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 a monument of architecture. The theater is the pride and hallmark of the city.
Theater History
The theater appeared in Odessa in the 19th century. Its founder was the Duke de Richelieu - the mayor.
The building for the theater 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 a few years later the opera prevailed.
In 1873, the theater building was destroyed by fire. After 11 years, construction began on a new haven for the temple of art. The first performance played in the new building was the opera Boris Godunov. Over the years of its existence, the world's best and famous opera singers and dancers performed on its stage.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Tomash Nizhinsky was the performer of the leading parties in ballet and the choreographer. His son Vaclav is a world famous dancer. At that time, there was no ballet troupe in the theater and guest 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 ballet troupe. The first leader was her choreographer Robert Balanotti.
In 1925, the theater building was subjected to a fire, which arose due to careless handling of fire during the play "The Prophet" by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Costumes and scenery burned down, the stage and curtain were destroyed, the music library suffered serious losses, and the hall was damaged. The consequences of the fires were eliminated a year later, and the troupe again began to give performances. There is a new technical equipment of the room. New costumes and decorations were created. Reinforced concrete curtains were installed in the hall, which in an emergency cut off the stage, the hall and office premises from each other.
Until 1919, Odessa Opera was private. This year she was transferred to state allowance. And in 1926 the theater was awarded the title "Academic".
The basis of the repertoire of those years was a classic, both Russian and foreign. But, besides this, there were performances created by Ukrainian and Soviet composers: Natalka-Poltavka, Battleship Potemkin, Taras Bulba, Schors, Zaporozhets beyond the Danube, Quiet Don, Mazepa, “ Sorochinskaya fair ”and many others.
During the Great Patriotic War, part of the troupe was sent to evacuate to Kazakhstan and Krasnoyarsk. The remaining artists in Odessa entered the propaganda brigades and went to the battlefields and hospitals in order to raise the morale of the army and inspire the defenders of the homeland with their creativity.
From the first years of its existence to this day, the Opera and Ballet Theater is a real cultural center of Odessa. The 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 increasingly popular. His repertoire was expanding. In the 60s, the repertoire included twenty-four ballets and twenty-eight opera performances.
Odessa Theater has brought up more than one generation of great vocalists, dancers, musicians who began their career here, and then became world famous artists whose names became legends. And today, talented professionals in their field work in the troupe, who love their work and devote their whole life to creativity. Among them are not only experienced stage luminaries, but also young artists full of enthusiasm and energy.
The theater actively participates in various festivals. Artists traveled with tours a huge number of different countries.
Theater building
The building, which houses the Opera and Ballet Theater, was built in 1887, instead of the old one, which suffered from a fire. In the design of its interiors and facade, several different styles were used. The exterior of the building is a successful combination of wealth and art. The appearance contains elements of Rococo, Renaissance and Baroque. They are so harmoniously connected that they form a single composition.
The main facade has a semi-oval shape. It is decorated with columns and balconies. The building has three floors. The first two look static and fundamental. The third floor is openwork and light.
Above the facade is a sculptural group.
The building project in 1873 was created by architects Fellner and Gelmer.
The auditorium of the theater is decorated with stucco and gilding, marble, crystal, velvet, mirrors. It has a horseshoe shape. Around it are walking galleries. The capacity of the hall is 1635 seats.
The building was reconstructed 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, computer control of the stage were installed.
Opera repertoire
The theater poster of Odessa is rich and diverse. The leading place in it is occupied by the opera house. It offers viewers musical performances as well as concerts.
Theater repertoire:
- "Floria Tosca."
- "La Traviata."
- Rigoletto.
- "Madame Butterfly."
- Katerina.
- "Cossack beyond the Danube."
- "Viy."
- "Emerald City".
- "Aida."
- "Iolanthe."
And others.
Ballet repertoire
Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater includes the following choreographic performances in its repertoire:
- "Nutcracker".
- The Mystery of the Vienna Woods.
- "Peter Pan".
- "Scream."
- "Red Riding Hood".
- "Cinderella".
- "La Bayadere."
- "Nureyev forever."
- "Aibolit XXI."
- Paquita.
- "Carmen Suite."
And others.
Theater tickets can be purchased at the box office or on the official website. The cost varies, depending on the performance and on how close to the stage the seats in the auditorium are located.
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 Width.
- Vasily Dobrovolsky.
- Ilona Skrypnik.
- Alexander Prokopovich.
- Tatyana Spasskaya.
- Ivan Flak.
- Elena Starodubtseva.
And others.
Ballet troupe
Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater is famous for its troupe. In addition to the vocalists, there are wonderful musicians, choristers and dancers.
Ballet artists of the theater:
- Olga Vorobyova.
- Dmitry Sharay.
- Vladimir Statny.
- Ellina Marching.
- Maria Ryazantseva.
- Elena Lavrinenko.
- Angelica Levshina.
- Vyacheslav Kravchenko.
- Yuri Chepil.
- Anna Tyutyunnik.
- Vadim Krussser.
- Kristina Pavlova.
- Vladislav Stepanov.
And many others.
Museum
A few years ago, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, at the initiative of the director, opened its own museum. A collection of exhibits began to be collected 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. Each spectator can visit the exposition before the start of the performance and during intermissions. Among the exhibits: programs and playbills, photographs, tickets, scenery sketches, 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. He passes in the open. Representatives of any direction in art can take part in it, both classical and contemporary 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 the styles, genres and forms of classical art. Festival participants demonstrate ballets and operas. Perform baroque music and popular classics.
There are two more festivals organized by the Odessa team. One of them is called "Christmas". The second is held on the anniversary dates for the theater.
Main director
O. Taranenko is the main director of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater. Oksana is a graduate of the Higher College of Music named after R. Glier in Kiev. In 2000 she graduated from the Institute of Theater Arts named after I. Karpenko-Kary - director's department. For ten years she worked on television. She was a journalist, presenter, director of films and television series.
At the theater she staged a large number of musical performances. She was the director and assistant art director of the Opera and Ballet Theater for children and youth in Kiev. She was invited to Odessa in 2013.