Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater: address, history, repertoire

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 an architectural monument. The theater is the pride and the calling card of the city.

History of the theater

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 have been shown in the theater regularly. The repertoire was different, but in a few years the opera prevailed.

In 1873 the building of the theater was destroyed by fire. In 11 years the construction of a new haven for the temple of art began. The first performance, played in the new building, was the opera Boris Godunov. For the years of its existence on its stage were the best in the world and famous opera singers and dancers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Tomasz Nijinsky was the executor of the leading parties in the ballet and the choreographer-director. His son Vaclav - a world-famous dancer. At that time his ballet troupe was not in the theater and guest artists took part in the productions. In 1923, Remislav Remislavsky and Ekaterina Pushkina created in Odessa the first choreographic school. Their graduates became artists of the ballet troupe of the theater. The first leader was the choreographer Robert Balanotti.

In 1925, the building of the theater was subjected to a fire, which arose from the careless handling of fire during the performance "Prophet" Giacomo Meyerbera. The costumes and scenery were burned, the stage and the curtain were destroyed, the music library was seriously damaged, the hall was damaged. The consequences of the fires were eliminated within a year, and the troupe began to give performances again. There was a new technical equipment of the room. New costumes and decorations were created. In the hall were installed reinforced concrete curtains, which in an emergency, cut off from each other the scene, hall and office space.

Until 1919 the Odessa Opera was private. This year she was transferred to the state allowance. And in 1926 the theater was awarded the title "Academic".

The basis of the repertoire of those years was the classics, both Russian and foreign. But, in addition, there were performances created by Ukrainian and Soviet composers: Natalka-Poltavka, Battleship Potemkin, Taras Bulba, Shchors, Zaporozhets for the Danube, Quiet Flows the Don, Mazepa, Sorochinskaya Fair "and many others.

During the Great Patriotic War, the troupe was sent to evacuate to Kazakhstan and Krasnoyarsk. The remaining artists in Odessa entered the agitation brigades and went to the battlefields and hospitals, so that their creativity to raise the morale of the army and inspire the defenders of the motherland.

From the first years of its existence to this day, the Opera and Ballet Theater is a true cultural center of Odessa. The musical and social life of the city is concentrated in it.

Tickets to the theater of opera and ballet cost from 15 to 30 dollars, it's about 900 to 2000 rubles.

After the war the theater became more and more popular. His repertoire expanded. In the sixties, the repertoire included twenty-four ballets and twenty-eight opera performances.

The Odessa theater was grown not by one generation of remarkable vocalists, dancers, musicians, who began their creative career here, and then became famous all over the world for artists whose names became legends. And nowadays talented professionals of their work, loving their work and dedicating their creative work to their troupe work in the troupe. Among them are not only experienced stage coryphaeans, but also enthusiastic and energetic young artists.

The theater actively participates in various festivals. Artists have toured with tours of 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 used several different styles. The exterior of the building is a successful combination of wealth and art. In appearance there are elements of rococo, renaissance and baroque. They are so harmoniously connected that they form a single composition.

The main facade has the shape of a half-oval. 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 project of building the building in 1873 was created by the architects Felner and Helmer.

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 third millennium the theater met in an updated form. The foundation was reinforced, the roof was blocked, the facade was restored, new heating systems, air conditioning, modern light and sound equipment, computer control of the stage were installed.

Opera repertoire

The theatrical 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.

Opera repertoire:

• "Floria Tosca".
• "La Traviata".
• Rigoletto.
• Madame Butterfly.
• "Katerina."
• "Zaporozhets for the Danube."
• "Viy".
• "Emerald City".
• "Aida".
• "Iolanta".

And others.

Ballet repertoire

Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater in its repertoire includes the following choreographic productions:

• "Nutcracker".
• The Mystery of the Vienna Woods.
• "Peter Pan".
• "Scream".
• "Little Red Riding Hood".
• "Cinderella".
• The Bayadere.
• "Nureyev forever."
• "Aibolit XXI".
• "Paquita."
• "Carmen Suite."

And others.

Tickets to the theater can be purchased at the ticket office or on the official website. The cost varies, depending on the performance and on how close to the scene are the seats in the auditorium.

Opera troupe

The Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater gathered talented, professional artists on its stage.

Vocalists:

• Valery Bendery.
• Larisa Zuyenko.
• Yuri Dudar.
• Vera Revenko.
• Dmitry Mikheev.
• Lyudmila the 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 vocalists, there are wonderful musicians, choristers and dancers.

Ballet dancers of the theater:

• Olga Vorobyova.
• Dmitry Sharay.
• Vladimir Statnyy.
• Ellina the Marines.
• Maria Ryazantseva.
• Elena Lavrinenko.
• Angelica Levshina.
• Vyacheslav Kravchenko.
• Yuri Chepil.
• Anna Tyutyunnik.
• Vadim Krusser.
• Kristina Pavlova.
• Vladislav Stepanov.

And many others.

The Museum

Several years ago, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, at the initiative of the director, opened its museum. The 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 premises where the ticket offices used to be. Everyone can visit the exhibition before the performance and during intermission. Among the exhibits: programs and posters of performances, photographs, tickets, sketches of scenery, documents, costumes, interiors installation, 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 Festival of Arts. It passes under the open sky. Representatives of any trends in art can take part in it, classical as well as actual genres are welcomed.

Festival "The Velvet Season in the Odessa Opera". It takes place in a new format. The festival was created in order to unite all styles, genres and forms of classical art into one whole. Participants of the festival show ballets and operas. Perform Baroque music and popular classics.

There are two more festivals, which are organized by the Odessa team. One of them is called "Christmas". The second is held in the jubilee 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 Music College named after R. Gliere in Kiev. In 2000 she graduated from the I. Karpenko-Kary Institute of Theatrical Arts, the director's department. For ten years she worked on television. She was a journalist, presenter, director of films and television series.

In the theater has put a lot of musical performances. Was the director and assistant artistic director of the Opera and Ballet Theater for Children and Youth in Kiev. In Odessa was invited in 2013.