THEATRES

The history of the Mariinsky Ballet Company dates from 1783, when the Bolshoi Theatre was opened on the site now occupied by the Conservatoire.
In the eighteenth century, Carousel Square was built in the Second Admiralteisky district of St Petersburg. It derived its name from the theatricalised horse shows held there - the favourite amusement of court society. Fêtes with dancing and music were also held on the square, while an unpretentious wooden structure was used for dramas and performances of the Italian opera company, in which pupils of the St Petersburg Dance School took part.
Catherine the Great ordered that a Bolshoi (Stone) Theatre be erected in place of this wooden structure. Its magnificence and splendour surpassed even that of the leading European theatres of the day. The Bolshoi Theatre opened in 1783 with a performance of Paisiello´s Il Mondo della Luna and the surrounding area acquired the name of Theatre Square. The theatre was reconstructed in 1802 by Jean-François Thomas de Thomon and then again in 1836 by Albert Cavos… More.

 A.S. Pushkin Russian State Academic Drama Theatre - the legendary Alexandrinsky Theatre - is the oldest Russian national theatre. It was founded by the Senate Decree, signed by empress Elizabeth (daughter of Peter the Great) on 30th August, 1756 , the day of Saint Alexander Nevsky. This theatre comes to be a fore-father of all Russian theatres and its foundation date is a birthday of Russian professional theatre. Foundation of the theatre marked the beginning of the state policy of Russia in the field of theatrical art.  
Russian State Drama Theatre has served as an attribute of Russian state system for over two centuries and a half. In the 18th, 19th and at the beginning of 20th centuries it was the main imperial theatre, whose fate was under the guidance of Russian emperors… More.

St.Petersburg's Academic Theatre named after Lensovet began its history on the 19th of November, 1933, when the performance "Beshenye dengi" (Easy money) by A.N.Ostrovsky was played. At that time the theatre was called "new''. From 1937 to 1947 the theatre was directed by K.S.Stanislavsky's pupil, national artist of the USSR B.M.Sushkevitch. In 1940 the group of the theatre was sent to the Far East, where the war caught it. In 1945 the theatre returned to Leningrad, where it got its present building on Vladimirsky avenue… More.

One of the largest halls of son of lumiere in Europe. The most famous stagings of director Ilya Rakhlin: "Priznanie lyubvi" (Admission of love), "Bezumny vek" (A crazy century), rock-opera "Masquerade"…More.

The main strategic task for the Theatre is to revive the opera theatre of Russian classics at the stage of Maly theatre. One by one the opera masterpieces of Russian composer came back into the repertoire: Musorgsky "Boris Godunov” and "Khovanshina", Tchaikovsky's "Eugeny Onegin" and "Queen of Spades", Rimsky-Korsakov's "Golden Cockerel" and "A tale about Tsar Saltan", Borodin's "Grand Duke Igor". Russian opera became an aesthetic credo of the theatre. The range of the task made the theatre to change its name once again because the title "Maly" was not suitable for the theatre stage ideas any more. Since 1989 Malegot became Saint-Petersburg Academic Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre. The name of Musorgsky was not accidental. The staging of "Boris Godunov" was the greatest and the most important success of the theatre, promoting the renewing of Russian repertoire… More.

The St. Petersburg Philharmonia, the oldest Philharmonia in Russia, is more than two hundred years old. Its history goes back to 1802 when the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society, the first one in Europe, was created. It organized the world premiere of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in 1824.
Nowadays the philharmonic concerts are held in two halls: The Grand Hall - in the former building of the Assembly of the Noble and The Small Hall - - in the former Engelgardt House… More.

 

The Hermitage Theater, the oldest building of the Winter Palace Complex, was built on the site of the former Winter Palace of Peter I in 1711-1723. The theater itself was built later - in 1783-85 to the design by Giacomo Quarneghi and finished in 1802. The theater building is connected with the main palace by an arch over "Zimniaya Kanavka", the canal between the Moika River and the Neva River. The facade and hall decoration of the Hermitage Theater is unique and represents a classical masterpiece of palace architecture of the XVIII-th century. Today the hall of the Hermitage theatre and all premises are completely reconstructed. Ornamentation of the hall, lines of armchairs, a ceiling, a system of illumination and acoustics are exactly restored. The geometrical proportions of the hall area and the stage allow to giving the artists necessary and large space, that is enough for staging ballet performances and provide the excellent acoustics at the Hermitage Theater. The performances of the best Petersburg and Moscow ballet dancers and ballet troupes are arranged on this stage... More.