M.P. Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theatre (Mikhailovsky Theatre)

The brilliant history of the Mikhailovsky Theatre began with the choice of the architect of the building. A subtle connoisseur of art, Alexander Bryullov builds the building of the first city musical theater, fitting it into the already established ensemble of the Arts Square, and therefore the facades of the theater are performed according to the projects of Karl Rossi for “rhyme” with the Mikhailovsky Palace building. Bryullov created a magic box: the fact that behind the modest facade there is a theater, you can guess only by the roof, where behind the dome above the auditorium a high stage box is visible. All the brilliance of the imperial theater is contained inside: silver and velvet, mirrors and crystal, painting and modeling. The theatre and the palace, named after Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, became strongly associated with fine arts. In 1869, the architect Albert Cavos, by fate responsible for the city's musical theaters, rebuilt the building, expanded the stage and added a tier in the auditorium: the theater became increasingly popular. It was during this perestroika in the Mikhailovsky Theatre that the plafond of the Italian artist Giovanni Buzatto appeared “The victory of the forces of education and science over the dark forces of ignorance.” The entire St. Petersburg world came to the theater, including the court and the imperial family. French and German troupes performed on the stage of the theater, and Maestro Johann Strauss stood at the conductor's desk more than once. After 1917, the history of the theater became more dramatic, but no less intense. After the revolution, foreign actors were forced to leave the country, and the question of forming their own troupe became acute for the Mikhailovsky Theatre. On March 6, 1918, the theater opened a new season as the second state opera house of Petrograd; in 1920, the theater received the name of the State Academic Theater of Comic Opera; in 1921 it was renamed the Maly Academic Theater, and in 1926 - the Leningrad Academic Maly Opera House (MALEGOT). And despite the difficult fate of these years, the theater remained at the peak of urban life. In the 1930s, the ballet troupe was headed by an outstanding dancer and choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov. At the same time, the theater became a laboratory for the creation of Soviet opera. On his stage, for the first time, the operas “The Nose” and “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensky District” by Dmitry Shostakovich were staged, and the innovative “Dame of Spades” by Vsevolod Meyerhold. After the war, the Maly Opera and Ballet Theatre continued to cooperate with modern composers, for the first time in the world putting “War and Peace” by Sergei Prokofiev. Over time, an increasingly important role in the theater began to play not theater directors, but well-known conductors: Boris Haikin, Kirill Kondrashin, Eduard Grikurov, Yuri Temirkanov, Kurt Sanderling. In 1989, the theater was given the name of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, and the Russian classics took the leading role on the stage: Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Tchaikovsky, Golden Cockerel and The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov, Prince Igor by Borodin. In 2007, the Mikhailovsky Theatre regained its historical name.