Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater

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Photos

  • Самарский академический театр оперы и балета. Photo 1
  • Самарский академический театр оперы и балета. Photo 2

Description

The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after D. D. Shostakovich is a famous musical institution in Samara. It was founded in 1931 and opened its first season with Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. Already in the first year of its existence, the theater expanded its repertoire to include ballet performances: the first ballet, which was presented to the audience on July 3, 1931, was “The Red Poppy” to the music of Reinhold Gliere. On February 18, 1982, the theater was awarded the honorary title “academic”. In 2022, the theater was named after the outstanding composer Dmitry Shostakovich.

Theater building

The building, located on the historical square, known before the revolution as Sobornaya, was decorated with an Orthodox cathedral designed by the architect Ernest Gibert from St. Petersburg. On January 2, 1930, the Samara City Council transferred the cathedral for conversion into a House of Culture. However, the reconstruction project in Moscow was considered too expensive, and it was proposed to demolish the cathedral and build a new building. The project of architects Noah Trotsky and Nikolai Katsenelenbogen in the neoclassical style was recognized as the best project of the competition. The building was shifted from the center of the square to Galaktionovskaya Street. The facade is decorated with columns, sculptures and bas-reliefs. Construction was completed in 1938, and a monument to Valerian Kuibyshev by sculptor Matvey Manizer was erected in front of the building. The building, originally conceived as a palace of culture, includes an opera and ballet theater, a regional library, a sports school and an art museum. Reconstruction began in 2006 and was completed by 2010, in time for the theater’s anniversary season.

Brief historical background

The opening of the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, which took place on June 1, 1931 with Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov", was the result of the work of outstanding Russian musicians. Among them were Anton Eikhenwald, Ariy Pazovsky, Isidor Zak and Joseph Lapitsky.

Such names as Savely Bergolts, Lev Ossovsky, Boris Ryabikin, Alexander Dolsky, Nikolai Poludenny, Viktor Chernomortsev, Natalya Shpiller, Larisa Boreyko and many others have left their mark on the history of the theater.

The ballet troupe was headed by Evgenia Lopukhova, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater. She paved the way for many talented choreographers, including Natalia Danilova, Alla Shelest, Igor Chernyshev and Nikita Dolgushin.

The theater's repertoire included both opera and ballet classics, as well as modern works. Among them are the operas “The Steppe” by Anton Eikhenwald, “Tanya” by Kreitner and “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shebalin.

Collaboration with contemporary authors also played an important role in the life of the theater. Operas by Sergei Slonimsky, Andrei Eshpai, Tikhon Khrennikov and Andrei Petrov appeared here.

The creative experience of the theater spread beyond its borders. The troupe's artists shared their knowledge with colleagues from other cities, including Almaty, where they helped in the development of musical theater.

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