Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre: photos and reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

GBUK "Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater" is one of the largest in its genre throughout our country. This year he celebrated his 85th (anniversary) birthday.

History of the opening of the theater

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, the photo of the building of which is presented in this article, opened in 1931. His first performance was the opera Boris Godunov.

At the origins of the theater were such outstanding people as the director of the Bolshoi Theater Iosif Lapitsky, conductors Anton Eikhenvald and Isidor Zak. Evgenia Lopukhova, a participant in the Russian Seasons in Paris, became the head of the ballet troupe then.

The repertoire was assembled very quickly. It included operas and ballets by classical composers: G. Puccini, A. Borodin, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Adana, M. I. Glinka, P. I. Tchaikovsky, G. Rossini, L. Minkus, G. Verdi, A. Dargomyzhsky and others.

Besides, the repertoire included works written by Soviet composers. In particular, they were Tikhon Khrennikov, SergeiSlonimsky, Andrey Petrov and Andrey Eshpay.

During the war, the Bolshoi Theater was evacuated from Moscow to Samara. The capital's troupe presented 14 productions to the townspeople in 3 years. On the Samara stage shone: Natalya Shpiller, Ivan Kozlovsky, Yu. F. Fire, Maxim Mikhailov, Olga Lepeshinskaya, Valeria Barsova, Mark Reizen and others. In gratitude for being accepted here, the Bolshoi Theater artists toured Kuibyshev many times after the war. That was the name of Samara at that time. And today the Bolshoi Theater continues this glorious tradition. In 2005 the Bolshoi Theatre's tour took place in Samara. The troupe presented the audience with the wartime repertoire.

In 1982, the Samara Opera and Ballet Theater was awarded the title of academic. In 2012, the anniversary of this event was celebrated. Celebrations were held on this occasion.

The theater has recently undergone a major renovation. Now it is a modern building, which is equipped with the latest technology.

Talented, bright personalities serve in the troupe of the Samara theater. Among them are Honored and People's Artists and artists, as well as laureates of various competitions at the All-Russian and International levels. Many artists have taken master classes from top world-class artists.

Today the ballet troupe of the theater works at a very high level. It is headed by Kirill Shmorgoner, professor, laureate of the Maurice Béjart Prize. He brought his students to the Samara Theater with him. Young artists have joined the troupe, perform successfully and become winners of competitions.

Samarans entered the third millennium with a renewedrepertoire. Among the premieres of the opera are Madama Butterfly, Mozart and Salieri, Eugene Onegin, The Servant-Mistress, etc., as well as the ballet The Vain Precaution. The theater also pays great attention to children. There are many musical fairy tales in his repertoire.

The theater holds festivals on its stage every year. Thanks to them, residents and guests of the city have the opportunity to get acquainted with the leading masters of the opera and ballet scene. One of the brightest and most significant festivals is held among classical ballet dancers and is named after Alla Shelest. This woman was one of the first choreographers of the Samara theater and stood at its origins. The Alla Shelest Festival received a very honorable award - the Order of Catherine the Great. This significant event took place in 2003. And since 2011 it has been a member of the Association of European Festivals.

Building

In the 30s of the 20th century, a building was built in which since then and to this day the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater has been located. Its architect is N. A. Trotsky. He and his colleague N. D. Katzenelenbogen won the korkurs and their joint project was chosen for implementation. The building is majestic and massive. According to art historians, this is the pilonade style, its late era. This is a prime example of a brutal classic. We can safely consider the theater building an architectural monument.

Previously, the theater occupied only the central part of the building, the sports school was located in the right wing, and the library was located in the left wing.

In 2006, a large-scale reconstruction of the theater was carried out. It lasted 4 years and froze in 2010 toanniversary.

Opera repertoire

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater offers its audience various musical performances. Here you can listen and watch performances of different genres.

The theater's repertoire includes the following operas:

• "Ah yes Balda".
• "Eugene Onegin".
• "Snow Maiden".
• "Boris Godunov".
• "Prince Igor".
• "The Queen of Spades".
• "Floria Tosca".
• "The Magic Flute".
• "Rigoletto".
• "La Traviata" and others.

Ballet repertoire

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater offers the following choreographic productions for viewing:

• "Anyuta".
• "Corsair".
• "Beatles forever".
• "Giselle".
• "La Bayadère".
• "Pavilion of Armida".
• "A futile precaution".
• "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".
• "Sleeping Beauty".
• "Queen of Spades".
• "The Nutcracker" and others.

In addition to operas and ballets, the theater also offers operettas, children's musical performances and concerts.

Troup

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater has a very large troupe. There are vocalists, and choristers, and an orchestra, and ballet dancers.

Theater staff:

• Tatiana Larina.
• Anton Kuzenok.
• Renat Latypov.
• Ekaterina Pervushina.
• Maxim Marenin.
• Pavel Yarkov.
• Dilya Shageeva.
• Svetlana Ponomarenko.
• Vladislav Kupriyanov.
• Alexander Bobykin.
• Ksenia Ovchinnikova.
• Elvira Akhmadishina.
• Roman Geer.
• Olga Khokhlova.
• Sergei Sakharov and others.

Festivals

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is the organizer of a large number of different festivals.

Among them:

• "Song of Celebration".
• A. Shelest Ballet Festival.
• Opera singing festival.
• "Five evenings in Tolyatti".
• Volga Theater Seasons.
• "Mstislav Rostropovich" and others.

Work at the Samara Theater

The information in this section of the article will be useful to those who are looking for a job. The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater offers the following vacancies for today:

• Choir artist (bass).
• Violists (two).
• Accompanist for vocalists.
• Drummer.
• Choir artist (tenor).
• Illuminator.
• Second violins (two).
• Janitor.
• First violins (two).

For more information on the list of vacancies, see the official website of the theatre.

Reviews

Spectators leave a lot of feedback about the theater. The vast majority of them are positive. Many viewers have become loyal fans of the theater and advise those who have not been to it to visit it.

The audience really likes the actors, costumes and scenery, the director's work is also pleasing. Many who were not previously fond of operas, ballets, operettas, having visited the theater, began to love these genres of art.

The renovated building is beautiful and very well equipped in technical terms.

The audience is pleased that after many years of inactivity, the theater has revived and started a new life.

You can find negative reviews about seats in the auditorium on the balcony. They are designed extremely uncomfortable, according to those who happened to sit in these places. You can hardly see anything there, and in order to see at least something, you have to watch the performances while standing.

Where is it

Not far from the embankment of the Volga River and the Gorky Park of Culture is the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. Its address is Kuibyshev Square, house No. 1.