Moscow Musical Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky and Vl. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko

Background

The directors Konstantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko collaborated with artists of the Bolshoi Theater in opera and ballet productions from December 30, 1918. In 1919, regular classes at the Bolshoi Theater Opera Studio under the direction of Stanislavsky began. Cooperation Nemirovich-Danchenko with the Bolshoi Theater was unsuccessful, and in the same year he organized his own Music Studio at the Moscow Art Theater ^[2] .

In 1920, the Opera Studio separated from the Bolshoi Theater. A year later, the first joint performance of the actors of both studios on the stage of the Moscow Art Theater took place. The audience was presented fragments of the operas of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov “ Boyar Vera Sheloga ” and “The Night Before Christmas ”, Jules Massenet ’s opera “ Werther ” and a number of musical works based on the works of Alexander Pushkin to the accompaniment of the piano . In the summer of 1922, the Opera Studio toured Europe and America ^[3] . In 1924, the young Sergey Lemeshev joined the troupe, and the conductor Vyacheslav Suk became the music director of the group ^[4] .

In 1926, both groups received the status of state theaters. Then they were transferred to the building of the former estate of Count Saltykov on Bolshaya Dmitrovka , 17. The troupes performed and rehearsed in turn. Stanislavsky’s performances were more traditional in their repertoire: the operas Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky , Bohemia by Giacomo Puccini , Carmen by Georges Bizet , Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky , Tsar’s Bride and Nikolai May Night Rimsky-Korsakova, “The Barber of Seville ” by Joacchino Rossini , “ Rigoletto ” by Giuseppe Verdi . Nemirovich-Danchenko strove for greater innovation. On the one hand, he experimented with the operetta : “Daughter of Madame Ango” by Charles Lecock , “ Pericola ” and “Beautiful Elena” by Jacques Offenbach , “ Cornwall Bells ” by Robert Plunket . On the other hand, his author's interpretations of classical opera and dramatic plots gained popularity: Lysistratus by Reinhold Glier based on the tragedy of Aristophanes , La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, Carmencita and the Soldier - free interpretation of Carmen ^[5] .

At the same time, the young singer Anatoly Orfenov began his career in the opera company, and Leonid Sobinov became one of the leading theater teachers in vocals ^[6] . During the life of Stanislavsky, and after his death in 1938, when the Vsevolod Meyerhold headed the Opera Studio, the theaters founded by him and Nemirovich-Danchenko were considered more democratic than the former imperial scenes, and therefore were popular among the Moscow intelligentsia , students, and theater workers of the new generation ^[7] . Journalist V.V. Yakovlev wrote about Stanislavsky's studio in the Krasnaya Panorama newspaper:

In 1939, the Moscow Art Ballet troupe Quiz Krieger, founded in 1929, became part of the Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. Collaboration between collectives began six years earlier, in 1933. The troupe included artists Angelina Urusova, Maria Sorokina , Alexander Klein , Nikolai Kholfin, Anatoly Tolsky, Vladimir Burmeister . The directors Boris Mordvinov and Pavel Markov propagated the principles of the Stanislavsky system in dance and sought to bring the ballet closer to psychological drama or realistic comedy , using both classical and the latest Soviet works. The most famous dance productions of the 1930s were “ Vain Precaution ” by Peter Gertel , “ Triangle ” by Manuel de Falla , “Gypsies” by Sergey Vasilenko , “ Bakhchisarai Fountain ” by Boris Asafiev directed by Rostislav Zakharov . The ideological proximity of the Opera Studio and the Music Studio of the Moscow Art Theater led to their unification and the creation in 1941 of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Musical Theater ^[5] .

Soviet time

The theater founded in 1941 under the leadership of Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko became a "laboratory" for the creation of new operas, ballets, and work with modern composers. Dmitry Kabalevsky and Tikhon Khrennikov transmitted their compositions for the productions. After the death of Nemirovich-Danchenko in 1943, Pavel Markov became the main director ^[8] .

During the Great Patriotic War, the theater was the only one in the city that continued to operate and was not evacuated even in the days of the battle for Moscow . In the war and post-war years, the operas “Suvorov” by Sergei Vasilenko, “Chapaev” by Boris Mokrousov , “Nadezhda Svetlova” by Ivan Dzerzhinsky , the ballets “Lola” by Sergei Vasilenko, “ Scheherazade ” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, “The Coast of Happiness” by Antonio Spaddevektya , opera “Mademoiselle Fifi” by Caesar Cui , “The Pauper Student ” by Karl Millaker , “ Tales of Hoffmann ” by Jacques Offenbach. After the war, in 1948, the group of artists of the Stanislavsky Opera and Drama Studio led by conductor Isaac Bain became part of the theater ^[5] .

The 1950s became a landmark for the development of the theater, when it was headed by a student of Nemirovich-Danchenko Leonid Baratov . At this time, which coincided with the era of the Thaw , the operas War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev , Keto and Kote by Viktor Dolidze , Sicilian Vespers by Giuseppe Verdi, Zaporozhets beyond the Danube by Semyon Gulak-Artemovsky were staged ^[5] .

In the 1960s, Lev Mikhailov became the main director of the theater. Among the most significant productions of this period are the opera Pagliacci by Ruggiero Leoncavallo , “ All Women Do ” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Viriney by Sergey Slonimsky , Kolya Bryunion by Dmitry Kabalevsky, Hari Janos by Zoltan Koday , “Love for Three Oranges” by Sergei Prokofiev, “ Porgy and Bess ” by George Gershwin . In 1963, for the first time since the 1930s, Lev Mikhailov, together with conductor Gennady Provatorov, introduced Dmitry Shostakovich to the Soviet public Katerina Izmailova . At the same time, directors Pavel Zlatogorov , Mikhail Mordvinov, Mikhail Dotlibov, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Vladimir Kandelaki , Nadezhda Kemarskaya, conductors Dmitry Kitaenko , Kemal Abdullaev , Georgy Zhemchuzhin , Vladimir Kozhukhar worked in the theater ^[9] .

For the ballet troupe, the periods from 1941 to 1960 and from 1963 to 1970, when Vladimir Burmeister held the post of the main choreographer of the theater, became an important milestone. He owns the original productions of Esmeralda by Caesar Pugni , Swan Lake by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Straussians to music by Johann Strauss , Windsor Mockers Victor Oransky, Joan of Arc, Nikolai Peyko, and the children's ballet Doctor Aibolit Ivan Morozov. The “Snow Maiden” to the music of Tchaikovsky was staged by the Burmeister commissioned by the London Festival Ballet. During this period, Violetta Bovt , Eleonora Vlasova , Sofia Vinogradova , Alexander Sobol, Alexey Chichinadze danced on the stage of the theater, at the same time young Maris Liepa began his career ^[5] .

In the late 1960s and early 1970s , cooperation began with the Berlin Musical Theater Komische Oper , work with German directors Walter Felsenstein (opera Carmen by Bizet), Harry Kupfer ( singspiel Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglings ), Tom Schilling (ballet "The Black Birds" by Georg Katzer) ^[10] .

In the summer of 1980, theater performances were included in the cultural program of the Moscow Olympics ^[11] . At the same time, more and more productions of world opera classics began to be staged in the original language, and not in Russian translations ^[12] . The main innovator in the life of the theater was Yevgeny Kolobov , who took the post of chief conductor in 1987. He owns the author's edition of Boris Godunov Modest Mussorgsky and the production of Vincenzo Bellini 's little-known opera Pirate . Trying to re-stage the traditional theater opera Eugene Onegin, Kolobov attracted young artists to the work, which led to a conflict with the leadership and the old cast. Despite the public campaign in defense of the conductor, in 1989 he had to leave the team ^[13] .

Post-Soviet Time

Since 1991, Alexander Titel became the main director of the theater. He had to reassemble the opera company ^[14] . The first productions of Titel in the updated theater were Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka , which caused controversial reviews from critics, Hernani Giuseppe Verdi and Bohemia Giacomo Puccini, awarded the Golden Mask Award. The most famous performances of the turn of the 1990s - 2000s were “Carmen” by Georges Bizet, “ Betrothal at the Monastery ” by Sergei Prokofiev, “ The Bat ” by Johann Strauss, “The Golden Cockerel ” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov ^[10] .

Since 1997, the Moscow Musical Theater, in collaboration with the Bolshoi Theater, has organized the DanceInversion festival of contemporary dance, which has become an annual event ^[15] .

Modernity

In the 2000s, the theater building burned twice. The first time a fire occurred in June 2003: part of the roof of the extension burned out, while the fire did not affect the stage and the auditorium. In May 2005, the theater suffered from a more serious fire: the stage, the auditorium's premises burned down, the roof and walls partially collapsed, and large-scale reconstruction was needed ^{[16] [17]} . The main scene was opened for City Day in September 2006. In addition, ballet rehearsal rooms, costumes and stage depots, a choir class, dressing rooms for artists and an underground car park were equipped. The total area of ​​the theater was about 40 thousand m², which is almost three times more than before the reconstruction ^[18] .

Since 2016, the director of the theater was Anton Getman, who replaced Aru Karapetyan in this post. The artistic director of the ballet direction was the French choreographer Laurent Hilaire. At the same time, the Intersection Point festival was first held on the small stage, aimed at opening new names in ballet from Europe, Asia , America and Africa and creating original dance performances ^[19] . In 2017, the dress rehearsal project was launched, introducing the modern audience to the youth audience ^[20] .

1. Belyaev V. State Opera Studio-Theater named after People's Artist of the Republic K. S. Stanislavsky . - M .: Publishing House of the Friends of the Opera Studio-Theater named after K. S. Stanislavsky, 1928 .-- 58 p.

1. Orfenov A. Notes of the Russian tenor . - M .: Publishing House of the Irina Arkhipova Foundation, 2004. - 384 p. - ISBN 5-901180-07-0 .

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