Jump to content

Mariinsky Theatre: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 59°55′32″N 30°17′46″E / 59.92556°N 30.29611°E / 59.92556; 30.29611
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
Monkbot (talk | contribs)
Bots
3,119,769 edits
m Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 6 templates: hyphenate params (4×);
 
(26 intermediate revisions by 16 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{short description|opera and ballet theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia}}
{{Short description|Opera and ballet theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia}}
{{Infobox venue
{{Infobox venue
| name = Mariinsky Theatre
| name = Mariinsky Theatre
| image = Spb 06-2012 MariinskyTheatre.jpg
| image = Санкт-Петербург, Мариинский театр, фасад (edited version).jpg
| image_size =
| image_size =
| image_alt =
| image_alt =
| caption = Mariinsky Theatre, May 2012
| caption = Mariinsky Theatre, August 2022
| image_map =
| image_map =
| map_caption =
| map_caption =
Line 15: Line 16:
| designation =
| designation =
| coordinates = {{coord|59|55|32|N|30|17|46|E|region:RU_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| coordinates = {{coord|59|55|32|N|30|17|46|E|region:RU_type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| mapframe-zoom = 12
| architect = [[Alberto Cavos]]
| architect = [[Alberto Cavos]]
| owner =
| owner =
Line 34: Line 36:
}}
}}


The '''Mariinsky Theatre''' ({{lang-rus|Мариинский театр|Mariinskiy teatr}}, also transcribed as '''Maryinsky''' or '''Mariyinsky''') is a historic theatre of [[opera]] and [[ballet]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]]. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of [[Tchaikovsky]], [[Mussorgsky]], and [[Rimsky-Korsakov]] received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the '''Kirov Theatre'''. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the [[Mariinsky Ballet]], Mariinsky Opera and [[Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra|Mariinsky Orchestra]]. Since [[Yuri Temirkanov]]'s retirement in 1988, the conductor [[Valery Gergiev]] has served as the theatre's general director.
The '''Mariinsky Theatre''' ({{lang-rus|Мариинский театр|Mariinskiy teatr}}, also transcribed as '''Maryinsky''' or '''Mariyinsky''') is a historic [[opera house]] in [[Saint Petersburg]], [[Russia]]. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of [[Tchaikovsky]], [[Mussorgsky]], and [[Rimsky-Korsakov]] received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the '''Kirov Theatre'''. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the [[Mariinsky Ballet]], Mariinsky Opera and [[Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra|Mariinsky Orchestra]]. Since [[Yuri Temirkanov]]'s retirement in 1988, the conductor [[Valery Gergiev]] has served as the theatre's general director.


==Name==
==Name==
Line 51: Line 53:
==Origins==
==Origins==
[[File:Mariinsky Curtain.JPG|thumb|right|Design for the Imperial-era curtain of the Mariinsky Theatre that existed prior to 1914]]
[[File:Mariinsky Curtain.JPG|thumb|right|Design for the Imperial-era curtain of the Mariinsky Theatre that existed prior to 1914]]
The Imperial drama, opera and [[ballet]] troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783,<ref name=mariinsky>{{cite web |access-date=2011-12-04 |url=http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history_theatre/mariinsky_theatre/ |title=Mariinsky Theatre: History of the Theatre |publisher=Mariinsky Theatre |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203094550/http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history_theatre/mariinsky_theatre |archive-date=2011-12-03 }}</ref> at the behest of [[Catherine the Great]], although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden [[Karl Knipper Theatre]] on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day [[Tripartite Bridge]] (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The [[Hermitage Theatre]], next door to the [[Winter Palace]], was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.
The Imperial drama, opera and [[ballet]] troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783,<ref name=mariinsky>{{cite web |access-date=4 December 2011 |url=http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history_theatre/mariinsky_theatre/ |title=Mariinsky Theatre: History of the Theatre |publisher=Mariinsky Theatre |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203094550/http://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history_theatre/mariinsky_theatre |archive-date=3 December 2011 }}</ref> at the behest of [[Catherine the Great]], although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century.


A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by [[Antonio Rinaldi (architect)|Antonio Rinaldi]] and opened in 1783.<ref name=mariinsky/> Known as the [[Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre]] the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building.<ref name=mariinsky/> Both names{{snd}} "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big"){{snd}} were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by [[Albert Cavos]] (son of [[Catterino Cavos]], an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the [[Mariinsky Ballet|Imperial Ballet]] and opera.<ref name=mariinsky/>
A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by [[Antonio Rinaldi (architect)|Antonio Rinaldi]] and opened in 1783.<ref name=mariinsky/> Known as the [[Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre]], the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building.<ref name=mariinsky/> Both names{{snd}} "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big"){{snd}} were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by [[Albert Cavos]] (son of [[Catterino Cavos]], an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the [[Mariinsky Ballet|Imperial Ballet]] and opera.<ref name=mariinsky/>


On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian [[circus]] (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=2011-12-04 |url=http://szd.su/obj?notpl=1&id=2051 |title=Istoricheskoe zdaniye Mariinskogo Teatra |publisher=Severo-Zaladnaya direktsiya |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204160001/http://szd.su/obj?notpl=1&id=2051 |archive-date=2012-02-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, [[Albert Cavos]] rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style [[auditorium]], the theatre opened on 2 October 1860, with a performance of ''[[A Life for the Tsar]]''. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its imperial patroness, Empress [[Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse)|Maria Alexandrovna]].
On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian [[circus]] (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre.<ref>{{cite web |access-date=4 December 2011 |url=http://szd.su/obj?notpl=1&id=2051 |title=Istoricheskoe zdaniye Mariinskogo Teatra |publisher=Severo-Zaladnaya direktsiya |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204160001/http://szd.su/obj?notpl=1&id=2051 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


==Leading role==
==Leading role==
⚫
The Imperial Mariinsky Theatre and its predecessor, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, hosted the premieres of many of the operas of [[Mikhail Glinka]], [[Modest Mussorgsky]], and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]. At the behest of the theatre director [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]], both the [[Mariinsky Ballet|Imperial Ballet]] (ballet arrived at the Mariinsky theater in 1870) and the [[Imperial Opera]] were relocated to the Mariinsky Theatre in 1886, as the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was considered unsafe.
[[File:Mariinsky2.jpg|thumb|left|The stage of the Mariinsky Theatre with [[Alexander Golovin (artist)|Aleksandr Golovin's]] luxury curtain of 1914]]
⚫
The Imperial Mariinsky Theatre and its predecessor, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, hosted the premieres of many of the operas of [[Mikhail Glinka]], [[Modest Mussorgsky]], and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]. At the behest of the theatre director [[Ivan Vsevolozhsky]], both the [[Mariinsky Ballet|Imperial Ballet]] (ballet arrived at the Mariinsky theater in 1870) and the [[Imperial Opera]] were relocated to the Mariinsky Theatre in 1886, as the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was considered unsafe. It was there that the renowned choreographer [[Marius Petipa]] presented many of his masterpieces, including such staples of the ballet repertory as ''[[The Sleeping Beauty Ballet|The Sleeping Beauty]]'' in 1890, ''[[The Nutcracker]]'' in 1892, ''[[Raymonda]]'' in 1898, and the definitive revival of ''[[Swan Lake]]'' (with [[Lev Ivanov]]) in 1895.

When the theatre was designated as principal venue of the Imperial Ballet and Opera in 1886, the theatre was extensively renovated. A lavish inauguration celebration was given at the behest of [[Alexander III of Russia|Emperor Alexander III]], in which the first original [[ballet]] to be produced at the Mariinsky was given{{snd}} Petipa's ''[[The Magic Pills (Petipa/Minkus)|Les Pilules magiques]]'', to the music of [[Ludwig Minkus]].


Other world premieres given at the house included [[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]]'s opera ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' in 1874, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s operas ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' in 1890 and ''[[Iolanta]]'' in 1892, the revised version of [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]'s ballet ''[[Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)|Romeo and Juliet]]'' in 1940, and [[Aram Khachaturian|Khachaturian]]'s ballet ''[[Spartacus (ballet)|Spartacus]]'' in 1956. Other notable productions included [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s opera ''[[The Golden Cockerel]]'' in 1909 and Prokofiev's ballet ''[[Cinderella (Prokofiev)|Cinderella]]'' in 1946 (with [[Natalya Dudinskaya]]).<ref>{{cite news|last=Kisselgoff|first=Anna|title=Natalya Dudinskaya, 90, A Leading Kirov Ballerina|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/01/arts/natalya-dudinskaya-90-a-leading-kirov-ballerina.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 February 2003}}</ref>
Other world premieres given at the house included [[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]]'s opera ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' in 1874, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]]'s operas ''[[The Queen of Spades (opera)|The Queen of Spades]]'' in 1890 and ''[[Iolanta]]'' in 1892, the revised version of [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]'s ballet ''[[Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev)|Romeo and Juliet]]'' in 1940, and [[Aram Khachaturian|Khachaturian]]'s ballet ''[[Spartacus (ballet)|Spartacus]]'' in 1956. Other notable productions included [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]]'s opera ''[[The Golden Cockerel]]'' in 1909 and Prokofiev's ballet ''[[Cinderella (Prokofiev)|Cinderella]]'' in 1946 (with [[Natalya Dudinskaya]]).<ref>{{cite news|last=Kisselgoff|first=Anna|title=Natalya Dudinskaya, 90, A Leading Kirov Ballerina|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/01/arts/natalya-dudinskaya-90-a-leading-kirov-ballerina.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 February 2003}}</ref>


The imperial and Soviet theater was the home of numerous great impresarios, conductors, and musicians.
The imperial and Soviet theater was the home of numerous impresarios, conductors, and musicians.


'''Conductors''': [[Mikhail Zhukov (conductor)|Mikhail Zhukov]] (1932–35), Israel Chudnovsky and others.
'''Conductors''': [[Mikhail Zhukov (conductor)|Mikhail Zhukov]] (1932–35), Israel Chudnovsky and others.


'''Ballet''': The [[ballet]] school of the Mariinsky Theatre spawned the careers of artists [[Mathilde Kschessinskaya]], [[Olga Preobrajenskaya]], [[Anna Pavlova]], [[Tamara Karsavina]], [[Vaslav Nijinsky]], and [[George Balanchine]], students of the [[Imperial Ballet School]] and style, and, under and after the teachings of [[Agrippina Vaganova]], artists [[Marina Semyonova]], [[Galina Ulanova]], [[Rudolf Nureyev]], [[Natalia Makarova]], [[Mikhail Baryshnikov]], [[Irina Kolpakova]], [[Galina Mezentseva]], [[Altynai Asylmuratova]], as well as more recent dancers of renown [[Ulyana Lopatkina]], [[Diana Vishneva]], and [[Svetlana Zakharova (dancer)|Svetlana Zakharova]], students of the school as now named, the [[Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet]].
'''Ballet''': The [[ballet]] school of the Mariinsky Theatre spawned the careers of artists [[Mathilde Kschessinskaya]], [[Olga Preobrajenskaya]], [[Anna Pavlova]], [[Tamara Karsavina]], [[Vaslav Nijinsky]], and [[George Balanchine]], students of the [[Imperial Ballet School]] and style, and, under and after the teachings of [[Agrippina Vaganova]], artists [[Marina Semyonova]], [[Galina Ulanova]], [[Rudolf Nureyev]], [[Natalia Makarova]], [[Mikhail Baryshnikov]], [[Irina Kolpakova]], [[Galina Mezentseva]], [[Altynai Asylmuratova]], as well as more recent dancers of renown [[Ulyana Lopatkina]], [[Diana Vishneva]], and [[Svetlana Zakharova (dancer)|Svetlana Zakharova]], students of the school as now named, the [[Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet]].

{{Wide image|File:Profusion of gold at the Mariinsky Theatre (18271919528).jpg|800px|align-cap=center|Interior}}


==The Mariinsky Theatre today==
==The Mariinsky Theatre today==
[[File:Mariinsky Original Tsars Box.JPG|thumb|upright|<center>Although this box was not officially referred to as the "Tsar's Box", this box is where the Emperor and his family always sat when attending performances at the theatre.</center>]]
[[File:Mariinsky Original Tsars Box.JPG|thumb|upright|{{center|Although this box was not officially referred to as the "Tsar's Box", this box is where the Emperor and his family always sat when attending performances at the theatre.}}]]
Under [[Yuri Temirkanov]], Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas. Although functioning separately from the Theatre's Ballet Company, since 1988 both companies have been under the artistic leadership of [[Valery Gergiev]] as Artistic Director of the entire Theatre.
Under [[Yuri Temirkanov]], Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas.

The Opera Company has entered a new era of artistic excellence and creativity. Since 1993, Gergiev's impact on opera there has been enormous. Firstly, he reorganized the company's operations and established links with many of the world's great opera houses, including the [[Royal Opera House|Royal Opera House, Covent Garden]], the [[Metropolitan Opera]], the [[Opéra Bastille]], [[La Scala]], [[La Fenice]], the [[Israeli Opera]], the [[Washington National Opera]] and the [[San Francisco Opera]]. Today, the Opera Company regularly tours to most of these cities.

Gergiev has also been innovative as far as Russian opera is concerned: in 1989, there was an all-[[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]] festival featuring the composer's entire operatic output. Similarly, many of [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev]]’s operas were presented from the late 1990s. Operas by non-Russian composers began to be performed in their original languages, which helped the Opera Company to incorporate world trends. The annual international "[[White Nights Festival|Stars of the White Nights Festival]]" in Saint Petersburg, started by Gergiev in 1993, has also put the Mariinsky on the world’s cultural map. That year, as a salute to the imperial origins of the Mariinsky,
[[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[La forza del destino]]'', which received its premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1862, was produced with its original sets, costumes and scenery. Since then, it has become a characteristic of the "White Nights Festival" to present the premieres from the company's upcoming season during this magical period, when the hours of darkness practically disappear as the summer solstice approaches.


In April 2022, resident conductor Gavriel Heine, a protégé of Gergiev, resigned from the theater in part because of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hernández |first=Javier C. |date=18 April 2022 |title=Citing Ukraine War, an American Resigns From Russia's Mariinsky |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/18/arts/music/gavriel-heine-resigns-mariinsky.html |access-date=19 April 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Presently, the Company lists on its roster 22 sopranos (of whom [[Anna Netrebko]] may be the best known); 13 mezzo-sopranos (with [[Olga Borodina]] familiar to US and European audiences); 23 tenors; eight baritones; and 14 basses. With Gergiev in charge overall, there is a Head of Stage Administration, a Stage Director, Stage Managers and Assistants, along with 14 accompanists.


===Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall===
===Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall===
The nearby Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, designed by French architect, Xavier Fabre, opened in spring 2007. It has room for 1,100 patrons.
The nearby Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, designed by French architect, Xavier Fabre, opened in spring 2007.


==Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage==
==Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage==
Line 90: Line 86:
[[File:Mariinsky Theatre Saint Petersburg Russia 04.jpg|thumb|The Second Stage]]
[[File:Mariinsky Theatre Saint Petersburg Russia 04.jpg|thumb|The Second Stage]]


The Canadian firm [[Diamond and Schmitt Architects]], along with its local partner KB ViPS Architects, designed a new building, then to be named [[Mariinsky Theatre, Second stage|The Second Stage]], with 2,000 seats, which would complement the existing Mariinsky. Construction began in 2003, following a different design by French architect Jean Nouvel that was halted at the sub-basement level. The new design team took over in 2009. The completion of Mariinsky II was predicted to result in Saint Petersburg's equivalent of [[New York City]]'s [[Lincoln Center]].
The Canadian firm [[Diamond and Schmitt Architects]], along with its local partner KB ViPS Architects, designed a new building, then to be named [[Mariinsky Theatre, Second stage|The Second Stage]], with 1,830 seats, which would complement the existing Mariinsky.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mariinsky II |url=https://www.mariinsky.ru/en/about/history/mariinsky_ii/ |website=Mariinsky Theatre |access-date=23 November 2023}}</ref> Construction began in 2003, following a different design by French architect Jean Nouvel that was halted at the sub-basement level. The new design team took over in 2009. The completion of Mariinsky II was predicted to result in Saint Petersburg's equivalent of [[New York City]]'s [[Lincoln Center]].


Construction was completed in May 2013, at a price of 500 million euros.<ref name=euronews/><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22395056 Mariinsky Theatre unveils new ballet and opera house, (3 May 2013), BBC News] accessed 3 May 2013</ref>
Construction was completed in May 2013, at a price of 500 million euros.<ref name=euronews/><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22395056 Mariinsky Theatre unveils new ballet and opera house, (3 May 2013), BBC News] accessed 3 May 2013</ref>
Line 98: Line 94:
by
by
Ulyana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky, Irina Golub, Andrian Fadeyev, Zhanna Ayupova, Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Ballet & Orchestra.<ref>[http://mariinskylabel.com/products/balanchine-jewels?variant=704758305 "JEWELS (Balanchine)"] The Mariinsky Theatre website</ref> -->
Ulyana Lopatkina, Igor Zelensky, Irina Golub, Andrian Fadeyev, Zhanna Ayupova, Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Ballet & Orchestra.<ref>[http://mariinskylabel.com/products/balanchine-jewels?variant=704758305 "JEWELS (Balanchine)"] The Mariinsky Theatre website</ref> -->
In 2009, the Mariinsky Theatre launched its own record label, managed by the same team that run the LSO Live label in London. All titles are recorded in the new Mariinsky concert hall in St Petersburg and released on Super Audio CD as well as on download.
In 2009, the Mariinsky Theatre launched its own record label, managed by the same team that run the LSO Live label in London.


Among the titles that have been released are:
Among the titles that have been released are:
Line 116: Line 112:
| newspaper = Euronews
| newspaper = Euronews
| date = 2 May 2013
| date = 2 May 2013
| url = http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/02/mariinsky-ballet-dances-on-new-stage/
| url = http://www.euronews.com/2013/05/02/mariinsky-ballet-dances-on-new-stage/
| access-date = 2 May 2013}}</ref>
| access-date = 2 May 2013}}</ref>
}}
}}
Line 132: Line 128:
*[http://www.ticketsofrussia.com/kirov/eng/vtour/p_hall.html Virtual Tour of the main hall of the Mariinsky Theatre]
*[http://www.ticketsofrussia.com/kirov/eng/vtour/p_hall.html Virtual Tour of the main hall of the Mariinsky Theatre]
*[http://www.ticketsofrussia.com/kirov/eng/vtour/p_square.html Panorama of Theatre Square outside of the Mariinsky Theatre]
*[http://www.ticketsofrussia.com/kirov/eng/vtour/p_square.html Panorama of Theatre Square outside of the Mariinsky Theatre]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.arcspace.com/architects/perrault/mariinskij_index.htm |title=Competition winner: Dominique Perrault – Opera House Mariinsky II |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430113857/http://www.arcspace.com/architects/perrault/mariinskij_index.htm |archive-date=2009-04-30}}{{snd}} His design '''not''' being built
*{{cite web |url=http://www.arcspace.com/architects/perrault/mariinskij_index.htm |title=Competition winner: Dominique Perrault – Opera House Mariinsky II |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430113857/http://www.arcspace.com/architects/perrault/mariinskij_index.htm |archive-date=30 April 2009}}{{snd}} His design '''not''' being built
*[http://www.dsai.ca/#/portfolio/80/ The new Jack Diamond design that is being built]
*[http://www.dsai.ca/#/portfolio/80/ The new Jack Diamond design that is being built]
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=59.925797,30.296645&spn=0.001507,0.005035&t=k&hl=en Satellite image of the Theatre], centered on the main entrance
*[https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=59.925797,30.296645&spn=0.001507,0.005035&t=k&hl=en Satellite image of the Theatre], centered on the main entrance
Line 141: Line 137:


{{Mariinsky Theatre}}
{{Mariinsky Theatre}}
{{Sports venue and auditoriums in Saint Petersburg}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


Line 149: Line 146:
[[Category:Russian ballet]]
[[Category:Russian ballet]]
[[Category:Music venues completed in 1860]]
[[Category:Music venues completed in 1860]]
[[Category:Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg]]

Latest revision as of 20:55, 17 February 2024

Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre, August 2022
Map
Address1 Theatre Square
Saint Petersburg
Russia
Coordinates59°55′32″N 30°17′46″E / 59.92556°N 30.29611°E / 59.92556; 30.29611
Construction
Opened2 October 1860
Years active1860–present
ArchitectAlberto Cavos
Tenants
Mariinsky Ballet
Mariinsky Opera
Mariinsky Orchestra
Website
www.mariinsky.ru

The Mariinsky Theatre (Russian: Мариинский театр, romanized: Mariinskiy teatr, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as the theatre's general director.

Name

[edit]

The theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer. The theatre's name has changed throughout its history, reflecting the political climate of the time:

  • 1860 – 1920: Imperial Mariinsky Theatre (Russian: Императорский Мариинский театр)
  • 1920 – 1924: State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Russian: Государственный академический театр оперы и балета)
  • 1924 – 1935: Leningrad State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Russian: Ленинградский государственный академический театр оперы и балета)
  • 1935 – 1992: Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Russian: Государственный академический театр оперы и балета имени С. М. Кирова) (one of numerous places and institutions named or renamed at that time for Sergei Kirov)
  • 1992 – present: State Academic Mariinsky Theatre (Russian: Государственный aкадемический Мариинский театр)

Note: The acronym "GATOB" (Gosudarstvennïy Akademicheskiy Teatr Operï i Baleta) is often encountered in historical accounts.

The theatre building is commonly called the Mariinsky Theatre. The companies that operate within it have for brand recognition purposes retained the Kirov name, acquired during the Soviet era to commemorate the assassinated Leningrad Communist Party leader Sergey Kirov (1886–1934).

Origins

[edit]
Design for the Imperial-era curtain of the Mariinsky Theatre that existed prior to 1914

The Imperial drama, opera and ballet troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783,[1] at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century.

A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783.[1] Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building.[1] Both names – "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big") – were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Catterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.[1]

On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre.[2]

Leading role

[edit]

The Imperial Mariinsky Theatre and its predecessor, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, hosted the premieres of many of the operas of Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. At the behest of the theatre director Ivan Vsevolozhsky, both the Imperial Ballet (ballet arrived at the Mariinsky theater in 1870) and the Imperial Opera were relocated to the Mariinsky Theatre in 1886, as the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was considered unsafe.

Other world premieres given at the house included Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov in 1874, Tchaikovsky's operas The Queen of Spades in 1890 and Iolanta in 1892, the revised version of Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet in 1940, and Khachaturian's ballet Spartacus in 1956. Other notable productions included Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Golden Cockerel in 1909 and Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella in 1946 (with Natalya Dudinskaya).[3]

The imperial and Soviet theater was the home of numerous impresarios, conductors, and musicians.

Conductors: Mikhail Zhukov (1932–35), Israel Chudnovsky and others.

Ballet: The ballet school of the Mariinsky Theatre spawned the careers of artists Mathilde Kschessinskaya, Olga Preobrajenskaya, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaslav Nijinsky, and George Balanchine, students of the Imperial Ballet School and style, and, under and after the teachings of Agrippina Vaganova, artists Marina Semyonova, Galina Ulanova, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Irina Kolpakova, Galina Mezentseva, Altynai Asylmuratova, as well as more recent dancers of renown Ulyana Lopatkina, Diana Vishneva, and Svetlana Zakharova, students of the school as now named, the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet.

Interior

The Mariinsky Theatre today

[edit]
Although this box was not officially referred to as the "Tsar's Box", this box is where the Emperor and his family always sat when attending performances at the theatre.

Under Yuri Temirkanov, Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas.

In April 2022, resident conductor Gavriel Heine, a protégé of Gergiev, resigned from the theater in part because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4]

Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall

[edit]

The nearby Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall, designed by French architect, Xavier Fabre, opened in spring 2007.

Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage

[edit]
Main article: Mariinsky Theatre Second Stage
The Second Stage is to the right of the canal
The Second Stage

The Canadian firm Diamond and Schmitt Architects, along with its local partner KB ViPS Architects, designed a new building, then to be named The Second Stage, with 1,830 seats, which would complement the existing Mariinsky.[5] Construction began in 2003, following a different design by French architect Jean Nouvel that was halted at the sub-basement level. The new design team took over in 2009. The completion of Mariinsky II was predicted to result in Saint Petersburg's equivalent of New York City's Lincoln Center.

Construction was completed in May 2013, at a price of 500 million euros.[6][7]

The Mariinsky record label

[edit]

In 2009, the Mariinsky Theatre launched its own record label, managed by the same team that run the LSO Live label in London.

Among the titles that have been released are:

Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No 3 / Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed by Denis Matsuev, conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website
Shchedrin: The Enchanted Wanderer conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website
Shostakovich: The Nose conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website
Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos 1 & 15 conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website
Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex / Les Noces conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website
Tchaikovsky: 1812, Moscow Cantata, Marche Slave conducted by Valery Gergiev Mariinsky Label Website

References

[edit]
Notes
  1. ^ a b c d "Mariinsky Theatre: History of the Theatre". Mariinsky Theatre. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Istoricheskoe zdaniye Mariinskogo Teatra". Severo-Zaladnaya direktsiya. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  3. ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (1 February 2003). "Natalya Dudinskaya, 90, A Leading Kirov Ballerina". The New York Times.
  4. ^ Hernández, Javier C. (18 April 2022). "Citing Ukraine War, an American Resigns From Russia's Mariinsky". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Mariinsky II". Mariinsky Theatre. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
  6. ^ "Mariinsky ballet dances on new stage". Euronews. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  7. ^ Mariinsky Theatre unveils new ballet and opera house, (3 May 2013), BBC News accessed 3 May 2013
Sources
  • Allison, John (ed.), Great Opera Houses of the World, Supplement to Opera Magazine, London, 2003.
  • Beauvert, Thierry. Opera Houses of the World, The Vendome Press, New York, 1995. ISBN 0-86565-978-8.
  • Krasovskaya V.M. Балет Ленинграда: Академический театр оперы и балета им. С.М. Кирова. Leningrad, 1961.
  • Rudnev A.Yu. (19 October 2012). "Мариинский театр: четвертьвековые итоги". Retrieved 11 October 2016.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mariinsky Theatre.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mariinsky_Theatre&oldid=1208514808"