Alexander Gradsky is rightfully considered one of the founders of such a musical phenomenon as Russian rock. He has an impressive list of titles and awards, according to the number of which only a few superstars of domestic show business can compete with him. Recently, an important event took place in the life of the maestro - the opening of the Gradsky Hall theater, which took place after almost 25 years of waiting.
Background
In 1991, the Moscow government decided to transfer the dilapidated building of the Burevestnik movie theater to the MTKMO GBUK led by Alexander Gradsky. It was located at: Korovy Val, building 3, p. 1 and for several years has not been used for its intended purpose.
It immediately became clear that the building would need major repairs, which would require large sums of money. Since there were “hungry” 90s in the yard, the city authorities were busy solving more pressing problems. Nevertheless, in 1994, the reconstruction of the cinema began, but work was carried out extremely slowly and was soon suspended. At the same time, the maestro behaved extremely patiently. At least, Gradsky himself says so.
The theater probably would not have received a permanent building if, after a long break, project financing had not been resumed. This happened only 19 years after the start of construction.
Be that as it may, by mid-2015 all work was completed, and a new cultural object appeared on the map of Moscow - the Gradsky Theater.
Opening
The presentation took place on September 4, 2015. On this day in the building, which is now occupied by the Gradsky musical theater, the maestro's friends and famous figures of Russian art, politics and business gathered. Among the invited were V. Medinsky, K. Ernst, I. Kobzon, A. Makarevich, M. Barschevsky, Yu. Aksyut, A. Minkin, A. Gasparyan, A. Knyshev, E. Dodolev and others.
Opening the ceremony, Gradsky told the audience that the day before he had a telephone conversation with Yuri Luzhkov, which contributed to the launch of the project to create a theater. He also thanked the current head of the capital for comprehensive support, without which the repair work could have remained incomplete.
Concert in honor of the opening of the Gradsky Hall
The festive evening ended with the performance of famous collectives and members of the maestro's team on the show "Voice", which are now the soloists of the theater. In addition, the audience had the opportunity to enjoy the performance of Joseph Kobzon. The audience made a long standing ovation after the sounds of the eternal hit “How Young We Were”, which was performed by Gradsky himself, fell silent.
Theater GBUK MTKMO: building
Cinema "Petrel" was built in the early 50s of the last century. The authors of his project were architects I. Zholtovsky and V. Voskresensky. The building has the features of a neoclassical style, fashionable at that time. According to a similar project, in the capital around the same time, the cinema “Victory” and “Glory” were built.
After the reconstruction, the Burevestnik building began to meet all the modern requirements for structures of this kind, which Gradsky had been trying for so long.
The theater has a magnificent auditorium with parquet floors. There are comfortable wooden chairs with soft upholstery. The design of the ceiling and walls is made in black, which focuses the attention of the audience on the stage. The pride of the theater is lighting with a system of “artificial intelligence”, organized by various types of spotlights, and a transformable stage.
Soloists and Orchestra
The Gradsky Hall Theater has a permanent troupe, which includes:
- Valentina Biryukova. Semifinalist of the show "Voice". She took part in a tour of 30 cities of Russia along with Dina Garipova and other soloists of the theater.
- Alexander Vorobyov. Graduate of the Institute. Gnesins. Winner of the Voice (2014).
- Dina Garipova. Participant and winner of the show "Voice" (2012). Entered the top five at the Eurovision Song Contest. Released a solo multilingual album.
- Andrey Lefler. Member of the project "Voice". He soloed in Gradsky’s famous opera The Master and Margarita, where his partners were pop stars.
- Sergey Volchkov. Has a multi-stage professional music education. Trained in Italy. Winner of the show "Voice".
- Elena Minina. Graduate of the Gnesins Academy. She performed the part of Margarita in the Gradsky opera, written based on the immortal work of M. Bulgakov.
- Pauline Konkina. She participated in the show “Voice”, where she performed in a team led by Gradsky.
The theater also has its own chamber orchestra, which includes young musicians K. Kaznacheev, A. Rukhadze, A. Snezhin, A. Yakush (violinists), E. Kaznacheev, I. Saenko (violists), O. Demin, P. Karetnikov (cellists) and S. Murygin (double bass).
Poster
Although the theater opened relatively recently, several interesting musical events have already taken place there - from the performance of A. Makarevich's Yiddish Jazz to a chamber music concert.
At the moment, “Scriabin’s evenings” are being held there, during which the viewer can hear the performance of classical works by famous composers, accompanied by breathtaking lighting effects.
The theater also has a small children's repertoire. For example, young viewers can watch a fairy tale opera about Pinocchio.
Now you know where Gradsky Hall is located and what the audience can offer - another cultural institution in the capital where you can listen to intellectual music in an intelligent setting.