Odessa Opera House repertoire for July. Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater: address, history, repertoire
The building of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater is considered the most famous architectural monument Ukraine. The opera is one of the most beautiful theaters in the world and a real pearl of Odessa.
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The American magazine Forbes included it in the list of 11 most interesting attractions of Eastern Europe.
The Odessa Opera House traces its history almost from the time of the founding of Odessa. was built in 1809 according to the design of the famous French architect Thomas de Thomon.
In 1873, this theater completely burned down, it was a tragedy for the city, but fortunately, there were no casualties.
The city leadership understood the need to build a new theater, so a commission was created to review projects for a new theater, chaired by Grigory Marazli. After an announced competition in 1880, the design of A.O. Bernardazzi, who at that time served as the chief city architect, was chosen.
However, since the fame of the architects Fellner and Helmer was very high, the city council, neglecting the project of A. Bernardazzi, turned to them.
I can only imagine how upset Alexander Osipovich was, but this decision turned out to be fateful.
The famous Austrian architectural bureau of Fellner and Helmer mainly specialized in the construction of theaters.
According to the designs of these architects, 48 theaters were built in many cities of Central and Eastern Europe in the Renaissance style with Baroque elements.
The Austrians prepared the project of the Opera House for Odessa by 1882.
One of the models was the Dresden Opera, built four years earlier, by the architect Gottfried Semper, with unconventional form a foyer that followed the curve of the auditorium.
There are also references to the appearance, which was also built by Fellner and Helmer.
Possessing an absolutely European appearance, the Odessa Opera has always been a theater of European level.
The foundation of the new Opera House was laid on September 16, 1884, 11 years after the fire that destroyed the city's first theater.
“a box made of boiler copper, silver-plated on the outside, was installed in the foundation, into which the following things were placed: a metal table listing all the leading officials of the city; wheat harvest 1884 from the village of Kosharki and a bottle of wine locally produced; Russian gold and silver coins; photo of the coat of arms of Odessa; view of a burnt theater; technical documentation for the new theater building; notes of Novorossiysk University for 1884; city newspapers, etc.”
The project of Fellner and Helmer was not finalized in detail, moreover, the architects did not come to Odessa during construction, so much was rethought and supplemented by Odessa architects Alexander Bernardazzi, Felix Gonsirovsky and Yuri Dmitrenko. The allegorical compositions on the facades were made by the sculptor F. Friedl.
The project cost a whopping one and a half million rubles, but the theater building was equipped according to last word technology: for the first time in the Novorossiysk region, electric lighting and steam heating were used.
The work was carried out by contracting from local building materials(mainly the popular Odessa limestone - shell rock). New theater opened October 1, 1887.
The new theater instantly became cultural center city, a favorite place for the wealthy classes of Odessa, and, in addition, enjoyed unprecedented popularity among world-famous artists.
Isadora Duncan, Maya Plisetskaya, Anna Pavlova, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninov - whoever the stage of the Odessa Opera has not welcomed! The voices of the legendary Enrico Caruso and Titta Ruffo, Leonid Sobinov and Salome Krushelnitskaya, Muslim Magomayev and Fyodor Chaliapin were heard here. The latter, after his first visit to the theater, wrote to his wife: “...I was in the theater and was wildly delighted with its beauty...”. By the way, in 1899, in the play “Rusalka”, two outstanding voices - Chaliapin (bass) and Sobinov (tenor) - appeared on stage together, which was an extremely rare event.
Pyotr Tchaikovsky also performed at the Opera. His concerts were always sold out. Once after a performance, actress Maria Zankovetskaya presented the maestro Laurel wreath with the inscription “To the immortal from the mortal.” That same evening, a luxurious banquet was held for Tchaikovsky at the English Club (now the Naval Fleet Museum). In a letter to his brother Modest great musician wrote: “I have never been so tired of conducting as in Odessa. But never, anywhere have I been exalted or feted as I am here. If only I could have received even a tenth of what was in Odessa in the capitals!”
Another of the theatrical tales concerns professional theater luminaries, who in late XIX centuries toured in Odessa. The troupe included Ivan Karpenko-Kary, Nikolai Sadovsky, Panas Saksagansky, Maria Zankovetskaya. On the day of one of the premieres, when bad weather raged, a large dirty puddle formed in front of the entrance to the Opera House. And so that Zankovetskaya could pass, Sadovsky took off his beaver coat and laid it right on the dirt.
By the way, the legendary Leonid Utesov sang on the stage of our Opera only twice. The first was in 1917, when the theater staged grand concert on the occasion of the visit of Grigory Kotovsky. And the second time - after the war. Tickets sold out instantly! People even brought stepladders to watch the concert through the second floor windows.
In 1925, a fire broke out in the building, which destroyed the stage and damaged the auditorium. A year later, the theater was restored, but 40 years later it required a complete restoration, which was carried out using four million rubles allocated from the all-Union budget. But this did not help for long - by the mid-nineties of the twentieth century, the building had fallen into a catastrophic state. The reason for such problems lies in the subsidence of the rock underlying the theater. There was talk in the city that the theater was slowly but surely “sliding” towards the sea, and soon we would not see it. Fortunately, such rumors turned out to be premature. In 2007, a long-term restoration was completed, during which the foundation of the building was strengthened with piles and installation modern systems air conditioning, fire alarm, electrical supply, a complete restoration of the facade and interior was carried out.
During the Great Patriotic War the artists of the Odessa Theater did not stop performing. True, it was mandatory to include German and Romanian works in the repertoire, but there was also room for Russian classics: “Eugene Onegin”, “Boris Godunov” and “Swan Lake”.
The hall was never empty, also due to the fact that ticket prices were low. The troupe even went on tour.
During the retreat in 1944, the Nazis planned to blow up the theater building, but, fortunately, this did not happen. Legend has it that one of its ballerinas saved the theater - the officer commanding the operation fell in love with her, and she persuaded him not to touch the temple of arts.
As evidenced by the inscription on the memorial plaque, it was on the balcony of the theater on April 10, 1944 that the banner of the liberation of the city of Odessa from the Nazi invaders was raised.
In 1926, the theater was awarded the title “Academic”.
Since 1929, the theater was called the State Opera academic theater named after Lunacharsky".
On August 31, 2007, by decree of the President of Ukraine No. 807/2007, the Odessa Academic Opera and Ballet Theater was awarded the status of “National”.
The Odessa Opera House is famous primarily for its architecture, and in its layout and technical data it is not inferior to the best in Europe. The building itself is designed in the Viennese Baroque style, which was the main one in European art from the end of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century.
Above the facade rises a sculptural group depicting one of the muses - the patroness of art, Melpomene.
She sits in a chariot drawn by four angry panthers. This allegory illustrates the idea that only the power of art can conquer animal savagery.
On the pediment of the portico, several dates are indicated in Roman numerals: in the first line MDCCCLXXXIV-MDCCCLXXXVII - the years of the beginning and end of the theater's construction (1884-1887).
The second line contains the phrase “ardebat anno”, which means “the theater was burning” (we are talking about the fire of 1925). Then the date MCMLXVII (1967) and the word “restitutum” (“restoration”) as a reminder of the restoration work in the theater.
On both sides of the inscription, the portico is crowned with two sculptures personifying music and dance:
on the left - Orpheus plays the cithara to the centaur:
on the right - the dance muse Terpsichore teaches a girl her art:
Near the central entrance, on high pedestals, there are two sculptural groups embodying Comedy and Tragedy: on the left is a scene from Euripides’ tragedy “Hippolytus”, on the right is an episode from Aristophanes’ comedy “The Birds”.
Sculptural group "Comedy"
The figure depicting the tragedy shows Phaedra mourning the murdered Hippolytus, who lies right there at her feet.
Sculptural group "Tragedy"
IN right hand she has the cup from which she just took poison, the left one is pressed to her heart. Behind the group is a saddened angel.
Along the pediment of the building there are busts on the right and left
Griboyedova:
symbolizing poetry, comedy, drama and music respectively.
On the balustrade of the building there are 16 figures of putti (baby cupids), each of which is unique and does not repeat the others.
Having visited Opera theatre, you will definitely see the mirror, under which a symbolic key was walled up back in 1887, donated by the architect of the new theater building, Ferdinand Fellner, to the mayor Grigory Marazli. They also say that if you quickly glance at the figures of all the angels in the tier, you can see how they dance.
The side of the theater facing the English Club and Theater Square is called the English side. In the square, between the theater and the club, is located (better known as “Children and the Frog”) and nameless. Along the English side of the theater from Teatralny Square to Tchaikovsky Lane, an elegant, built
"English" side of the Odessa Opera House
And the side facing the Palais Royal square is called French.
“French” side of the Odessa Opera House
The most beautiful part of the building is the auditorium.
The area of the stage is 500 m², the rear stage is 200 m², the width of the portal is 15 m, the height is 12 meters. Floors made of marble chips of a special pattern for each floor.
For the first time in Odessa, electricity was used to illuminate the theater, for which an alternating current power station was built. For the first time, electric light bulbs flashed in Odessa in 1887, on the opening day of the theater.
The Odessa Theater is unique not only for its architectural design and exquisite sculpting, but also for its acoustics - the voices of the artists can be heard equally well in any part of the hall, designed, by the way, for 1636 seats (in the same Vienna Opera- 1473 places). And if you select the desired point on the stage, the vibrations of the voice even begin to rattle the chandelier. “When Sergei Lemeshev sang,” shared former soloist theater Antonina Ivanova, who devoted more than 20 years to the Opera, he determined that if you come closer to the edge of the stage and stand directly under the ramp, the voice carries through the hall best. The chandelier always rattled during his performances.” By the way, the weight of the crystal chandelier is 2.5 tons!
In 1971, a Rieger-Kloss organ was installed in the theater. 3 thousand pipes are placed above the boxes of the second tier and, when not in use, are covered with special curtains - blinds. The organ console is mobile and, if necessary, is installed on the stage, whereas usually it is located backstage.
In 1997 they began restoration work at the Odessa Opera House. They were completed in the fall of 2007. 10 whole years!
The foundation was reinforced with personalized piles (1,840 pieces), each costing $1,500, and withstanding a load of 30,000 tons. And approximately 7.5 kg of gold leaf was used to decorate the theater. The entire theater structure weighs 54,000 tons, and the theater building, like the whole of Odessa, stands directly on a crack in underground tectonic plates, which are located at a depth of about one and a half kilometers. Since the movement of the plates is continuous, the aforementioned piles move along with them. It is because of these vibrations that the theater building is constantly shifting, as eloquently evidenced by the numerous small cracks on the facade, which have begun to grow especially intensively in last years. According to experts, it is unfortunately impossible to eliminate this problem.
On September 22, 2007, the grand opening of the completely restored Opera House took place. Its original appearance (since 1964) was recreated both outside and inside.
In 2011, Artemy Lebedev's studio developed a new logo for the Odessa Opera House.
What is important is that visiting the Odessa Opera House, despite the expensive luxury of the interiors, is accessible to everyone. As of December 2008, ticket prices range from 20 to 100 UAH if non-famous artists perform.
In October 2012, a museum began operating in the building of the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, the exhibition of which is extremely interesting. Collected here stage costumes, yellowed posters, programs and photographs, opera scores with notes from the artists, personal belongings famous dancers and singers who were applauded by Odessa in their time. These and other items (there are more than 300 of them in the museum’s collection) provide an opportunity to touch history and feel the spirit of the theater.
The repertoire of the Opera Theater is quite extensive, but among the most famous and successful productions are the following performances: “Carmen”, “La Traviata”, “Il Trovatore”, “Rigoletto”, “Cossack beyond the Danube”, “Cio-Cio-San”, “Natalka” -Poltavka”, “Giselle”, “The Nutcracker”, “Sleeping Beauty”. At these performances the hall is usually full.
Of course, such a landmark as the Opera House has its own legends.
They say that one European artist stabbed his partner to death on stage during a performance. After this, theater workers allegedly heard the actress’s steps and crying.
They also say that the ghost of the famous Odessa thief Yaponchik visits the theater. It is known that he was a fan of art.
Also, at the Odessa Opera House they believe that if you look at yourself in a six-meter mirror located at the end of an English staircase for a few minutes, you will age three years later.
Odessa is unthinkable without its opera house, which made it famous throughout the world.
On its stage Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov conducted, the great Enrico Caruso and Fyodor Chaliapin sang, Pavlova and Isadora Duncan danced. The popular Forbes magazine included the Odessa Opera House in the list of the most significant attractions in Eastern Europe.
The Odessa Opera House is the very first in Ukraine in terms of construction time, significance and fame. The first theater building was opened in 1810, but in 1873 it was destroyed by fire. Modern building designed in 1887 by Fellner and Helmer in the Viennese Baroque style. The stunning acoustics of the horseshoe-shaped hall allows you to hear even a whisper from the stage in any part of the hall. Large-scale restoration of the opera house was completed in 2007.
The Odessa Opera House became famous thanks to its special architecture, which is not inferior to the best theater buildings in Europe. At one time it was considered one of the best in the world and is still one of the main attractions of the city. According to the project, it consists of a horseshoe auditorium with spacious galleries, foyers and utility rooms. The stairs leading directly to the exit from the theater also consist of tiers. The building is covered with a cascade of metal beams
Undoubtedly, the most impressive part of the building is its auditorium, decorated in the Roccoco style. All the details inside are very harmonious: domes, columns, arches, bas-reliefs, candles, gilding, which combines very beautifully with the color of the walls and ceilings.
On the ceilings of the opera house there are murals - scenes from the most famous creations Shakespeare. A huge crystal chandelier weighs more than two and a half tons rises above the hall.
Here it is, the main staircase of the Odessa Opera House
The repertoire of the Odessa Opera House is quite extensive, among the productions are “Carmen”, “La Traviata”, “Il Trovatore”, “Rigoletto”, “Cossack beyond the Danube”, “Cio-Cio-San”, “Natalka-Poltavka”, “The Nutcracker”, "Sleeping Beauty". Alexander Pushkin speaks about the Odessa Theater in his novel “Eugene Onegin”:
“But the blue evening is getting dark,
It's time for us to go to the opera quickly:
There is delightful Rossini,
Europe's darling - Orpheus..."
“...Is there only charm there?
What about the investigative lorgnette?
What about backstage dates?
A prima donna? and ballet?..."
“...But it’s too late. Odessa sleeps quietly;
And lifeless and warm
Silent night. The moon has risen
Transparent light curtain
Encompasses the sky. Everything is silent;
Only the Black Sea is noisy..."
Ballet dancers have performed in Canada, Japan, Sri Lanka, China, Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, South Korea, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Indonesia, Switzerland, Sweden and many other countries of the world
After his first visit to Odessa, Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin said to his wife:
“..was wildly delighted by the beauty of the theater. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life."
The theater is surrounded by many beautiful illuminated fountains
The façade faces the intersection of Lanzheronovskaya and Rishelievskaya streets, while the back side of the theater faces Tchaikovsky Lane, respectively official address theater: Tchaikovsky Lane, 1
Odessa is unthinkable without its opera house, which made it famous throughout the world
The famous National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is located. Today, Odessa residents jokingly compare it to a “Viennese cake,” and theatergoers around the world call it “the best creation of Austrian architects” and “the pearl of European Baroque.” Therefore, it is not surprising that the Odessa Opera House, which is already more than 125 years old, rightfully occupies one of the honorable places in the list of the most beautiful buildings in Ukraine.
History of the theater
The first opera house in Odessa was built back in 1809. It was this place that Alexander Pushkin visited when he lived here for a year. And already in next year played the first performance - the one-act opera “New Family” by Sergei Vyazmitinov and the vaudeville “The Consoled Widow” by Yakov Knyazhinin, performed by the Russian troupe of Porfiry Fortunatov. They say that even then the theater stage was a kind of test of actors' talent. They say that if the performance was a success among the audience of the Odessa opera, then the corpse was sent to the capital with it Russian Empire. However, in 1873, the theater building burned to the ground. They say that the fire was caused by kerosene horns, which were then used to illuminate the opera building. At that time, people were spending the night in the room, but miraculously everyone survived.
Ten years have passed, and the residents of Odessa set about building a new architectural masterpiece. Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer were invited to build the new theater. They were helped by the then chief architect of Odessa, Alexander Bernardazzi, and the architects Yuri Dmitrenko and Felix Gonsiorovsky. Already in 1887, the opera, about which in 1983 the writer James Alridge would say: “ Wonderful theater, I have never seen anything similar in beauty in any country in the world,” I was ready.
Odessa Opera inside
The Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is known primarily for its exquisite decoration. The building is designed in the Viennese Baroque style. Theater Hall, the decorative elements of which belong to the French Rococo era, are striking in beauty. He is considered the best part the entire architectural masterpiece. The room, designed for 1,600 spectators, is decorated with stucco in the form of an ornament with fine gilding. The eye is attracted by a very good chandelier weighing more than 2 tons, as well as an original painted ceiling, the composition of which is based on four scenes from Shakespeare’s works: “Hamlet”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “ Winter's Tale” and “As you like it.”
The extraordinary acoustics of the stage allow even the most intimate whispers from the nooks and crannies to be conveyed to the viewer. After all, nowhere else will you see a curtain designed by the most gifted theater artist Alexander Golovin.
The façade of the theater also deserves special attention. Melpomene, the patroness of actors, rises above him. Below, near the main entrance, there are two sculptural groups: a fragment of Euripides’ tragedy “Hippolytus” and an episode from Aristophanes’ comedy “The Birds”. And on the pediment of the building you can see busts of the creators of Russian literature and art: Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Griboedov, Nikolai Gogol.
How to get there
The Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is located in the central part of Odessa - in Tchaikovsky Lane.
Working hours theater box office: daily from 11:00 to 19:30 (technical break lasts half an hour - from 15:00 to 15:30), except Mondays. Please note that one hour before the start of the performance, tickets are sold only for the current performance.
The Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater can rightfully be called the oldest among a number of cultural institutions cities. Odessa won the right to build a theater in 1804, and in 1809 it was already built. On February 10, 1810, the first performance took place - the Russian group of P. Fortunatov staged Froelich’s one-act opera “The New Family” and the vaudeville “The Consoled Widow”. But, unfortunately, in 1873 old theater burned out. There was no talk of any restoration. The Viennese architects F. Fellner and G. Helmer (Helmner) were asked to draw up a project for a new city theater. Almost eleven years passed from the moment of the fire to the laying of the first stone in the foundation of the new theater building. The opening of the theater took place on October 1, 1887. The building of the Odessa Theater is designed in the Viennese "Baroque" style, which was the main one in European art since late XVI and up to mid-18th century century.
The theater is interesting not only for its architecture, but also for its rich creative biography. The theater deserves a lot of credit for the development musical culture on the south of Ukraine. P.I. Tchaikovsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.V. Rachmaninov, Eugene Ysaye, Pablo Sarasate and others performed their works here. Artists whose names have become famous performed domestic art. They sang here great Fedor Chaliapin, Solomiya Krushelnitskaya, Antonina Nezhdanova, Leonid Sobinov, Titto Ruffo, Mattia Battistini, Eugenio Giraldoni, danced the first ballerina of the world - Anna Pavlova. In 1926, the theater was awarded the title of academic.
One of the most important sights and symbols of Odessa. It was built in 1810 and was the first theater in Odessa and the then Novorossiya. The first building burned down in a fire in 1873, and the building that pleases Odessa residents today was built in 1887 following the example of the Dresden Opera. Architects Fellner and Helmer built the building in the Viennese Baroque style. Auditorium is also consistent with the later French Rococo. Along with the amazing view of the hall, the architects gave it incredible acoustics. Even a phrase spoken in a whisper from the stage will be heard anywhere in the hall. At one time, the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater was admired by Pushkin, Chaliapin and many other famous artists. The history of this place is extremely interesting. The building, which burned down in 1873, was the first in Ukraine with electricity and steam heating. The auditorium was designed for 8 hundred people, despite the fact that the entire population of the city at that time did not exceed 13 thousand.
On theater posters in different time one could meet Tchaikovsky and Chaliapin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninov, Krushelnitskaya and Pavlova. The Opera House's repertoire has always been different big amount famous figures art.
The current state of the Opera and Ballet Theater
The last restoration was completed in 2007 and the building now looks completely new, few would give it almost a century and a half. The theater schedule is dense and varied. Every resident or guest of the city of Odessa will find something interesting for themselves. You can buy or reserve a ticket online or by phone. The Odessa city portal odessa1 offers you to familiarize yourself with posters, repertoire, view the schedule, in addition, you can find out ticket prices from us. Ticket prices vary significantly depending on the event, but remain quite affordable.
The Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is located at the beginning of Rishelievskaya Street, on the corner with Lanzheronovskaya, although technically its address is Tchaikovsky Lane 1. Usually events start at 18:30 or 12:00, however, it is still worth checking the schedule exactly. The exact time is indicated on the posters and website.
Thanks to its chic architecture, favorable location and interesting schedule, this place is one of the most beloved and popular for city residents, and recognizable and alluring for residents of the whole world.
