Lavrenty Donskoy, a native of Kostroma peasants, became the leading tenor, Margarita Eichenwald was just beginning her journey.

This made it possible to include in the repertoire virtually all world classics - operas by G. Verdi, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti, C. Gounod, J. Meyerbeer, L. Delibes, R. Wagner. Tchaikovsky's new works regularly appeared on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater. With difficulty, but nevertheless, the composers of the New Russian School made their way: in 1888 the premiere of Boris Godunov by M. Mussorgsky took place, in 1892 - The Snow Maiden, in 1898 - The Nights Before Christmas by N. Rimsky - Korsakov.

In the same year he appeared on the Moscow Imperial Stage "Prince Igor" by A. Borodin. This revived interest in the Bolshoi Theater and, in no small measure, contributed to the fact that by the end of the century singers came to the troupe, thanks to whom the opera of the Bolshoi Theater reached enormous heights in the next century. The ballet of the Bolshoi Theater came to the end of the 19th century in excellent professional form. The Moscow Theater School, which produced well-trained dancers, worked without interruption. Caustic feuilleton reviews, such as those posted in 1867: "And what kind of corps de ballet sylphs are now? .. all so well-fed, as if they deigned to eat pancakes, and drag their legs as they got" - have become irrelevant. The brilliant Lydia Gaten, who for two decades had no rivals and carried the entire ballerina repertoire on her shoulders, was replaced by several world-class ballerinas. One after another, Adelina Dzhuri, Lyubov Roslavleva, Ekaterina Geltser made their debuts. Vasily Tikhomirov was transferred from St. Petersburg to Moscow and became the premier of the Moscow ballet for many years. True, unlike the masters of the opera troupe, their talents did not have a worthy application so far: secondary empty ballets-extravaganzas of Jose Mendes reigned on the stage.

It is symbolic that in 1899 the ballet master Alexander Gorsky made his debut on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater with the transfer of Marius Petipa's ballet The Sleeping Beauty, whose name is associated with the flourishing of Moscow ballet in the first quarter of the 20th century.

In 1899 Fyodor Chaliapin joined the troupe.

A new era began at the Bolshoi Theater, which coincided with the onset of a new one, XX century

The year 1917 has come

By the beginning of 1917, nothing at the Bolshoi Theater foreshadowed revolutionary events. True, there were already some self-governing bodies, for example, the corporation of orchestra artists, headed by the accompanist of the group of 2 violins, Y. K. Korolev. Thanks to the active efforts of the corporation, the orchestra obtained the right to organize symphony concerts at the Bolshoi Theater. The last of them took place on January 7, 1917 and was dedicated to the work of S. Rachmaninoff. The author was conducting. The performances included "The Cliff", "Isle of the Dead" and "The Bells". The choir of the Bolshoi Theater and soloists - E. Stepanova, A. Labinsky and S. Migai - took part in the concert.

On February 10, the theater showed the premiere of Don Carlos by G. Verdi, which was the first production of this opera on the Russian stage.

After the February Revolution and the overthrow of the autocracy, the management of the St. Petersburg and Moscow theaters remained common and was concentrated in the hands of their former director V.A.Telyakovsky. On March 6, by order of the commissar of the interim committee of the State Duma, N.N. Lvov, A.I. On March 8, at a meeting of all the employees of the former imperial theaters - musicians, opera soloists, ballet dancers, stage workers - L.V. Sobinov was unanimously elected manager of the Bolshoi Theater, and this election was approved by the Ministry of the Provisional Government. March 12, received the news; the artistic part from the economic and service, and L.V. Sobinov headed the actual artistic part of the Bolshoi Theater.

I must say that "Soloist of His Majesty", "Soloist of the Imperial Theaters" L. Sobinov broke the contract with the Imperial Theaters back in 1915, was unable to fulfill all the whims of the management, and appeared in performances of the Theater of Musical Drama in Petrograd, then in Zimin Theater in Moscow. When the February Revolution took place, Sobinov returned to the Bolshoi Theater.

On March 13, the first "free solemn performance" took place at the Bolshoi Theater. Before it began, L.V. Sobinov made a speech:

Citizens and citizens! With today's performance, our pride, the Bolshoi Theater, opens the first page of its new free life. Under the banner of art, bright minds and pure, warm hearts were united. Art sometimes inspired fighters with ideas and gave them wings! The same art, when the storm calms down, forcing the whole world to tremble, will glorify and sing the praises of folk heroes. In their immortal feat, it will draw bright inspiration and endless strength. And then the two best gifts of the human spirit - art and freedom - will merge into a single mighty stream. And our Bolshoi Theater, this marvelous temple of art, will become a temple of freedom in the new life.

On March 31, L. Sobinov was appointed commissar of the Bolshoi Theater and the Theater School. Its activities are aimed at combating the tendencies of the former Directorate of the Imperial Theaters to interfere with the work of the Bolshoi. It comes to a strike. In protest against the encroachment on the theater's autonomy, the troupe suspended the performance of the play "Prince Igor" and asked the Moscow Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies to support the demands of the theater collective. The next day, a delegation from the Moscow City Council was sent to the theater, welcoming the Bolshoi Theater in the struggle for its rights. There is a document confirming the respect of the theater staff for L. Sobinov: "The Corporation of Artists, having elected you as the director, as the best and staunch defender and spokesman for the interests of art, earnestly asks you to accept this election and notify you of your consent."

In order No. 1 of April 6, L. Sobinov addressed the collective with the following appeal: “I am making a special request to my comrades, artists of the opera, ballet, orchestra and chorus, to all the production, artistic, technical and service personnel, artistic, pedagogical the staff and members of the theatrical school to make every effort to successfully end the theatrical season and academic year of the school and to prepare, on the basis of mutual trust and comradely unity, the forthcoming work in the next theatrical year. "

In the same season, on April 29, the 20th anniversary of the debut of L. Sobinov at the Bolshoi Theater was celebrated. The opera "The Pearl Seekers" was performed by J. Bizet. The stage mates warmly greeted the hero of the day. Without making up, in a suit of Nadir, Leonid Vitalievich made a response speech.

“Citizens, citizens, soldiers! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your greeting and I thank you not on my own, but on behalf of the entire Bolshoi Theater, to which you provided such moral support in difficult times.

During the difficult birthdays of Russian freedom, our theater, which until then had represented an unorganized assembly of people who "served" in the Bolshoi Theater, merged into a single whole and founded its future on an elective basis as a self-governing unit.

This elective principle saved us from devastation and breathed into us the breath of new life.

It would seem to live and rejoice. The representative of the Provisional Government, appointed to liquidate the affairs of the Ministry of the Court and Appanages, went to meet us - he welcomed our work and, at the request of the entire troupe, gave me, the elected manager, the rights of a commissioner and director of the theater.

Our autonomy did not interfere with the idea of ​​uniting all state theaters in the interests of the state. For this, a person was needed authoritative and close to the theater. Such a person was found. It was Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko.

This name is familiar and dear to Moscow: it would have united everyone, but ... he refused.

Other people came, very respectable, respected, but alien to the theater. They came with confidence that it was people who were outside the theater who would give reforms and new beginnings.

Less than three days later, attempts began to end our self-government.

Our elected offices have been postponed, and a few days ago we were promised a new regulation on the management of theaters. We still do not know by whom and when it was developed.

The telegram dully says that it meets the wishes of the theater workers, which we do not know. We did not participate, were not invited, but on the other hand, we know that the recently thrown off the orderly bonds are again trying to confuse us, again the commanding discretion argues with the will of the organized whole, and the quieted ordering rank raises its voice, accustomed to shouts.

I could not take responsibility for such reforms and resigned the power of the director.

But as an elected theater manager, I protest against the irresponsible seizure of the fate of our theater.

And we, our entire community, are now appealing to representatives of public organizations and the Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies to support the Bolshoi Theater and not give it to the Petrograd reformers for administrative experiments.

Let them be engaged in the stables department, specific winemaking, card factory, but they will leave the theater alone. "

Some of the points in this speech require clarification.

A new regulation on the management of theaters was issued on May 7, 1917 and assumed separate management of the Maly and Bolshoi theaters, and Sobinov was called the commissioner for the Bolshoi Theater and the Theater School, and not a commissar, that is, in fact, a director, according to the order of March 31.

Referring to the telegram, Sobinov has in mind the telegram he received from the Commissar of the Provisional Government for the department of the former. court and appanages (this included the stables department, and winemaking, and a card factory) F.A. Golovin.

And here is the text of the telegram itself: “I am very sorry that you resigned your powers by a misunderstanding. I earnestly ask you to continue working until the case is clarified. One of these days, a new general regulation on the management of theaters, known to Yuzhin, will be released, which meets the wishes of the theater workers. Commissioner Golovin ".

However, L.V.Sobinov does not cease to lead the Bolshoi Theater, works in contact with the Moscow Council of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies. On May 1, 1917, he himself took part in a performance for the benefit of the Moscow Council at the Bolshoi Theater and performed excerpts from Eugene Onegin.

Already on the eve of the October Revolution, on October 9, 1917, the Political Directorate of the War Ministry sent the following letter: “Commissioner of the Moscow Bolshoi Theater L.V. Sobinov.

According to the petition of the Moscow Council of Workers 'Deputies, you are appointed commissar over the theater of the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies (formerly Zimin Theater). "

After the October Revolution, E.K. Malinovskaya was put at the head of all Moscow theaters, who was considered the commissar of all theaters. L. Sobinov remained at the post of director of the Bolshoi Theater, and a council (elective) was created to help him.

One of the most famous and great theaters with a rich history. Even its name speaks for itself. Several deep meanings are hidden here. First of all, the Bolshoi Theater is a cluster of famous names, a whole constellation of magnificent composers, performers, dancers, artists, directors, an extensive gallery of brilliant performances. And also by the word "Big" we mean - "significant" and "colossal", a grandiose phenomenon in the history of art, not only domestic but also world. Not only for years and decades, but for centuries, invaluable experience has been accumulated here, passed down from generation to generation.

There is practically no such evening when the huge hall of the Bolshoi Theater is not filled with hundreds of spectators, so that the ramp lights do not burn, so that the curtain does not rise. What makes fans and connoisseurs of musical art strive here from all over the country and all over the world? Of course, the spirit of the originality of the Russian theater, its strength, brightness and depth, which are felt by every person who at least once crossed the famous threshold of the Bolshoi Theater. Spectators come here to admire the luxurious, graceful and noble interior, to enjoy the great repertoire that won fame more than one century ago and managed to carry and preserve it through the centuries. World famous artists shone on this stage, this building has seen a lot of Great (just like that, with a capital letter) People.

The Bolshoi Theater has always been famous for the continuity of its traditions. The past and the future are closely intertwined within these walls. Contemporary artists adopt the experience of the classical heritage, rich in aesthetic values ​​and imbued with high spirituality. In turn, famous performances of past years come to life and fill with new colors thanks to the efforts of new generations of artists and directors, each of which contributes to the development of the theater. Thus, the Bolshoi Theater does not stop for a minute in its creative growth and keeps pace with the times, while not forgetting about the preservation and augmentation of the great creative heritage.

Over 700 opera and ballet performances have been staged at the Bolshoi Theater - from 1825 to the present day - performances by both domestic and foreign composers. There are more than 80 names in total. We list just a few of them. These are Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, Dargomyzhsky and Prokofiev, Shchedrin and Khrennikov; these are Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, Beethoven, Britten and many, many others. And what can we say about the performances! One can only admire, because the repertoire history of the Bolshoi Theater contains over 140 operas, including Rigoletto and La Traviata, Mazepa and Eugene Onegin, Faust ... Many of these productions were born at the Bolshoi Theater and continue to to this day to remain in the repertoire, enjoying great success.

Did you know, for example, that the great composer P.I. Tchaikovsky made his debut as a creator of music for opera and ballet at the Bolshoi Theater? His first opera was Voevoda in 1869, and his first ballet was Swan Lake in 1877. It was on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater that Tchaikovsky first picked up the baton and conducted the premiere performance of the opera Cherevichki in 1887. The most famous operas by Giuseppe Verdi were also shown for the first time in Russia at the Bolshoi Theater - these are such performances as Don Carlos, Rigoletto and La Traviata, Masquerade Ball and Troubadour. It was here that operatic works by Grechaninov, Cui, Arensky, Rubinstein, Verstovsky, Flotov, Thom, Beethoven and Wagner celebrated their "Russian" birth.

Opera performances of the Bolshoi Theater have always been, are and remain the focus of the most talented performers. Such artists as the "Moscow nightingale" Alexander Bantyshev, the first performer of the main repertoire parts Nadezhda Repina, the magnificent Nikolai Lavrov, distinguished by a unique gift of stage transformation and an unusually beautiful voice, Pavel Khokhlov, who went down in the history of opera as the first Eugene Onegin of the professional operatic stage, shone here. and also the best performer of the role of the Demon in the history of the Russian opera theater. The soloists of the Bolshoi Theater were Fyodor Chaliapin, Antonina Nezhdanova and Leonid Sobinov, Ksenia Derzhinskaya and Nadezhda Obukhova, Elena Stepanova, Sergei Lemeshev, Valeria Barsova and Maria Maksakova ... A whole galaxy of unique Russian basses (Petrov, Mikhailov, Pirogov, Reisen, Krivchenya ( Lisitsian, Ivanov), tenors (Kozlovsky, Khanaev, Nelepp) ... Yes, the Bolshoi Theater has something to be proud of, these great names are forever inscribed in history, and largely thanks to them our famous theater became famous throughout the world.

Since ancient times, such a genre as opera was intended to be embodied in musical theaters, being an example of the synthesis of dramatic and musical art. PI Tchaikovsky argued that the opera has no meaning outside the stage. The creative process always represents the birth of something new. For the art of music, this means working in two directions. First of all, the theater takes part in the formation of the art of opera, works on the creation and stage implementation of new works. On the other hand, the theater tirelessly renews its performances of operas, both classical and modern. The new opera performance is not just another reproduction of the score and text, it is a different reading, a different view of the opera, which depends on many factors. These factors include the director's worldview, his lifestyle, and the era during which the production will take place. The operatic work is characterized by both artistic and ideological reading. This reading dictates the specifics of the performance style. Giuseppe Verdi, the renowned operatic reformer, wrote that without a meaningful interpretation, the success of an opera is impossible, without a confident and "reverent" interpretation, even beautiful music cannot save the opera.

Why can one and the same opera be staged several times, in different theaters, by completely different directors? Because it is a classic that does not lose its relevance in any era, which for each new generation can turn out to be fruitful and rich in creative material. The Bolshoi Theater, in turn, is famous for its interest in contemporary works of opera, reflecting the trends of the postmodern era. Contemporary composers enrich the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater with new operas, many of which occupy an honorable place in the repertoire and deserve the love and respect of the public.

The stage incarnation of contemporary opera is not an easy job for the theater. After all, an opera performance, as we have already noted above, is a complex dramatic complex. There must be a strong and organic relationship between theater and music, unique for each interpretation. Opera houses often partner with composers to help them complete and improve their works. Dzerzhinsky's opera The Fate of a Man, staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1961, can serve as a model for demonstrating the successful result of this kind of cooperation.

First, the composer brought his work for audition, and then he was asked to create new music for the images of the main characters - for example, for Zinka. The improved and finalized score on the recommendation of the theater helped to make this image more lively, vivid, and deep in meaning.

Often, the works of contemporary composers run up against a wall of misunderstanding and prejudice on the part of the leaders of the musical theater. It should be noted that sometimes really extravagant experiments are not good for art. But there is no unambiguously correct view of the process of development of opera and cannot be. For example, back in 1913, Sergei Prokofiev received advice from S. Diaghilev - not to write music for an opera, but to turn exclusively to ballet. Diaghilev argued that opera was dying, while ballet, on the contrary, was flourishing. And what do we see after almost a century? That many of Prokofiev's opera scores can compete in richness, melodiousness, beauty with the best classical works of this genre.

In the creation of an opera performance, not only the composer and librettist take part, but also the theater itself, in which this performance will be staged. After all, it is on the stage that the opera receives its rebirth, takes on stage embodiment, and is filled with audience perception. Traditions of stage performance replace each other, constantly enriching with each new era.

The main character of the musical theater is an actor and a singer. He creates a stage image, and depending on the interpretation of a particular performer, the viewer will perceive certain characters, learning about operatic art. Drama and music are closely related, the interpretation of the performer and the hero of the opera are inseparable, the musical solution and stage action are inseparable from each other. Every opera artist is a creator, a creator.

Old performances are being replaced by new ones; the Bolshoi Theater's repertoire is regularly replenished with new names of artists and new productions. And each such performance embodies the next serious step of the great theater on its significant historical path. This path is filled with endless searches and grandiose achievements and victories. The Bolshoi Theater combines the greatness of the past, the progress of the present, the achievements of the future. Modern generations of directors, artists, composers and librettists are invariably helping the Bolshoi to achieve new heights in art.

The history of the Bolshoi Theater is no less interesting and majestic than the performances that live on its stage. The theater building, the pride of our culture, is located not far from the Kremlin walls, in the very center of the capital. It is executed in the classical style, its features and lines are striking with monumentality and solemnity. Here you can see the white colonnade, as well as the famous quadriga that adorns the building's pediment. Everything here is large-scale and grandiose - from the forms of the architectural ensemble to the size of the team. The hall is made in a luxurious red color and decorated with gold, has five tiers, and is illuminated by a magnificent huge crystal chandelier. More than 2000 spectators can watch the performance at the same time! The stage is also impressive in its dimensions - 22 meters deep and 18 meters wide. During operas on an epic scale, the stage can accommodate up to 400 people without feeling cramped. The staff of the Bolshoi Theater consists of more than 2,000 employees - this is the administration, technical staff, art workers and many other qualified specialists. A lot of both opera and ballet performances were born on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater, and since then, from the birthday of the Bolshoi to the present, over 1000 premieres have been shown here. And now you will find out how it all began ...

So, let's fast forward to the distant 1776. On May 17, the metropolitan provincial prosecutor P. Urusov received a government privilege. She allowed the prosecutor to organize theatrical performances, masquerades and other entertainment events. Urusov needed a companion for his work, and this companion was the Englishman M. Medox, who was passionately in love with theatrical art, an enterprising and intelligent person. May 17, 1776 is considered to be the birthday of the Moscow professional theater. The original theater troupe consisted of only 13 actors, 9 actresses, 13 musicians, 4 dancers, 3 dancers and a choreographer. The collective did not have its own premises; they had to rent the house of Count Vorontsov, located on Znamenka, for the performances.

The premiere performance took place in 1777 - it was D. Zorin's opera "Rebirth". Subsequently, the historian P. Arapov spoke about this production as follows: “On January 8, it was decided to give the first opera, an original one ... it was composed of Russian songs. It is called "Rebirth". The management was very worried about the performance of the opera, and deliberately called the audience before the premiere to ask their permission. Despite overwhelming fears, the show was a great success. "

Two years later, a new production was presented - the comic opera The Miller - the Sorcerer, the Deceiver and the Matchmaker. A. Ablesimov acted as a librettist, M. Sokolovsky wrote the music. Contemporaries testified that the play was popular among the public, was “played” many times and always with a full house. And not only the Russian audience came to watch and listen to this opera with pleasure, but foreigners also honored it with their attention. Perhaps this is the first Russian opera performance that has won such worldwide fame.

In the newspaper "Moskovskie vedomosti" in 1780, on February 26, one could read an advertisement announcing the construction of his own building for the theater. For this purpose, a spacious stone house was chosen, located on Bolshaya Petrovskaya Street, near the Kuznetsky Most. The announcement also mentioned that the interior of the theater is expected to be "the best of its kind." Companions purchased land for construction on the right bank of the Neglinka. It is rather difficult to imagine now that on the site of the Bolshoi Theater there was once a practically deserted area, periodically flooded by a river. On the right bank of the river there was a road leading to the Kremlin from the Novopetrovsky monastery. Gradually the road disappeared, in its place was built Petrovskaya street with shopping rows. Wooden Moscow often burned, fires destroyed buildings, new ones were built instead of burned down houses. And even after the trading shops were replaced by stone buildings, from time to time in these places fires continued to break out ... The theater building was erected very quickly - of stone, three floors, a plank roof. The construction took five months - and this is instead of the five years allotted in accordance with the government privilege. It was spent on the construction of 130 thousand silver rubles. The building was erected by the German architect Christian Roseberg. This building could not be called beautiful, but its size was truly amazing. The facade of the building faced Petrovskaya Street, and the theater was named Petrovsky.

The theater's repertoire included ballet, operatic and dramatic performances, but the audience liked operas most of all. Thanks to this, the Petrovsky Theater soon acquired a second, unofficial name: "Opera House". In those days, the theater collective was not yet subdivided into drama and opera artists - the same persons appeared in ballet, opera, and drama. An interesting fact - Mikhail Shchepkin, who was accepted into the troupe of the Petrovsky Theater, began precisely as an opera artist, took part in the productions of "A Rare Thing", "Misfortune from the Carriage". In 1822 he performed the part of Water Carrier in the opera of the same name by L. Cherubini - this role has forever become one of the most beloved roles of the artist. Pavel Mochalov, the famous tragedian, embodied Hamlet and at the same time led the colloquial role of Vadim in the opera by A. Verstovsky. And later, when the Maly Theater was already built, the Bolshoi Theater stage continued to abound in dramatic performances, as well as performances with the participation of diverse actors.

History does not have complete information about the first repertoire of the Petrovsky Theater, but there is evidence that the operas “Misfortune from the carriage” by V. Pashkevich, “St. Petersburg Gostiny Dvor”, as well as “Roseanne and Lyubim” by I. Kerzelli were performed on the stage of the theater. The repertoire at the beginning of the 19th century was notable for its diversity, but the audience especially welcomed the operas by K. Kavos - "The Imaginary Invisible", "Love Mail" and "Cossack Poet". As for "Cossack" - it has not disappeared from the theatrical repertoire for more than forty years!

The performances were not daily, mostly two or three times a week. In winter, performances were shown more often. During the year, the theater gave about 80 performances. In 1806, the Petrovsky Theater received the status of a state theater. The fire of 1805 destroyed the building that we talked about above. As a result, the collective was forced to give performances at various Moscow venues - this is the New Arbat Theater, and Pashkov's house on Mokhovaya, and Apraksin's house on Znamenka.

Professor A. Mikhailov, meanwhile, was developing a new project for the theater. Emperor Alexander the First approved the project in 1821. The construction was entrusted to the architect O. Bove. As a result, on the site of the burned down building a new one was built - huge and majestic, the largest in Europe, it was recognized as the second largest after the Teatro alla Scala in Milan. The facade of the theater, which was named the Bolshoi for its scale, overlooked the Theater Square.

In January 1825, on January 17, the issue of the newspaper "Moskovskie vedomosti" was published, which told about the construction of a new theater building. In an article about the theater, it was noted that this event is presented to posterity as a kind of miracle, and to contemporaries - as something absolutely amazing. This event brings Russia closer to Europe - just one glance at the Bolshoi Theater is enough ... The opening of the Bolshoi Theater was accompanied by the prologue of Alyabyev and Verstovsky "Triumph of the Muses", as well as the ballet "Sandrillon" by F. Sora. The patron saint of the muses Apollo read from the stage solemn poetic lines in which the beginning of new, happy times before Russia was passionately proclaimed. "The proud foreigner ... will envy the fruits of the abundant peace .... Looking with envy at our banners." There were so many people who wanted to see the first production at the Bolshoi Theater with their own eyes that the management had to sell tickets in advance, thus avoiding crowds on the day of the premiere. Despite its impressive size, the auditorium of the theater could not accommodate even half of the audience. In order to satisfy the demands of the audience and not offend anyone, the performance was completely repeated the next day.

A. Verstovsky, a famous Russian composer, held the post of inspector of music in those years. His personal contribution to the formation of the national opera house is very great. Subsequently, Verstovsky became an inspector of the repertoire, and then a manager at the Moscow theater office. Russian musical drama developed under Verstovsky - it all began with small vaudeville operas, and then grew into large operatic works of a romantic nature. The pinnacle of the repertoire was the opera Askold's Grave, penned by Verstovsky himself.

Operas by M. Glinka have become not only a colossal phenomenon in the history of classical music in general, but also a significant stage in the development of the Bolshoi Theater. Glinka is rightfully considered the founder of Russian classics. In 1842 his “heroic-tragic” opera “Ivan Susanin” (“Life for the Tsar”) was staged on a new stage, and in 1845 - the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila”. Both of these works played an important role in the formation of the traditions of the musical epic genre, as well as in the foundations of his own, Russian opera repertoire.

Composers A. Serov and A. Dargomyzhsky became worthy successors of M. Glinka's undertakings. The audience got acquainted with Dargomyzhsky's opera "Mermaid" in 1859, and in 1865 Serov's opera "Judith" saw the light of the stage. In the 1940s, there was a tendency to disappear from the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater of foreign performances, which were mostly entertaining and lacking in content. They are being replaced by serious opera productions by Aubert, Mozart, Donizetti, Bellini and Rossini.

About the fire in the theater - it happened in 1853, on March 11. It was a frosty and cloudy early spring morning. The fire in the building broke out instantly, it was not possible to establish the cause. In a matter of seconds, the fire engulfed all the premises of the theater, including the auditorium and stage. In a few hours, all the wooden structures burned to the ground, except for the lower floor with a sideboard, an office and a cash register, and also except for the side halls. They tried to extinguish the flames for two days, and on the third day only charred columns and ruins of walls remained on the site of the theater. Many valuable things were lost during the fire - fine costumes, rare decorations, expensive musical instruments, part of the music library collected by Verstovsky, the archive of the theater troupe. The damage to the theater was estimated at about 10 million silver rubles. But the material losses were not so terrible as the pain of the soul. Eyewitnesses recalled that it was scary and painful to look at the giant enveloped in flames. The feeling was that it was not a building that was dying, but a loved one ...

Reconstruction work began fairly quickly. It was decided to erect a new building on the site of the burned one. Meanwhile, the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater gave performances in the premises of the Maly Theater. On May 14, 1855, the project for the new building was approved and scaffolding filled the area. Albert Cavos was appointed as the architect. It took a year and four months to restore the Bolshoi Theater. Remember when we said that part of the facade and outer walls were preserved in the fire? Kavos used them in the construction, and also did not change the layout of the theater, only slightly increased the height, slightly altered the proportions and recreated the decorative elements anew. Kavos was well acquainted with the architectural features of the best European theaters, he was well versed in the technical aspects of the stage and auditorium arrangement. All this knowledge helped him create great lighting, as well as optimize the optics and acoustics of the hall as much as possible. So, the new building came out even more grandiose in size. The height of the theater was already 40 meters, not 36; the height of the portico has increased by a meter. But the columns have decreased slightly, but insignificantly, only by a fraction of a meter. As a result, the renovated Bolshoi Theater has broken the most daring Italian records. For example, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples boasted a curtain width of 24 arshins, the famous Milanese La Scala - 23 arshins, Fenice in Venice - 20 arshins. And at the Bolshoi Theater, the curtain was 30 yards wide! (1 yard is a little more than 71 centimeters).

Unfortunately, the pride of the architectural composition of the Bolshoi Theater, the alabaster group led by Apollo, perished in the fire. To create a new architectural group, Kavos turned to the Russian sculptor Pyotr Klodt. It is Pyotr Klodt who is the author of the famous equestrian groups that adorn the bridge over the Fontanka in St. Petersburg. The result of the sculptor's work was the quadriga with Apollo, which became famous all over the world. The quadriga was cast from an alloy of metals and plated with red copper. The new architectural group surpassed the old one by one and a half meters in size, its height was now 6.5 meters! The ensemble was marked on the ridge of the portico roof on a pedestal and moved forward a little. The sculpture is a row of four horses, galloping and harnessed to a quadriga, in which the god Apollo stands and controls them with a lyre and a laurel wreath.

Why was Apollo chosen as the symbol of the theater? As is known from Greek mythology, Apollo is the patron saint of the arts - poetry, singing, music. Ancient buildings were often decorated with quadriges with similar deities. On the pediments of magnificent buildings, both in Russia and in Europe, one could often see such quadrigs.

The auditorium was decorated no less elegantly and luxuriously. The notes of the architect Albert Kavos have survived, in which he mentioned his work on the auditorium of the Bolshoi Theater. Kavos wrote that he tried to decorate the hall magnificently, but not too pretentious, mixing the Byzantine style with a light Renaissance. The main pride of the hall was a magnificent chandelier - candelabra decorated with crystal and lamps in three rows. The interior decoration itself deserved no less enthusiastic reviews - draperies in boxes of rich crimson color, decorated with golden patterns; predominant white throughout, exquisite arabesques on all floors. Stucco barriers and carving were done by master Akht with his brothers, sculptural work was done by Schwartz, painting on the walls was created by the hand of Academician Titov. The plafond in the auditorium was also painted by Titov. This construction is unique, it occupies about 1000 square meters and is made in the theme of "Apollo and the Muse - Patroness of the Arts".

According to an ancient Greek legend, the god Apollo in the spring and summer went out to the high Parnassus and the wooded slopes of Helikon to lead a round dance with the muses, of which, as you know, there were nine. Muses are the daughters of Mnemosyne and the supreme god Zeus. They are young and beautiful. Apollo plays the golden cithara, and the muses sing in a harmonious chorus. Each muse patronizes a certain art form, and each of them has its own item that symbolizes this art form. Calliope is responsible for epic poetry, plays the flute; Euterpa also plays the flute, but also reads a book - she patronizes lyric poetry. Another patroness of poetry - Erato - is responsible for love poems, and she has a lyre in her hands. Melpomene carries a sword, she is the muse of tragedy. Thalia is in charge of comedy and holds a graceful mask, Terpsichore, the muse of dance, carries a tympanum. Clea is the muse of history, her eternal companion is papyrus. The muse of Urania, who is in charge of astronomy, does not part with the globe. The ninth sister and muse, Polyhymnia, is called to patronize the sacred hymns, but the artists portray her as the muse of painting, with paints and a brush. With the appearance of Apollo and the nine muses, a blissful silence reigns on Olympus, Zeus stops throwing formidable lightning and the gods dance to the magical melodies of Apollo's cithara.

The curtain is another attraction of the Bolshoi Theater. It is a true work of art that was created by Kozroe-Dusi, a painting professor from Venice. In Italian theaters, it was customary to depict an episode from the life of the city on the curtain, and for the Bolshoi Theater, according to the same tradition, they chose 1612 - namely, the episode when Muscovites with bread and salt meet liberators, warriors led by Minin and Pozharsky. For forty years, a curtain with this picture adorned the famous stage. Subsequently, the curtains at the Bolshoi Theater were changed more than once. In the 30s of the last century, the artist F. Fedorovsky developed a curtain project depicting three historical dates - 1871, 1905 and 1917 (the first date is the Paris Commune, the second date is the first revolution in Russia, the third date is the October Revolution). This topical design persisted for fifteen years. Then, due to the general deterioration of the curtain, it was decided to leave the general style, but at the same time to strengthen the political theme. The task of reconstructing the curtain was entrusted to the artist M. Petrovsky, it was 1955. Petrovsky in his work was guided by the initial sketches of Fedorovsky.

The renovated curtain of the theater was decorated with intricate ornaments. The design used the image of a scarlet banner and the inscription "USSR", the phrase "Glory, glory, native land!" Was added, as well as the image of a lyre, a golden star; of course, the famous Soviet emblem of the hammer and sickle, symbolizing fertility and labor, was not without. Silk with a golden thread thrown over it was chosen as the material for the curtain. The curtain covered an area of ​​approximately 500 square meters, and its mass exceeded a ton.

But let's go back to the 19th century, during the period of restoration work led by the architect Kavos. These works were completed in 1856, and on August 20, in the presence of the royal persons, the grand opening of the Bolshoi Theater took place. The Italian troupe performed the opera "Puritans" by V. Bellini.

The external and internal appearance that the Bolshoi Theater acquired in 1856, with some changes, has survived to this day. The building in which the Bolshoi Theater is located is rightfully considered a masterpiece of Russian classical architecture, a historical and cultural landmark, an example of classical architecture, one of the most beautiful theater buildings in the world.

Composer Sergei Rachmaninov wrote: “Have you ever seen the Moscow Bolshoi Theater in photographs? This building is magnificent and grandiose. The Bolshoi Theater is located on the square, which was formerly called Teatralnaya, since there was also another theater, the Imperial Theater, famous for its dramatic performances. The last theater is inferior in size to the first. According to their size, the theaters were named Bolshoi and Maly, respectively. "

For quite a long time, the Bolshoi Theater was a cultural institution subordinate to the Directorate of Imperial Theaters. The orchestra was led by random people who were not very interested in the musical content of the performances. These "leaders" mercilessly deleted entire episodes from scores, reworked bass and baritone parts for tenors, and tenor parts for basses, etc. For example, in K. Weber's opera The Magic Shooter, Kaspar's part was so disfigured and reduced that it turned into a dramatic one. To gain success with the audience, old popular productions were brought up. F. Kokoshkin, director of the Moscow Imperial Theaters, in 1827 drew up a report in which he mentioned the following - he had to put “attractive” performances in the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater in order to eliminate the “shortfall in income”; and he succeeded - the opera Invisible Woman secured an impressive collection.

The budget of the Russian opera of that period was very limited. New costumes were not sewn, new sets were not built, being satisfied with old supplies. Even Glinka's ceremonial opera A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanin) was performed in old sets and costumes until they completely turned into rags. The scarcity of the stage setting was striking, especially in comparison with the Petersburg theater. In St. Petersburg, in the 1860s, the decorative principles were completely renewed and performances began to be decorated on an unprecedented scale.

The second half of the 19th century brought with it some changes for the better. The changes began with the arrival of two talented musicians in the theater in the 1880s - I. Altani, who took the post of chief conductor, and U. Avranek, who received the post of second conductor and chief choirmaster. The number of the orchestra reached 100 people, the choir - 120 people. These years were characterized by the flourishing of musical art in Russia as a whole, which was inextricably linked with the impressive rise of social life. This rise led to progress in all areas of culture, not only in music. The best classical operas were composed during that era; in the future, they formed the basis of the national operatic repertoire, its heritage and pride.

Musical and stage art reached an unprecedented rise at the beginning of the twentieth century. The opera collective of the Bolshoi Theater was enriched by brilliant singers who later made the theater famous all over the world - these are Fyodor Chaliapin, Leonid Sobinov, Antonina Nezhdanova. Sobinov's debut took place in 1897 in A. Rubinstein's opera The Demon, where the future great singer performed the part of the Synodal. The name of Fyodor Chaliapin sounded in 1899, when the public first saw him on the opera stage in the role of Mephistopheles in the play "Faust". Antonina Nezhdanova in 1902, while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, brilliantly performed in the opera by M. Glinka "Life for the Tsar" in the role of Antonida. Chaliapin, Sobinov and Nezhdanova are real diamonds in the opera history of the Bolshoi Theater. They found a great performer, Pavel Khokhlov, the best in the role of the Demon and the creator of the stage image of Eugene Onegin.

In addition to enriching the collective with talented performers, the theater's repertoire was also enriched at the beginning of the twentieth century. It includes grandiose and artistically significant performances. In 1901, on October 10, Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "The Woman of Pskov" was published, in which the role of Ivan the Terrible was led by Fyodor Chaliapin. In the same 1901 the opera "Mozart and Salieri" saw the light of the footlights, in 1905 - "Pan-voivode". In 1904, a new version of the famous opera "A Life for the Tsar" was presented to the attention of the Bolshoi Theater audience, in which the young "stars" of the troupe, Chaliapin and Nezhdanova, took part. Domestic opera classics were also replenished with the works of M. Mussorgsky "Khovanshchina", Rimsky-Korsakov "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" (1913) and "The Tsar's Bride" (1916). The Bolshoi Theater did not forget about the performances of outstanding foreign composers; in those years, operas by D. Puccini, P. Mascagni, R. Leoncavallo, as well as the opera cycle by R. Wagner were staged on its stage.

Sergei Rachmaninoff collaborated with the Bolshoi Theater fruitfully and successfully, showing himself not only as a genius composer, but also as a talented conductor. In his work, high professionalism, skill in cutting performance were combined with a powerful temperament, the ability to subtly feel the style. Rachmaninoff's works significantly improved the quality of Russian opera music. Note also that the name of this composer is associated with a change in the location of the conductor's stand on the stage. Previously, the conductor had to have his back to the orchestra, facing the stage, near the ramp; now he stood so that he could see both the stage and the orchestra.

Special attention should be paid to the magnificent and highly professional Bolshoi Theater Orchestra, as well as its no less professional choir. For 25 years, the orchestra was directed by Vyacheslav Suk, and the choir was directed by Ulrich Avranek, conductor and choirmaster. The theater performances were designed by artists Vasily Polenov, Alexander Golovin, Konstantin Korovin and Apollinary Vasnetsov. It was thanks to their creativity that the performances acquired a colorful, imaginative, majestic appearance.
The turn of the century brought with it not only achievements, but also challenges. In particular, the contradictions between the policy pursued by the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters and the artistic plans of the creative theatrical forces intensified. The activities of the Directorate bore the character of technical backwardness and routine, as before, they were guided by the staging experience of the imperial scenes. This conflict led to the fact that the Bolshoi Theater periodically dropped out of the cultural life of the capital, yielding the palm to the Opera House of S. Zimin and the Private Opera of S. Mamontov.

But the collapse of the imperial theaters was not far off. The last performance of the old format at the Bolshoi Theater took place in 1917, on February 28. And already on March 2, the following entry could be seen in the theater's schedule: “Bloodless revolution. There is no performance. " On March 13, the official opening of the State Bolshoi Theater took place.

The activities of the Bolshoi Theater resumed, but not for long. The October events forced the performances to be interrupted. The last performance of the peace period - it was A. Delibes' opera "Lakme" - was given on October 27. And then armed uprisings began ...

The first season after the October Revolution was opened on November 8, 1917 by a common decision of the Bolshoi Theater collective. And on November 21, a performance took place on the stage of the theater - D. Verdi's opera "Aida" under the direction of Vyacheslav Suk. The part of Aida was performed by Ksenia Derzhinskaya. On December 3, K. Sen-Saens' opera "Samson and Delilah" was published, which became the premiere of the season. It was attended by Nadezhda Obukhova and Ignacy Dygas.

On December 7, 1919, an order was issued by A. Lunacharsky, People's Commissar of Education, according to which the Mariinsky, Mikhailovsky and Alexandrovsky theaters in Petrograd, as well as the Bolshoi and Maly theaters in Moscow, should henceforth be called "State Academic". Over the next several years, the fate of the Bolshoi Theater remained the subject of heated disputes and intense discussions. Some were convinced that the theater would become the focus of the musical forces of socialist art. Others argued that the Bolshoi Theater had no prospects for development and could not be transformed in accordance with the new era. And it was a difficult time for the country - famine, fuel crisis, devastation and civil war. The question of closing the Bolshoi Theater was periodically raised, the necessity of its existence was questioned, it was proposed to destroy the theater as a citadel of "inert" academicism.
After the October Revolution, theories of "the withering away of the opera genre", which had arisen at the beginning of the twentieth century, also gained widespread acceptance.

The Proletkultists zealously asserted that opera is an art form with "negative baggage" and is not needed by a Soviet person. In particular, it was proposed that the production of The Snow Maiden be removed from the Bolshoi Theater's repertoire, since one of its central characters is a half-monarch-demigod (Berendey), and this was unacceptable. In general, all the operas of the composer Rimsky-Korsakov did not suit the proletkultists. They also violently attacked Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata and Aida, as well as his other works. Opera in those years was defended by progressive intellectuals headed by A. Lunacharsky. The intelligentsia actively and selflessly fought for the preservation of the classical opera repertoire, for the prevention of nihilistic proletkult performances from being staged. Lunacharsky boldly criticized vulgarizing ideas, opposed attacks on Aida and La Traviata, arguing that many members of the party love these operas. Soon after the revolution, Lunacharsky, on behalf of Lenin, turned to the theatrical leadership with a request to develop interesting measures to attract the creative intelligentsia to enlightenment. The Bolshoi Theater responded to this request with a cycle of symphony orchestras that have not left the stage for no less than five years. These concerts consisted of classical pieces, both Russian and foreign. Each presentation was accompanied by an explanatory lecture. Lunacharsky himself took part in these concerts as a lecturer, calling them "the best event in the musical life of the capital of the 1920s." These events were held in the auditorium. They removed the barrier that fenced off the hall from the orchestra pit, placing the string group on specially adapted machines. The first concert of the cycle took place in 1919, on May 4. The hall was overcrowded. Works by Wagner, Beethoven and Bach were performed, the orchestra was conducted by S. Koussevitsky.

Symphony concerts at the Bolshoi Theater were held on Sundays in the morning. Later the program included works by Liszt and Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Scriabin and Rachmaninov, and the orchestra was conducted by Emil Cooper, Vyacheslav Suk, Oscar Fried and Bruno Walter. And composer Alexander Glazunov conducted the orchestra independently while performing his works.

In the early 1920s, a concert hall was opened for the public at the Bolshoi Theater, which was later recognized as one of the most acoustically competently built, graceful and sophisticated halls in Moscow. Today this hall is called Beethoven's. The former imperial foyer was inaccessible to the general public in the pre-revolutionary years. Only a few lucky ones managed to see its magnificent walls, decorated with silk, decorated with handmade embroidery; its stunningly beautiful ceiling with stucco molding in the style of Old Italy; his rich bronze chandeliers. In 1895, this hall was created as a work of art, and in this unchanged form it has survived to this day. In 1920, the soloist of the Bolshoi Theater V. Kubatsky proposed to put several hundred chairs in the hall and build a compact stage, where instrumental evenings and chamber concerts began to be held.

In 1921, namely on February 18, the opening ceremony of a new concert hall at the Bolshoi Theater took place. The ceremony was timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the birth of the genius composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Lunacharsky spoke at the opening of the hall and made a speech in which he noted that Beethoven “striving for communism” “people's” Russia is very dear and especially needed ... after that the hall began to be called Beethoven's. Many years later, in 1965, a bust of Beethoven by the sculptor P. Shapiro will be installed here.

So, the Beethoven Hall became the venue for chamber music concerts. Renowned instrumentalists and performers have performed here - Nadezhda Obukhova, Konstantin Igumnov, Svyatoslav Knushevitsky, Vera Dulova, Antonina Nezhdanova, Egon Petri, Isai Dobrovein, Ksenia Erdeli and many others. Musical Moscow became inextricably linked with the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater ... this continued until the Second World War. The auditorium was closed and was inaccessible to the public for nearly two decades. The second opening took place in 1978, on March 25. The doors of the famous hall were thrown open, and the audience was again able to attend Saturday afternoon concerts, almost each of which became a real event in the capital's musical life.

Note that in the 1920s, a unique belfry was installed in the Bolshoi Theater, which has no analogues in the whole world. It was collected by the bell ringer A. Kusakin throughout Russia; By the way, it was Kusakin who for many years was the only performer of bell ringing in theatrical performances. The bells were selected on the basis of tonal characteristics, their number reaches forty. The largest bell weighs more than five tons and is almost three meters in diameter; the diameter of the smallest bell is 20 centimeters. We can hear the real bell ringing at the opera performances "Prince Igor", "Ivan Susanin", "Boris Godunov" and others.

The second stage has been actively involved in the performances of the Bolshoi Theater since the end of the 19th century. In the fall of 1898, the opening of the Imperial New Theater took place in the premises of the Shelaputinsky Theater (now it is known as the Central Children's Theater). Here, until the fall of 1907, young artists of the Bolshoi and Maly theaters gave performances. In 1922, on January 8, the New Theater was reopened with the opera "The Barber of Seville" by D. Rossini. In the summer of 1924, the Bolshoi Theater troupe performed on this stage for the last time. In September of the same year, the Experimental Theater was opened - it was located in the former S. Zimin Opera House (now we know it as the Moscow Operetta Theater). The opera "Trilby" by A. Yurasovsky was performed at the opening. September turned out to be a rich month in opening - in 1928, this month, the performances of the Second GATOB began. In the period from June 1930 to December 1959, a branch of the Bolshoi Theater worked here. During this period, 19 ballet and 57 opera performances saw the light of the stage.

In 1961 the troupe of the Bolshoi Theater received at its disposal the premises that belonged to the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. Every evening more than six thousand spectators filled the hall, over 200 performances were staged per season. The work of the Bolshoi Theater in this building was completed in 1989, on May 2, with the opera "Troubadour" by Giuseppe Verdi.

Let's go back to the 1920s - although the times were difficult and the conditions for creative work were extremely harsh, serious works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, Mussorgsky, Dargomyzhsky, Tchaikovsky and Borodin did not come out of the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater. The management of the theater tried in every possible way to acquaint the audience with the famous operas by foreign composers as well. Here for the first time the Russian public saw "Salome", "Cio-Cio-San" (1925), "Floria Tosca" (1930), "Figaro's wedding" (1926). The stage embodiment of modern operas has been occupied by the collective of the Bolshoi Theater since the 1920s. The premiere of Yurasovsky's opera Trilby took place in 1924, and in 1927 the curtain went up for Prokofiev's opera The Love for Three Oranges. Over the course of five years (until 1930), the Bolshoi Theater produced 14 ballets and operas by contemporary composers. These works were destined for a different stage fate - some were released only a couple of times, others lasted several seasons, and some operas continue to delight the audience to this day. The modern repertoire, however, was characterized by fluidity due to the complexity of the creative searches of young composers. These experiments were not always successful. In the 1930s, the situation changed - operas by Glier, Asafiev, Shostakovich began to appear one after another. The skills of performers and authors were mutually and fruitfully enriched. The renewed repertoire brought up new artists. The rich possibilities of young performers allowed composers and playwrights to expand the range of creative searches. In this regard, one cannot fail to note the opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, written by the great composer Dmitry Shostakovich. It was staged at the Bolshoi Theater in 1935. Also of no small importance were the so-called “song” operas by the famous author I. Dzerzhinsky - “Quiet Don” (1936) and “Virgin Soil Upturned” (1937).

The Great Patriotic War began, and the work of the theater in the hospital had to be suspended. The troupe was evacuated to Kuibyshev (Samara) by government order dated October 14, 1941. The building remained empty ... The Bolshoi Theater was evacuated for almost two years. At first, viewers who came to the Kuibyshev Palace of Culture saw only individual concert programs performed by artists of the orchestra, ballets and operas, but in the winter of 1941 full-fledged performances began - "La Traviata" by Verdi, "Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky. The repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater collective in 1943 in Kuibyshev included nine operas and five ballet performances. And in 1942, on March 5, the Seventh Symphony of Shostakovich sounded here for the first time in the country, performed by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra under the direction of S. Samosud. This musical event has become significant in the culture of both Russia and the whole world.

However, it should be mentioned that not all the artists went to the rear, some remained in Moscow. Part of the troupe continued to perform in the branch premises. The action was often interrupted by air attacks, the audience had to go down to the bomb shelter, but the performance invariably continued after the alarm was cleared. In 1941, on October 28, a bomb was dropped on the building of the Bolshoi Theater. It destroyed the facade wall and exploded in the foyer. For a long time, the theater, covered with a camouflage net, seemed abandoned forever. But in fact, restoration and repair work was actively going on inside it. In the winter of 1942, a group of artists headed by P. Korin began to restore the interior design of the theater, and in 1943, on September 26, work on the main stage was resumed by one of the favorite operas - "Ivan Susanin" by M. Glinka.

As the years passed, the theater continued to develop and improve. In the 1960s, a new rehearsal hall was opened here, which was located on the top floor, almost under the roof itself. The shape and size of the new site were not inferior to the playing stage. In the adjoining hall there was a place for an orchestra pit and a vast amphitheater, which traditionally houses musicians, artists, choreographers, painters and, of course, directors.

In 1975, preparations were made for a large-scale celebration in honor of the 200th anniversary of the theater's founding. The restorers did a great job - they renewed the gilding, carvings and stucco molding in the auditorium, restored the old white and gold decoration, which was hidden under layers of paint. 60,000 sheets of gold leaf were required to restore the regal shine to the barriers of the boxes. The boxes were also decorated with dark red fabric. They removed the luxurious chandelier, carefully cleaned the crystal and repaired minor breakdowns. The chandelier returned to the ceiling of the Bolshoi Theater auditorium in an even more magnificent form, shining with all 288 lamps.

After the restoration, the auditorium of the country's most important theater again began to resemble a golden tent woven of gold, snow, rays of fire and purple.
The post-war period for the Bolshoi Theater was marked by the emergence of new productions of operas by Russian composers - these are Eugene Onegin (1944) and Boris Godunov (1948) and Khovanshchina (1950), ”(1949),“ The Legend of the City of Kitezh ” , "Mlada", "The Golden Cockerel", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Night Before Christmas". Paying tribute to the creative heritage of Czech, Polish, Slovak and Hungarian composers, the Bolshoi Theater added to its repertoire the operas The Bartered Bride (1948), Pebbles (1949), Her Stepdaughter (1958), Bank Ban (1959) ... The Bolshoi did not forget about the performances of foreign operas; Aida, Othello and Falstaff, Tosca, Fidelio and Fra Diavolo appeared on the stage again. Subsequently, the repertoire of the Bolshoi Theater was enriched with such rare works as Iphigenia in Aulis (1983, K. Gluck), Julius Caesar (1979, G. Handel), The Beautiful Miller Woman (1986, D. Paisiello), The Spanish Hour "(1978, M. Ravel).

The stage performance of operas by contemporary authors at the Bolshoi Theater was marked by major successes. The premiere of the opera "The Decembrists" by Y. Shaporin in 1953 - a magnificent musical work of historical themes - was sold out to a full house. Also, the theater poster was full of wonderful operas by Sergei Prokofiev - "War and Peace", "The Gambler", "Semyon Kotko", "Betrothal in a Monastery".

The collective of the Bolshoi Theater carried out continuous and fruitful cooperation with musical figures from foreign theaters. For example, in 1957 the Czech maestro Zdenek Halabala conducted the orchestra at the opera "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Bolshoi Theater, and the conductor from Bulgaria, Assen Naydenov, took part in the production of the opera "Don Carlos". Were invited German directors, Erhard Fischer, Joachim Herz, who prepared for the productions of the opera "Troubadour" by Giuseppe Verdi and "The Flying Dutchman" by Richard Wagner. The opera "Castle of the Duke Bluebeard" in 1978 on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater was staged by the Hungarian director Andras Miko. Nikolay Benois, an artist from the famous La Scala, designed the performances A Midsummer Night's Dream (1965), Masquerade Ball (1979), Mazepa (1986) at the Bolshoi Theater.

The Bolshoi Theater collective outnumbers many theatrical collectives in the world, numbering over 900 artists of the orchestra, chorus, ballet, opera, and mimic ensemble. One of the basic principles of the Bolshoi Theater was the right of each artist not to be isolated, a separate link, but to be part of a single whole as its important and integral part. Here the stage action and music are closely interconnected, they reinforce each other, acquiring special psychological and emotional properties that can have a strong influence on listeners and viewers.

The Bolshoi Theater Orchestra is also a reason for pride. He is distinguished by the highest professionalism, impeccable sense of style, perfect teamwork and musical culture. 250 artists are part of the orchestra, which performs a rich repertoire full of works of foreign and Russian opera drama. The Bolshoi Theater Choir consists of 130 performers. It is an essential component of every opera production. The ensemble is characterized by high skill, which was noted during the French tour of the Bolshoi Theater by the Parisian press. The newspaper wrote - not a single world opera house has ever known such a situation when the audience summoned a choir for an encore. But this happened during the premiere performance of Khovanshchina, performed by the Bolshoi Theater in Paris. The audience applauded with delight and did not calm down until the choir artists repeated their magnificent number for an encore.

The Bolshoi Theater can also be proud of its talented mimic ensemble, created back in the 1920s. The main purpose of the ensemble was to participate in extras, as well as to perform individual game parties. 70 artists work in this ensemble, taking part in every production of the Bolshoi Theater, both ballet and opera.
The performances of the Bolshoi Theater have long been included in the golden fund of the world opera art. The Bolshoi Theater in many ways dictates to the whole world further ways of stage development and the reading of classical works, and also successfully masters the modern forms of existence of opera and ballet.

On the site of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow previously stood the Petrovsky Theater, which completely burned out on October 8, 1805.

In 1806, the land was bought out with the money of the Russian treasury, and with it the surrounding buildings.

According to the initial plans, this was done in order to simply clear large areas to prevent large fires in Moscow.

But even then they began to think about creating a theater square on this place. There was no project, no money at that time, and they returned to the plan only at the beginning of 1816, after the war with Napoleon.

The courtyards of two demolished churches were added to the already approved territory for the creation of Theater Square. And in May, the project was approved by Alexander I.

The history of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow begins in 1817, when the Tsar was presented with a project for a new theater, which was to be built on this site.

Interestingly, the building with its facade already in the project was oriented with an exit to the square (this is how the theater looks now), although at the old Petrovsky theater the central entrance was from the side of the current Central Department Store. The project was presented to the tsar by the engineer-general Corbigne.

But then the unimaginable happened!

The project somehow disappeared without a trace on the eve of its presentation to the Governor-General of Moscow D.V. Golitsyn. Architect O.I. Beauvais is urgently preparing new blueprints for a building plan with two floors and a sketch of the facade.

In 1820, work began on clearing the territory and the beginning of the construction of the Bolshoi Theater. By this time, the project of the architect A. Mikhailov had already been approved, which retained the concept laid down by the architect O.I. Beauvais.

The appearance of the theater in Moscow was influenced by the project of the Bolshoi St. Petersburg Theater, reconstructed in 1805 by the architect Tom de Thoma. The building also featured a sculptural pediment and Ionic columns.

Simultaneously with the construction of the theater, work was going on to imprison the Neglinnaya river in a pipe (it runs from the corner of the Maly Theater building and goes to the Alexander Garden).

The freed "wild stone", which was covered with the river embankment, as well as the steps of the Kuznetsk bridge, went to the construction of the Bolshoi Theater. It was from stone that the bases of the columns at the central entrance were made.

The building of the Bolshoi Theater turned out to be grandiose.

Only the stage occupied an area equal to the area of ​​the entire former Petrovsky Theater, and the walls left after the fire became the framing of this part of the theater. The auditorium was designed for 2200-3000 seats. The theater boxes were held on cast-iron brackets, the weight of which was more than 1 ton. Enfilades of masquerade rooms stretched along both side facades.

It took a little over 4 years to construct the building.

The opening took place on January 6, 1825 with the performance "Triumph of the Muses", the musical accompaniment to which was written by A. Alyabyev and A. Verstovsky.

In the early years of its development, the Bolshoi Theater was not a purely musical platform. Representatives of all genres could provide an introduction here.

And the name of the Theater Square, on which the Bolshoi Theater stood, did not reflect the essence. At first, it was intended for drill exercises, it was fenced and the entrance to it was severely restricted.

Over the next years, the theater was constantly reconstructed. This is how separate entrances to the tsar's and ministerial boxes appeared, the ceiling of the hall was completely rewritten, and artillery rooms were built in place of the masquerade halls. The main stage was not ignored either.

A fire broke out in the theater in March 1853... It began to burn in one of the closets and the fire quickly engulfed the scenery and the theater curtain. Wooden buildings contributed to the rapid spread of the flame and the force of the elements, which subsided only after a few days.

During the fire, 7 people died. It was only thanks to the actions of two ministers that more victims were avoided (they brought out of the fire a group of children who were engaged at that time on the main stage of the theater).

The building was badly damaged by fire.

The roof and back wall of the stage collapsed. The interior is burnt out. The cast-iron columns of the mezzanine boxes melted, and only metal brackets were visible in place of the tiers.

Immediately after the fire, a competition was announced for the restoration of the Bolshoi Theater building. Many famous architects presented their works: A. Nikitin (created projects for many Moscow theaters, took part in the last reconstruction of the building before the fire), K.A. Ton (architect of the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior).

Won the competition A.K. Kavos, who had more experience in the construction of music halls. He also had a deep knowledge of acoustics.

To better reflect the sound, the curvature of the walls of the hall was changed by the architect. The ceiling was flatter and gave the look of a guitar deck. A corridor, which had previously served as a dressing room, was covered under the parterre. The walls were paneled with wood. All this has led to a significant improvement in acoustics, an important component of any theater.

The portal arch of the stage was increased to the width of the hall, the orchestra pit was deepened and widened. We have reduced the width of the corridors and made advance boxes. The height of the tiers became the same on all floors.

During this reconstruction, the royal box was built, which was located opposite the stage. Internal transformations have made the seats more comfortable, but at the same time reduced their number.

The curtain for the theater was painted by the then famous artist Kozroe Dusi. The plot was the theme with Prince Pozharsky at the head, who enters the Moscow Kremlin through the gates of the Spasskaya Tower.

The exterior of the building has also undergone changes.

The building of the Bolshoi Theater has increased in height. An additional pediment was erected over the main portico, which covered the imposing decoration hall. Klodt's Quadriga was carried forward a little and it began to hang directly over the colonnade. The side porches were decorated with cast-iron awnings.

More sculptural decorations were added to the exterior, decorative niches were built in. The walls were covered with rustication and they ceased to be smoothly plastered as before. The podium in front of the entrance was equipped with a ramp for carriages.

By the way, the most frequent question is: "How many columns does the Bolshoi Theater have?" Their number has not changed even after the reconstruction. There were still 8 of them.

The revived theater stopped staging any performances on its stage, and began to limit its repertoire only to ballet and opera performances.

At the end of the century, noticeable cracks appeared on the building. A thorough examination showed that the building needed major repairs and work to strengthen the foundation.

From 1894 until the first years of the new millennium, a grandiose reconstruction of the Bolshoi was carried out: the lighting became fully electric, the heating was switched to steam, and the ventilation system was improved. At the same time, the first telephones appeared in the theater.

The foundation of the building could be strengthened only during the years of Soviet Power, 1921-1925. The work was supervised by I.I. Rerberg is the architect of the Kievsky railway station and the Central Moscow Telegraph.

Reconstruction in the theater is ongoing. Our time was no exception.

At the beginning of the third millennium, the transformations affected not only the interior decoration and the outer part of the building. The theater began to grow in depth. A new concert hall is located under the current Theater Square.

Did you like the material? It's easy to thank! We would be very grateful if you could share this article on social networks.