The Krasnodar Theater began operations in 1933. Having emerged from the operetta enterprise, he traveled a path of more than 75 years, during which the troupe, creatively transforming, changed its name five times.
The emergence of new genres
In 1997, the Krasnodar Theater received the status of music, which made it possible to expand creative boundaries and include large genres such as opera and ballet in the repertoire.
The main choreographer Vladimir Pak assembled a ballet troupe, which in two years brought to life eight ballets, such as “A Thousand and One Nights” (F. Amirov), “Don Quixote” (L. Minkus), “Pavana Mavra” (G. Purcell), “Bravo, Figaro!” (composer J. Rossini) and others. Since that time, the troupe of the theater has been replenished with young and talented vocalists and dancers, among which V. Bulatov, O. Silaeva, M. Shulga, V. Kuznetsov stand out .
Invitation to the Masters
In 1998, a new stage began in the development of the culture of the Kuban, this is due to the emergence of a new artistic director D. Saetovich, in which the musical theater (Krasnodar) soared to a whole new height. He raised the professional bar and invited prominent personalities to collaborate: Bolshoi Theater conductor Fuat Mansurov (People's Artist of Russia) and director Boris Tseytlin, which could not but affect the level of productions.
Golden Mask - at the Musical Theater (Krasnodar)
The repertoire was replenished with the following operas: The Stone Guest by composer A. Dargomyzhsky, The Barber of Seville (composer J. Rossini), Faust (composer S. Gounod), Violet Montmartre (I. Kalman). The festival “Golden Mask 2000” was attended by the operetta “And Acacia Blossoms Again” by composer I. Dunaevsky, it was staged by B. Tseitlin. The performance was met with interest by the capital. The Golden Mask was awarded to G. Averin, the conductor of the performance.
As a part of KSTO "Premiere"
A new round in the history of the theater began with a decision by the administration of the Krasnodar Territory, which in January 2002 announced the theater’s entry into the KSTO Premiere, whose director general was L. G. Gatov (People’s Artist of Russia).
From this time begins a large-scale reconstruction of the building. Repair work did not last long, on August 31 the theater was open to the public. Mostly the acoustics of the theater needed improvement, so work was done to increase the orchestra pit, the auditorium was completely redone. The lighting on the stage was replaced, ballet halls were built, repairs were made in the actor’s rooms of the building, the lobby, the facades of the building were restored , the surrounding area was landscaped. It is this, updated, today we see the theater.
Musical Krasnodar: premieres
Large-scale reconstruction of the building did not prevent the theater staff from working on a new repertoire. The transformed theater was opened with the premiere of D. Shostakovich’s Golden Age ballet. A week later, the audience appreciated the premiere of the opera Carmen by composer J. Bizet directed by A. Stepanyuk (St. Petersburg) and conductor V. Ziva. Then, after 14 days, another premiere was given to the court of Krasnodar - the opera Eugene Onegin by composer P. I. Tchaikovsky, director D. Bertman (Honored Artist of Russia), chief conductor of the symphony orchestra - V. Ponkin (People’s Artist of Russia) )
Organizational Activities
The General Director L. G. Gatov invited V. Ziva, State Prize Laureate, to the post of Artistic Director and Chief Director of the renovated theater. Together, they worked on creating a new theater repertoire, attracting new musicians, vocalists, choreographers, artists, and famous directors for this. Their innovative activity consisted of numerous educational projects in which famous musicians and cultural figures were involved, such as: Denis Matsuev, Sergey Yursky, Andrey Diev, Pavel Lyubimtsev, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya and others.
Musical Theater (Krasnodar), thanks to the activities of L. G. Gatov, began to gather the best creative forces of the country. The performances are:
- directors - Roman Viktyuk, Dmitry Bertman, Valery Merkulov, Vadim Milkov, Alexey Stepanyuk, Kirill Strezhnev;
- Artists - Andrei Klimov, Svetlana Logofet, Olga Reznichenko, Igor Nezhny, Anna and Anatoly Nezhny, Igor Grinevich, Vyacheslav Okunev, Tatyana Tulubieva.
Honored Artists
The musical theater (Krasnodar) is not only rich in young cadres, but also proud of the experienced staff, including folk and honored artists: Natalya Kremenskaya, Anatoly Borodin, Anastasia Podkopaeva, Yuri Drozhnyak. The leading artists of the theater are Marina Shulga, Karina Petrovskaya, Oksana Silaeva, Vladimir Kuznetsov, Vladimir Gadalin, Tatyana Zagozha, Vladimir Bulatov. The choir of the theater becomes more and more an independent unit, its head is the main choirmaster Igor Shvedov.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory, the choir, the soloists of the theater and the orchestra under the direction of V. Ziva presented the audience with the oratorio “Russian Requiem” by A. Tchaikovsky, it was written specifically for the theater (on request).
New projects
Now the head of the Creative Association is Tatyana Gatova, Honored Artist of Russia. She is directly involved in the creation of new productions, thanks to her the theater today can be proud of the new repertoire of various genres. The following are presented to the attention of the viewer:
- the ballets Road, Black and White Cinema - directed by the main choreographer A. Matsko;
- opera Aleko;
- the operettas "Silva" and "The Bat";
- performance from fragments of musicals and operettas “Bravo! Bravissimo! ”, Gathering a full hall;
- children's opera "Dwarf Nose", "Cinderella"; The premiere of the performance “The Dwarf Nose” by Ephraim Podgaits was held in Krasnodar and was a huge success, the opera became interesting for both adults and children, theater artists were re-opened in it.
The creative atmosphere prevailing in the team helped the creators to realize an interesting idea. The Musical Theater (Krasnodar) presented the viewer four programs of the cycle "Scenes from Russian Opera". The listener had an amazing opportunity to enjoy the beautiful performance of the most popular and favorite pieces from the great operas in one evening. These concerts are unique in that you can’t often hear them even in the capital’s theaters, as the arias of famous operas are written for rare voices.
The huge success with which the concerts were held, and the desire of the public to see their favorite numbers again made the management select the highlights and arrange a gala concert, naming it "Russian operas: the best of the best."
Conquering the heights
The birthday of such a city as Krasnodar, a musical theater, whose address is st. Krasnaya, 44, noted the long-awaited premiere - P. Tchaikovsky’s opera The Queen of Spades. The staging of this famous and large-scale work suggests that the troupe of the theater conquered the summit and is now at the level of the capital. The production is staged by Olga Ivanova, the successor to the famous director B. Pokrovsky.
In 2012, Andrei Lebedev, Honored Artist of the Kuban became the artistic director.
Today the Musical Theater (Krasnodar, Krasnaya, 44) is at that stage which allows us to state with confidence that the musical culture of the Kuban has a fairly high level of development.