Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre: address, history, repertoire

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

Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is one of the oldest in the territory of the former USSR. The building in which it is located is considered an architectural monument. The theater is the pride and hallmark of the city.

History of the theater

The theater appeared in Odessa in the 19th century. Its founder was the Duke de Richelieu - the mayor.

The theater building was built in 1810. The author of the project was the Italian architect Francesco Frapolli. Since 1811 performances began to be shown in the theater regularly. The repertoire was multi-genre, but after a few years opera prevailed.

In 1873, the theater building was destroyed by fire. After 11 years, the construction of a new haven for the temple of art began. The first performance played in the new building was the opera Boris Godunov. Over the years of its existence, the best in the world and famous opera performers and dancers have performed on its stage.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tomasz Nijinsky was the performer of the leading roles in the ballet and the choreographer. His son Vaclav is famous all over the worlddancer. At that time, the theater did not have its own ballet troupe and invited artists took part in the productions. In 1923, Remislav Remislavsky and Ekaterina Pushkina created the first choreographic school in Odessa. Their graduates became artists of the theater's ballet troupe. The choreographer Robert Balanotti became its first director.

In 1925, the theater building was on fire, which arose due to careless handling of fire during the performance of "The Prophet" by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Costumes and scenery burned down, the stage and curtain were destroyed, the musical library suffered serious losses, the hall was damaged. The consequences of the fires were eliminated within a year, and the troupe began to give performances again. There was a new technical equipment of the premises. New costumes and scenery were created. Reinforced concrete curtains were installed in the hall, which, in an emergency, cut off the stage, hall and service premises from each other.

Until 1919, the Odessa Opera House was private. This year she was transferred to state allowance. And in 1926 the theater was awarded the title of "Academic".

The basis of the repertoire of those years was the classics, both Russian and foreign. But, in addition to this, there were performances created by Ukrainian and Soviet composers: “Natalka-Poltavka”, “Battleship Potemkin”, “Taras Bulba”, “Shchors”, “Zaporozhets beyond the Danube”, “Quiet Don”, “Mazepa”, “Sorochinskaya Fair” and many others.

During the Great Patriotic War, part of the troupe was evacuated to Kazakhstan and Krasnoyarsk. The artists who remained in Odessa were part of the propaganda brigades andwent to the battlefields and hospitals in order to raise the morale of the army and inspire the defenders of the Motherland with their creativity.

From the first years of its existence to this day, the Opera and Ballet Theater is a true cultural center of Odessa. Musical and social life of the city is concentrated in it.

Tickets to the Opera and Ballet Theater cost from 15 to 30 dollars, which is about 900 to 2000 rubles.

After the war, the theater became more and more popular. His repertoire expanded. In the 60s, the repertoire included twenty-four ballets and twenty-eight opera performances.

Odessa theater has brought up more than one generation of wonderful vocalists, dancers, musicians who started their career here, and then became world-famous artists, whose names have become legends. And today, talented professionals in their field work in the troupe, who love their work and devote their whole lives to creativity. Among them are not only experienced luminaries of the scene, but also young artists full of enthusiasm and energy.

The theater actively participates in various festivals. The artists have toured a huge number of different countries with tours.

Theater building

The building that houses the Opera and Ballet Theater was built in 1887 to replace the old one that was damaged by fire. Several different styles were used in the design of its interiors and facade. The exterior of the building is a successful combination of we alth and art. In appearance there areRococo, Renaissance and Baroque elements. They are so harmoniously connected that they form a single composition.

The main facade has the shape of a semi-oval. It is decorated with columns and balconies. The building has three floors. The first two look static and fundamental. The third floor is delicate and light.

A sculpture group is located above the facade.

The project for the construction of the building in 1873 was created by the architects Felner and Gelmer.

The auditorium of the theater is decorated with stucco and gilding, marble, crystal, velvet, mirrors. It has a horseshoe shape. Walking galleries are located around it. Hall capacity - 1635 seats.

The building was renovated in 1955, 1965, 1996. The theater met the third millennium in an updated form. The foundation was strengthened, the roof was closed, the facade was restored, new heating and air conditioning systems, modern lighting and sound equipment, and computer control of the stage were installed.

Opera repertoire

Theatrical poster of Odessa is rich and varied. The leading place in it is occupied by the opera house. It offers the audience musical performances as well as concerts.

Opera theater repertoire:

• Floria Tosca.
• "La Traviata".
• Rigoletto.
• "Madama Butterfly".
• "Katerina".
• "Zaporozhets beyond the Danube".
• "Viy".
• Emerald City.
• "Aida".
• "Iolanta".

And others.

Ballet repertoire

The Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater includes the following choreographic performances in its repertoire:

• "The Nutcracker".
• "Mystery of the Vienna Woods".
• Peter Pan.
• "Scream".
• Little Red Riding Hood.
• Cinderella.
• "La Bayadère".
• "Nureyev forever".
• "Aibolit XXI".
• "Paquita".
• "Carmen Suite".

And others.

Tickets to the theater can be purchased at the box office or on the official website. The cost varies depending on the performance and how close the seats are to the stage.

Opera Company

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater gathered talented, professional artists on its stage.

Vocalists:

• Valery Benderov.
• Larisa Zuenko.
• Yuri Dudar.
• Vera Revenko.
• Dmitry Mikheev.
• Lyudmila Shirin.
• Vasily Dobrovolsky.
• Ilona Skrypnik.
• Alexander Prokopovich.
• Tatiana Spasskaya.
• Ivan Flyak.
• Elena Starodubtseva.

And others.

Ballet troupe

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater is famous for its troupe. In addition to vocalists, there are wonderful musicians, choristers and dancers.

Theater ballet dancers:

• Olga Vorobyova.
• Dmitry Sharay.
• Vladimir Stately.
• Ellina Marching.
• Maria Ryazantseva.
• Elena Lavrinenko.
• Angelica Levshina.
• VyacheslavKravchenko.
• Yuri Chepil.
• Anna Tyutyunnik.
• Vadim Krusser.
• Kristina Pavlova.
• Vladislav Stepanov.

And many more.

Museum

Several years ago, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, on the initiative of the director, opened its own museum. The collection of exhibits began to collect in 2011. The museum is dedicated to the history of the opera house and is located in the room where the box office used to be. Every spectator can visit the exposition before the start of the performance and during intermissions. Among the exhibits: programs and posters of performances, photographs, tickets, sketches of scenery, documents, costumes, interior installations, props, theater items, and so on.

Festivals

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater is the organizer of several festivals. They are held for performers and troupes from other cities and countries.

International Arts Festival. It takes place in the open air. Representatives of any direction in art can take part in it, both classics and current genres are welcome.

Festival "Velvet season at the Odessa Opera". It takes place in a new format. The festival was created in order to unite all styles, genres and forms of classical art into one whole. Festival participants demonstrate ballets and operas. They perform baroque and popular classical music.

There are two more festivals organized by the Odessa team. One of them is called "Christmas". The second is held inanniversary dates for the theater.

Chief Director

Oh. Taranenko is the chief director of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre. Oksana is a graduate of the Higher Musical College named after R. Glier in Kyiv. In 2000 she graduated from the Institute of Theater Arts named after I. Karpenko-Kary - directing department. She worked in television for ten years. She was a journalist, host, director of films and television series.

She staged a large number of musical performances in the theater. She was a director and assistant artistic director of the Opera and Ballet Theater for Children and Youth in Kyiv. She was invited to Odessa in 2013.