One of the most significant musical theaters; the most famous opera and ballet theater. Since the reign of Catherine II, it has been an imperial theater. It is included in the version of our site.

The history of the Mariinsky Theater began in 1783, when, by order of the Empress, it was erected in St. Petersburg Grand Theatre. During the reign of Alexander II, the theater was renamed in honor of his wife, Maria Alexandrovna. In October 1860, the premiere of M. Glinka's opera took place in the new theater. The old building was used as a conservatory.

It is not for nothing that the Mariinsky is considered one of the most significant theaters in the world of opera and ballet. In the second half of the 19th century, the most important premieres in the history of Russian opera took place on its stage: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and many other famous productions.

In 1920, with the change of government, the theater was renamed Kirovsky. The former name was returned in 1992. The interior of the theater was reconstructed twice. Today, this is one of the most beautiful halls in the world, and the unique curtain, created in 1914, has long become the hallmark of the theater. Not far from the theater in 2013, the building of the second stage of the Mariinsky was built.

The main building of the theater is located on Teatralnaya Square in St. Petersburg. You can get to the square by public transport, or by walking 15-20 minutes from the Sadovaya/Sennaya Ploshchad/Spasskaya metro stations.

During the breaks between theater seasons main stage other groups perform.

Photo attraction: Mariinsky Theater

The building of the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. A historical building in the classicist style, built according to the design of A.K. Kavos in 1859-1860 on the site of the old circus theater. In 1894-1896, the building was significantly reconstructed according to the design of V. A. Shreter. It houses one of the most famous opera and ballet theaters in Russia and the world - the State Academic Mariinskii Opera House.

The first building on the site of the modern Mariinsky Theater was built back in the 40s of the 19th century; it became a circus theater, and Albert Katarinovich Kavos acted as the architect of the project. Not only circus performances were held in this room, but later dramatic theater performances were also given. However, in mid-19th century century, the building was completely destroyed by fire - only walls and some ceilings remained from the previous building.

To replace the one that burned down, it was decided to erect a new building, and this time exclusively for the opera house. A.K. Kavos was again entrusted with designing it, however, he significantly altered his previous creation, modifying it to suit theatrical needs. The new theater began to be called the Mariinsky in honor of the wife of Emperor Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

IN late XIX century, architect V. A. Shreter added a building to the building for rehearsal halls, theater workshops and office space. He's also replacing the wood rafters with steel ones, adding side wings, replacing the grand staircase and expanding the foyer. The facade of the building takes on more monumental shapes, and the dome is crowned with the famous turret.

The interior decoration of the Mariinsky Theater immediately after its opening amazed all contemporaries with its splendor. The walls were decorated in a sea green color and complemented with blue velvet and silver brocade chairs. Stucco decorations and sculptures were placed everywhere. This richness of decoration was emphasized by rays of light from numerous lamps and a three-tier chandelier with a picturesque lampshade by the master Enrico Fracioli. The rich curtain that became the emblem of the theater deserves special mention; it was made with the participation of the artist A. Golovin. The interiors of the Mariinsky Theater are still considered one of the best in the world.

The building of the Mariinsky Theater is included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects (historical and cultural monuments) of Russia.

Note to tourists:

A tour of the building will be of interest to theater lovers who want to attend an opera or ballet.

The theater was named Mariinsky in honor of the wife of Emperor Alexander II, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Foundation of the theater

And the history of the theater began in July 1783, when Catherine II issued a Decree approving the theater committee “to manage shows and music,” and on October 5 of the same year the Bolshoi Stone Theater was inaugurated on Carousel Square, which became known as Teatralnaya Square. The theater was built according to the project Antonio Rinaldi. Its stage was equipped with modern equipment for those times; French, Italian and Russian troupes alternately performed in the theater.

In 1802-1803 architect Thomas de Thomon redesigned the theater, and it was one of the landmarks of St. Petersburg until a fire occurred in it (on the night of January 1, 1811). The interior of the theater was destroyed and the façade was seriously damaged. The restoration of the theater lasted until 1818; Thomas de Thomon did not live to see this time.

Theater repertoire

The theater's repertoire included several operas Mozart(“The Magic Flute”, “The Abduction from the Seraglio”, “The Clemency of Titus”), Rossini(“Cinderella”, “Semiramis”, “The Thieving Magpie”, “The Barber of Seville”), Weber(“Free Shooter”). The theater's repertoire also included works by Russian composers: vaudevilles Alyabyeva And Verstovsky, as well as Kavos’s opera “Ivan Susanin”. S. Didelot stages Russian ballet at the theater. It was this period creative life theater is depicted in the novel by A.S. Pushkin “Eugene Onegin”:

The theater is already full; the boxes shine;

The stalls and the chairs are all in full swing;

In paradise they splash impatiently,

And, rising, the curtain makes noise.

Brilliant, half-airy,

I obey the magic bow,

Surrounded by a crowd of nymphs,

Worth Istomin; she,

One foot touching the floor,

The other slowly circles,

And suddenly he jumps, and suddenly he flies,

Flies like feathers from the lips of Aeolus;

Either the camp will sow, then it will develop

And with a quick foot he hits the leg.

Theater improvement

In 1836 the architect A. Kavos(the composer’s son) replaced the domed ceiling of the theater hall with a flat one, removed the columns in the auditorium that obstructed the view and distorted the acoustics, gave the hall a horseshoe shape, increased its length and height, as a result, the number of spectators increased to two thousand. On November 27, 1836, the first performance took place in the rebuilt theater - it was an opera by M.I. Glinka "Life for the Tsar".

Over time, the performances of the Russian opera troupe were transferred to the stage Alexandrinsky Theater and the Circus Theatre, where performances by the ballet troupe and Italian opera continued. In 1859, the Circus Theater burned down, and in its place A. Kavos built new theater. It was this theater that began to be called Mariinsky in honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Emperor Alexander II and mother of Emperor Alexander III.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna

F. Winterhalter "Portrait of Empress Maria Alexandrovna"

Born Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse.

On the initiative of Maria Alexandrovna, all-class women's gymnasiums and diocesan schools were opened in Russia. She founded countless shelters, almshouses and boarding houses, marked the beginning of a new period of women's education in Russia, established open all-class women's educational establishments(gymnasiums), which, according to the regulations of 1860, it was decided to open in all cities where it would be possible to ensure their existence. She organized the Red Cross in Russia, and devoted a lot of effort to expanding its activities during the Russian-Turkish War, refusing even to sew new dresses for herself, giving all her savings to benefit widows, orphans, the wounded and the sick.

Empress Maria Alexandrovna, with the support of her husband Alexander II, founded the largest theater in St. Petersburg and all of Russia (Mariinsky) and a ballet school, which was later headed by Agrippina Vaganova. Both school and famous theater were entirely supported by the imperial family, personally by the empress, and, at the insistence of Emperor Alexander II, bore her name. The theater still bears her name. In the foyer of the theater there is a bust of Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Theater in a new building

First theater season opened in a new building October 2, 1860. It was again the opera “A Life for the Tsar” by M.I. Glinka under the direction of the chief conductor of the Russian Opera K. Lyadova. In 1863, the chief conductor of the theater became E. Napravnik. Productions of the most significant operas in the history of Russian music are associated with his name: “Boris Godunov” Mussorgsky, “Pskovian Woman”, “May Night”, “Snow Maiden” Rimsky-Korsakov, "Prince Igor" Borodin, "Maid of Orleans", "Enchantress", " Queen of Spades", "Iolanta" Tchaikovsky, "Daemon" Rubinstein, "Oresteia" Taneyeva... At the beginning of the twentieth century. Operas appeared in the theater's repertoire Wagner(among them the tetralogy “The Ring of the Nibelung”), “Electra” Richard Strauss, “The Tale of the Invisible City of Kitezh” Rimsky-Korsakov, "Khovanshchina" Mussorgsky…

Ballet performances

Marius Petipa

In 1869, he headed the ballet troupe of the theater Marius Petipa. He continued the traditions of his predecessors Jules Perrot and Arthur Saint-Leon, and continued to stage classic performances “Giselle”, “Esmeralda”, “Corsair”. Petipa staged ballets on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater Tchaikovsky“Sleeping Beauty” and in collaboration with Lev Ivanov – “The Nutcracker”. After Tchaikovsky’s death, Swan Lake found a second life on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. Petipa staged the ballet here Glazunov"Raymonda" Young Mikhail Fokin staged Armida's Pavilion at the Mariinsky Theater Tcherepnina, "Swan" Saint-Saens, "Chopiniana" to music Chopin, as well as ballets created in Paris - “Scheherazade” to music Rimsky-Korsakov, "Firebird" and "Parsley" Stravinsky.

In 1886, ballet performances, which until that time continued to be performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Kamenny Theater, were moved to the Mariinsky Theater. And on the site of Bolshoi Kamenny, the building of the St. Petersburg Conservatory was erected.

In 1920, the theater began to be called the State Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet, and since 1935, the name “named after S. M. Kirov” was added to this name. The theater continued to stage classics, but they also added modern operas: “The Love for Three Oranges” S. Prokofiev, "Wozzeck" A. Berg, "Salome" and "Der Rosenkavalier" R. Strauss. New ballets have also appeared in the repertoire: “The Red Poppy” R. Gliera, “Flames of Paris” and “Bakhchisarai Fountain” B. Asafieva,"Laurencia" A. Crane, "Romeo and Juliet" S. Prokofiev and others.

During the Great Patriotic War the theater was evacuated to Perm, where the premieres of several performances took place, including the premiere of the ballet Aram Khachaturyan"Gayane". Upon returning to Leningrad, the theater opened the season on September 1, 1944 with the opera M.I. Glinka"Ivan Susanin".

General reconstruction of the theater

It was carried out in 1968–1970. according to the project of S. Gelfer, as a result, the left wing of the building was “stretched” and acquired its current appearance.

Yuri Temirkanov

From 1976 to 1988, he was the artistic director and chief conductor of the theater Yuri Temirkanov. Under his leadership, the theater staged productions of “War and Peace” S. Prokofiev(1977), “Dead Souls” R. K. Shchedrina, “Peter I” (1975), “Pushkin” (1979), “Mayakovsky Begins” (1983) A. Petrova. Yuri Temirkanov At the same time he acted as a director: he staged the operas “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” P. I. Tchaikovsky. With the orchestra of this theater in 1987, he performed in London with productions of these operas, as well as the opera “Boris Godunov” M.P. Mussorgsky.

Valery Gergiev

In 1988, the theater's chief conductor became Valery Gergiev. On January 16, 1992, the theater was returned to its historical name - Mariinsky. And in 2006, the troupe and orchestra of the theater received at their disposal a building built on the initiative of the artistic director and director of the Mariinsky Theater Valery Gergiev Concert hall on Dekabristov Street.

Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theater

The Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg is one of the galaxy of world-class stage venues. Its visit is an important point in the tourist program of a stay in the Northern capital of Russia. The official website of the Mariinsky Theater helps you get acquainted with the theater’s repertoire and book tickets for performances in advance.

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• Osip Petrov
• Fyodor Chaliapin
• Medea and Nikolai Figner
• Sofia Preobrazhenskaya
• Leonid Sobinov

The troupes include artists with the titles of Honored and People's, laureates of national and international competitions.

Festivals

The artistic team of the Mariinsky Theater takes an active part in cultural events organized in the city on the Neva. Since 1993, on the initiative of V. Gergiev, the Stars of the White Nights arts festival has been regularly held in the Northern capital. It has international status, has highly established itself at the global level and is included in the Top 10 musical concert programs of the classical genre.

During the festival, the most famous performers perform on the stage of the Mariinsky Theater. famous performers and groups that present new products in the field of symphonic and chamber music, opera and ballet. “Stars of the White Nights” helps new talents to emerge and establish close partnerships between theater companies. Residents and guests of the city have the opportunity to get closer to the national art and cultural heritage other countries.

Theater stages take whole line genre festivals:

• ballet "Mariinsky"
• orchestral wind music "Brass evening at the Mariinsky"
• contemporary music "New Horizons"

Theatrical productions from the Mariinsky repertoire are constantly included in the Moscow Easter and Maslenitsa festival programs. The theater management pays great attention to introducing the younger generation to the masterpieces of world classics. The Mariinsky Theater organizes special events for children and youth.