Alexandrinsky Theater
August 30, 1756, the feast day of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky, by decree of the Senate, signed by the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth Petrovna, one of the oldest theaters in the country was established - Alexandrinsky Theater(its original name was the Russian Theater for performances of tragedies and comedies). Now the full name of the theater is Russian State Academic Theatre. A. S. Pushkin. The first troupe of the theater was headed by Fedor Volkov, who is called the "father of the Russian theater", and the playwright A.P. Sumarokov became the director. Since 1759, the theater received the status of a court theater. “Russian court actors”, who played plays by Sumarokov, Fonvizin, Ya. B. Knyaznin, P. Corneille, J. Racine, Voltaire, J. B. Molière, P. Beaumarchais, performed for quite a long time in various theater premises.
The Alexandrinsky Theater hosted the premieres of almost all the dramatic works of Russian classics: from “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedov to the plays by A.N. Ostrovsky and A.P. Chekhov.
In 1832, the theater received a new building on Nevsky Prospekt, the architect of which was the famous Karl Rossi. Since that time, the theater began to be called Alexandrinsky in honor of the wife of Nicholas I, Alexandra Feodorovna.
K. Winterhalter "Portrait of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna"
Alexandrinsky theater building
The territory on which the theater is now located belonged to Colonel Anichkov in the 18th century, the author of the bridge named after him. This territory (garden) was bought from him by the treasury. In 1801, the architect Brenna rebuilt a large wooden pavilion into a theater, where A. Casassi organized an opera troupe, but soon this room became insufficient for a growing city, but it was not possible to build a new theater building due to the situation in Russia (Russian-Turkish war, Patriotic War of 1812). And only in 1828 construction began, which lasted 4 years. In September 1832, the grand opening of the new theater building took place.
Theater (Alexandrinskaya) Square. Lithograph Ivanov after a drawing by Sadovnikov
It was built according to the project of Carl Rossi in the Empire style. ( Empire - from fr. empire- “empire”) is the style of late (high) classicism in art. It originated in France during the reign of Emperor Napoleon I; developed during the first three decades of the 19th century. In the Russian Empire, this style especially developed under Alexander I (K. Rossi, A. Zakharov, A. Voronikhin, O. Bove, D. Gilardi, V. Stasov, sculptors I. Martos, F. Shchedrin).
The facade of the theater is decorated with a deep loggia. The side facades are made in the form of eight-column porticos. On the other side, a street designed by Rossi and constituting an ensemble with the theater leads to the theater, the perspective of which is closed by the back, richly decorated facade of the theater.
The building is surrounded by a sculptural frieze with antique theatrical masks and garlands of laurel branches. In the niches on the end facades there are statues of muses, on the attic of the main facade there is a quadriga of Apollo (sculptor V. I. Demut-Malinovsky).
Carl Rossi (1775-1849)
B. Mituar "Karl Rossi"
Carlo di Giovanni (Karl Ivanovich) Rossi was born in 1775 in Naples into a family of ballet dancers. From 1787 he lived in Russia, where his stepfather was invited. Studied in Russia. He studied architecture with Brenn, was his assistant during the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle. Rossi's early works in St. Petersburg include the reconstruction of the Anichkov Palace, pavilions and a library in the Pavlovsk Palace, Elagin Palace with a greenhouse and pavilions. Largely thanks to him, St. Petersburg acquired a new face and turned into the capital of the empire. His works: the ensemble of the Mikhailovsky Palace with the garden and square adjacent to it (1819-1825), Palace Square with the arched building of the General Staff and the triumphal arch (1819-1829), Senate Square with the buildings of the Senate and the Synod (1829-1834), Alexandrinskaya Square with the buildings of the Alexandrinsky Theater (1827-1832), the new building of the Imperial Public Library and two homogeneous extended buildings of Theater Street (now the street of the architect Rossi). One of his last works is the bell tower of the Yuriev Monastery near Veliky Novgorod.
Rossi died in 1849. He was buried at the Volkov Lutheran cemetery, reburied in the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
Theater troupe
Gradually, a theater troupe was formed, which always included famous actors of their time: V. Karatygin, V. N. Davydov, K. A. Varlamov, M. G. Savina, P. M. Svobodin, V. V. Strelskaya, V. P. Dalmatov, M. V. Dalsky, P. A. Strepetova, then V. F. Komissarzhevskaya and later E. Korchagina-Aleksandrovskaya, N. Simonov, N. Cherkasov, V. Merkuriev, I. Gorbachev, B. Freindlich, E. Time, N. Urgant.
Pelageya Antipievna Strepetova (1850-1903)
I. Repin "Portrait of the actress Strepetova"
The life of Pelageya Antipievna Strepetova was difficult and bright, as was her stage performance, which she first appeared at the age of seven. And at fifteen she had already become a professional actress. After some time, rumors about her brilliant game spread throughout Russia.
Already the first performances of the provincial actress on the stages of Moscow and St. Petersburg stunned the theatrical audience, giving rise to both the sincere admiration of some and the sincere dislike of others: Strepetova was not just a talented actress, she broke old ideas about acting, filled stage images with a living feeling and life truth.
Here is how the artist M. Nesterov wrote about Strepetova's acting: “Strepetova, like the great Mochalov, like a number of outstanding Russian actors who based their acting on a direct “feeling”, was uneven in acting. Today she shocked the audience with deep, unforgettable experiences of the restless female soul - her heavy lot, and tomorrow in the same role she was ordinary, colorless. And so all her life, on stage and in life, her successes alternated with failures, with despair.
In her repertoire there were several roles in which she had no rivals. In "Thunderstorm" she was an amazing Katerina.
Strepetova played many other roles with a pronounced tragic character and mainly from Russian folk life as a truly great artist ... The sound of her voice, simplicity, naturalness - that great realism that happens so rarely, and even great artists we did not know so often - this is the realism that Strepetova had in the moments of her highest inspiration.
The great directors Vs. Meyerhold, L. Vivien, G. Kozintsev, G. Tovstonogov, N. Akimov.
Directed by Leonid Sergeevich Vivian (1887-1966)
Directed by L.S. Vivien
Since 1911, he was a member of the troupe of the Alexandrinsky Theater, and in 1937 he became the chief director. The performances staged by L. Vivien were distinguished by the depth of the disclosure of the author's intention and the careful psychological development of the characters. The theater's repertoire was varied: Russian and foreign classics and performances by contemporary authors. Actively engaged in teaching activities. Among his students are well-known actors, People's Artists of the USSR Nikolai Simonov, Vasily Merkuriev, Ruben Agamirzyan, Yuri Tolubeev, and others.
Great artists N. Altman, A. Benois, A. Golovin, K. Korovin, as well as outstanding composers A. Glazunov, D. Shostakovich, R. Shchedrin collaborated with the theater.
Artist Alexander Nikolaevich Benois (1870-1960)
A. Benois. Sketch of scenery for I. Stravinsky's ballet "Petrushka"
By birth and upbringing, Benois belonged to the St. Petersburg artistic intelligentsia.
The artistic tastes and views of the young artist were formed in accordance with the times in opposition to his family, which adhered to conservative "academic" views. He decided to become an artist as a child, but after his stay at the Academy of Arts, he became disillusioned and preferred to get a law degree at St. Petersburg University, and received an art education according to his own program.
A. Benois showed himself in many genres: in literature, painting, art history, criticism, directing, he painted beautiful landscapes, illustrated the works of many writers, but is better known as a theater artist and theorist of theatrical and decorative art. Its scenery and costumes reveal an exceptional ability to recreate the most diverse eras, national characteristics and moods.
Currently, the artistic director of the theater is Valery Fokin.
Theatrical masks
Vladimir YARANTSEV
ALEKSANDRINSKAYA SQUARE
AND THEATER STREET
T theater, or Aleksandrinskaya, square (now Ostrovsky square), Teatralnaya street (now Architect Rossi street) and Sq. Chernysheva (now Lomonosov Square) - a system of ensembles in the center of St. Petersburg, created by architect K.I. Rossi in 1828–1834 on Spassky Island, on the site of vast areas between the Fontanka, Nevsky Prospekt and Sadovaya Street.
Opened to Nevsky Prospekt, Theater (Aleksandrinskaya) Square with the Alexandrinsky Theater built by Rossi and the new building of the Imperial Public Library is located on the territory that was part of the estate of the Anichkov Palace. (The palace got its name from the neighboring bridge across the Fontanka, and the bridge - from the name of the head of the military team that stood at the bridge at the beginning of the 18th century.) In 1793, the estate with the Anichkov Palace was acquired by the treasury, which was in charge of the property of sovereigns, to accommodate the Cabinet of Her Imperial Majesty . In 1795–1801 Cabinet architect E.T. Sokolov built a building in the Anichkova estate on the corner of Nevsky and Sadovaya for the Imperial Public Library established by Catherine II.
V. Sadovnikov. Alexandrinsky Theater and Public Library. 1835
In 1799, part of the Anichkova estate was transferred to the Directorate of Imperial Theaters, and the Italian pavilion that existed in the garden was rebuilt into a theater. Since 1803, the theater building has been the main site of the imperial Russian acting troupe (from now on - the Maly Theater). Since 1809, the Anichkov estate, presented to the sister of Emperor Alexander I, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna on the occasion of her marriage to Prince Oldenburg, became her residence.
The idea of creating the architecture of the square between the Anichkov Palace and the Public Library belongs to J.F. Thomas de Thomon, who in 1811 developed a project for a theater in the form of a Greek temple in the depths of the square, separated from the Nevsky by a fence with a gate. Another, rounded square, framed by a colonnade, was outlined in the direction of Sadovaya. The highest approved project prevented the implementation of the war with Napoleon.
After four years of widowhood, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna married a second time - to the heir to the Württemberg throne, Crown Prince Wilhelm, and left Russia. In 1817, Emperor Alexander I presented the Anichkov Palace to his brother, Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (the future Emperor Nicholas I), for whom the architects K.I. Rossi and A.A. Menelas replanned the estate.
On its border with the site of the Maly Theater, approximately along the axes of the side risalits of the palace, Rossi built two garden pavilions, decorated with images of soldiers in Russian armor with laurel wreaths - for a collection of weapons (Nikolai Pavlovich's own arsenal) and for flowers (probably for his wife ). A metal fence was installed between the pavilions. Carrying out these works, Rossi already envisaged the creation of a square with a theater. The final project of the ensemble of two squares was formed by 1828.
The monumental building of the theater was erected as a compositional and semantic center of the square created for it, subordinating even the imperial Anichkov Palace located on the same square. The theater building, set in the depths of the square, is designed for a circular view, all of its facades are ceremonial. The first floor appears as a powerful foundation, treated with rustication - a symbol of masonry. Having reworked the type of Greek temple traditional for classicist architecture, Rossi placed on the main facade of the theater facing Nevsky Prospekt not a portico, but a spectacular six-column Corinthian loggia at the level of the 2nd and 3rd floors. Above it is a stepped attic, on the plane of which the figures of Slavs are placed, crowning the Russian state eagle (now replaced by a lyre). The composition is completed by the quadriga of Apollo (sculptor S.S. Pimenov), signifying the triumph of the arts.
The enormous height of the auditorium and the stage box required an additional floor raised above the main volume of the building. It is decorated with frequent small windows with semicircular completion. On the side facades, the porches protruding far from the wall serve as a plinth for powerful eight-columned Corinthian porticos. The back facade of the theater is decorated with Corinthian pilasters. The sculptural decor of the facade, which stands out against the background of the walls, echoes the purpose of the theater building as a temple of the arts. These are statues of the Muses in niches on the side projections of the main and rear facades and a wide bas-relief frieze encircling the building, visually continuing the line of capitals - with images of theatrical masks and garlands.
The new theater, named Alexandrinsky in honor of the reigning Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I, was opened on August 31, 1832. Like all the buildings of the imperial theaters of both capitals, it was a stage for various imperial troupes subordinate to the unified Directorate of the imperial theaters.
The eastern border of Alexandrinsky Square - towards the Anichkov Palace and the Fontanka - is marked by a fence and pavilions in the garden of the Anichkov Palace. The western boundary is set by the new building of the Public Library built simultaneously with the theater. It was attached to the old corner part of the library near Nevsky Prospekt, but in Rossi's composition it became the main building. The façade of the library building, built by the architect Rossi, is harmonized with the façade of the library building by the architect Sokolov so that both are perceived as a single whole.
The decoration of the facade of the library building allegorically interprets it as a temple of science. A grandiose Ionic loggia of 18 columns stretched between the risalits, between which there are statues of sages and poets of antiquity: Homer, Euripides, Hippocrates, Demosthenes, Virgil, Tacitus, Cicero, Herodotus, Euclid, Plato. Above each statue is a multi-figured bas-relief. The building is crowned with an elongated stepped attic with figures of Slavs and the Russian state eagle (replaced in Soviet times with the emblem "a book with a feather in a laurel wreath"), on the attic is a statue of Minerva with a small sphinx on a helmet, an allegory of wisdom. The facades of the library building with white columns, statues and decorative details have retained Rossi's favorite color. gris-perle(pearl grey).
The axis of Aleksandrinskaya Square on the other side of Nevsky Prospekt continues with Malaya Sadovaya Street leading to Manezhnaya Square and ends with a decorative portico built by Rossi. The portico is a kind of reflection of Aleksandrinskaya Square, connecting it with the system of Manezhnaya and Mikhailovskaya Squares.
Behind the theater are the identical buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Directorate of Imperial Theaters with a theater school. Their facades, finished with Doric semi-columns, are a kind of backstage of Alexandrinsky Square. The Doric order of ten simple semi-columns on each building speaks of subordination. These buildings merge into Teatralnaya Street, consisting of only two unusually long buildings, whose height is equal to the width of the street (22 meters), and the length is exactly ten times greater. The lower floor of the buildings of Theater Street was originally arcaded and corresponded in width to the loggias of the theater. The two upper tiers of buildings, contrary to the canons of the Empire, are decorated with double columns (50 on each building).
At the other end of Teatralnaya Street, Rossi decorated the round Chernyshev Square near the bridge of the same name across the Fontanka, continuing the tradition of bridgehead squares outlined by A. Kvasov. He built on it the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Public Education with huge windows. Chernysheva Street passes through the two-tiered triple arch of the Ministry of Public Education, which has become the center of Chernysheva Square. Above the arch inside the building was the ministerial church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, marked on the facade with double Doric columns and crowned with a massive cross.
The facade of the Ministry of Internal Affairs from the side of the Fontanka is decorated with three-quarter columns and symmetrical loggias. The same architectural solution has a narrow facade of the building from the side of the square. The two-tiered triple arch of the building of the Ministry of Public Education opens up a perspective on the twin Doric columns of the Great Gostiny Dvor, visually crowned with the dome of the Kazan Cathedral located far behind them. The site opposite the ministry between the building of the theater school and the Fontanka remained in private ownership, and the grandiose project of K.I. Rossi was not finally completed.
M. Mikeshin. Monument to Catherine II. 1862–1873
In the center of Alexandrinskaya Square, Rossi arranged the second public garden in the history of St. Petersburg. In 1862–1873 a magnificent and heavy monument to Catherine II was installed in it according to the project of the artist M.O. Mikeshin. He used the bell-shaped form of the monument, creating a general unity of the composition and the image of "Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality." On a pedestal of gray polished granite, the Russian Empress with the attributes of imperial power is surrounded by prominent figures of her reign. In the lower part of the pedestal there is a dedicatory inscription “To Empress Catherine II in the reign of Emperor Alexander II” and a composition of attributes, in the center of which, in a laurel wreath, is an allegory of the law (a book with the inscription “Law”) as the main historical merit of both sovereigns.
K. Rossi, sculptor S. Pimenov. Rossi pavilion. 1817–1818
Mikeshin's project was carried out by architects D. I. Grimm and V. A. Schroeter, sculptors M. A. Chizhov (statue of the Empress) and A. M. Opekushin (statues of statesmen). Despite the artistic divergence from the Empire ensemble of the square created by Rossi, the monument to the Empress is connected with it in a meaningful way - developing the theme of Catherine's "Golden Age", embodied by Rossi in the system of orders and allegories, designated by Apollo and Minerva. But, placed along the central axes of the library and the theater, this monument broke the visual connections of the buildings as parts of the ensemble.
On Chernyshevaya Square, the chief gardener of St. Petersburg, A. Vize, arranged a small square; in 1892, a bronze bust of M.V. Lomonosov (sculptor P.P. Zabello) was installed in it in front of the building of the Ministry of Public Education.
A. Bezeman. Alexandrinsky Theatre. Mid 19th century
When creating Alexandrinskaya Square, Rossi left the plots on the sides of the theater free. In the 1870s, the block along the side facade of the theater next to the building of the Ministry of the Interior was built up. In 1874, in the corner of the square, a four-story house of the Imperial Russian Musical Society was built in modest forms of unordered neo-Renaissance. Nearby, opposite the side portico of the theatre, an imposing four-story building of the First City Credit Society was erected in order neo-Renaissance, with a deep rustication of the facade and Corinthian pilasters at the level of the 3rd-4th floors. The building, undoubtedly, violated the order hierarchy of the organization of the square, but the general appearance of the facade is perceived more as an accompaniment to Rossi's buildings than as a contrast.
N. Basin. Income house. 1870s
At the same time, next to them, in line with the main facade of the theater, the architect N.P. Basin built his own apartment building - an architectural manifesto of the Russian style of Alexander II, which became famous. This is a new stage in the search for a national style in architecture - later nicknamed the "rooster style". In the context of the Empire ensemble of Rossi, the house makes a stunning impression on the viewer.
Located on the corner of Tolmazov Lane (now Krylov Lane), which runs from the square, Basin's five-story house has two facades and, thus, unlike other buildings, has volume, competing with the theater building. It is emphasized by bay windows, including the corner, crowned with turrets. The architectural design of the building is based on neo-Renaissance forms (which corresponds to the real origin of the Russian architecture of the Moscow Kingdom from the Italian Renaissance). The rich plasticity of the facades is created by their diverse design: windows of different configurations and sizes, architraves, sandriks, columns, kokoshniks crowning the cornice. All facades are generously ornamented with stucco patterns reproducing the decorative motifs of Russian wooden carving and embroidery. The embossed roosters that decorate the facades of the Basin house, transferred from Russian towels, have become an iconic element of the style that gave it its name.
The architects of the period of historical styles did not lose the culture of the ensemble, but rethought the ensemble as saturation of the urban environment with historical associations, a free combination of buildings of different styles, symbolically similar to the combination of buildings of different times. Basin's house on Alexandrinskaya Square developed a clash of styles, already set by the monument to Catherine II in a less demonstrative, but also "Russian" style. It is significant that the then owner of the Anichkov Palace, Tsarevich Alexander Alexandrovich - the future Emperor Alexander III - was the first of the Romanovs to grow a beard during these years, demonstrating a desire for national traditions.
E. Vorotilov. Public library. 1901
On the remaining undeveloped site between the library and Basin's house, architect E.S. Vorotilov in 1896-1901. erected a new library building. The facade of the building along the square continues the facade of Rossi and is almost equal in length to it. Vorotilov repeated the vertical divisions of Rossi and the general compositional scheme of the extended central part with side risalits, maintaining forms close to the general classical appearance of the complex. Following the spirit of the times, Vorotilov did not plaster the facades, but faced them with gray sandstone, in the same tone as the walls of the Rossi building, but without highlighting the columns, architraves, etc.
With a large size, Vorotilov's building, which otherwise has every reason to be a city-planning accent, is emphatically modestly inferior to Rossi's building, as if receding into the shadows. The artistic solution of the Vorotilov building was more than ten years ahead of its time, anticipating the neoclassical style in St. Petersburg architecture.
On the other side of the theatre, the building of the Administration of the Vindavo-Rybinsk Railway lined with dark gray granite, built at the beginning of the 20th century in the forms of a modernized neoclassical style, repeats the motifs of the Empire decor in the facade decoration: lion masks, wreaths, garlands, cornucopias; figures of Slavs crown the monogram of the railway.
In 1902, on the opposite side of Nevsky Prospekt from Alexandrinskaya Square, the building of the trading house of the Eliseev brothers (architect G.V. Baranovsky) appeared - a striking manifesto of the Art Nouveau style. On its facades on the consoles there are figures that are allegories of Industry (master with a ship in his hands), Trade (naked Mercury), Science, Art. In general, the sculptural decoration of the square became the embodiment of the idea of ideal kingship - the “golden age”.
Alexandrinsky theater building, created by K. I. Rossi, is one of the most characteristic and outstanding architectural monuments of Russian classicism. It plays a dominant role in the ensemble of Ostrovsky Square. As a result of the redevelopment of the Anich Palace estate in 1816–1818, a vast town square arose between the building of the Public Library and the garden of the Anich Palace. For more than ten years, from 1816 to 1827, Rossi developed a number of projects for the reconstruction and development of this square, which included the construction of a city theater on it.
The final version of the project was approved on April 5, 1828. The construction of the theater began in the same year. On August 31, 1832, its grand opening took place. The theater building is located in the depths of Ostrovsky Square and faces Nevsky Prospekt with its main facade. The rusticated walls of the lower floor serve as a plinth for the solemn colonnades that adorn the facades of the theatre. The colonnade of the main façade of six Corinthian columns stands out clearly against the backdrop of a wall pushed back into the depths. The traditional motif of a classical portico brought forward is here replaced by a spectacular loggia motif, rare in St. Petersburg. The smooth surface of the walls on the sides of the loggia is cut with shallow semicircular niches with statues of the muses - Terpsichore and Melpomene and completed with a wide sculptural frieze encircling the building. The attic of the main façade, decorated with sculptural figures of Glory, is crowned with the quadriga of Apollo, symbolizing the successes of Russian art.
Solemn and spectacular are the side facades of the theater and the southern facade, which closes the perspective of Zodchego Rossi Street. In his work on the project of the theater, Rossi focused his attention on its three-dimensional solution, monumentality and expressiveness of the external appearance.
Inside the building, the most interesting is the auditorium. Its proportions are well found. Fragments of the original architectural design have been preserved here, in particular, decorative gilded carvings of the boxes near the stage and the central large (“royal”) box. The barriers of the tiers are decorated with gilded ornaments made in the second half of the 19th century. Sculpture plays an important role in the design of facades. Its performers were S. S. Pimenov, V. I. Demut-Malinovsky and A. Triscorni. The chariot of Apollo was minted from sheet copper at the Alexander iron foundry according to the model of S. S. Pimenov. By the centenary of the theater in 1932, under the direction of I. V. Krestovsky, the unpreserved statues of Terpsichore, Melpomene, Clio and Thalia, installed in niches on the facades, were re-made.
Russian State Academic Drama Theatre. A.S. Pushkin - the legendary Alexandrinsky Theater - is the oldest national theater in Russia. It was established by the Senate Decree, signed by the daughter of Peter the Great Empress Elizabeth on August 30, 1756 on the day of St. Alexander Nevsky. It was this theater that became the progenitor of all Russian theaters, and the date of its foundation is the birthday of the Russian professional theater. The establishment of the theater was the beginning of the state policy of the Russian state in the field of theatrical art. For two and a half centuries, the Russian State Drama Theater served as an attribute of Russian statehood. From the day it was founded until 1917, it was the main imperial theater, the fate of which was in the hands of the Russian emperors. In 1832, the Russian State Drama Theater received a magnificent building in the center of Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, designed by the great architect Carl Rossi. This building was named the Alexandrinsky Theater (in honor of the wife of Emperor Nicholas I Alexandra Feodorovna) and since then the name of the Alexandrinsky Theater has been inextricably linked with the world history of performing arts. The unique complex of the building, with a five-tiered auditorium, a huge stage, palace front foyers, a majestic facade, which has become one of the emblems of the Northern Capital, has become one of the pearls of world architecture registered by UNESCO. The walls of the Alexandrinsky Theater keep the memory of the great figures of the Russian state, politicians, military leaders, cultural figures. A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov, N.V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, F. M. Dostoevsky, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, P.I. Tchaikovsky, A.M. Gorchakov, S.Yu. Witte, V.A. Stolypin, K.G. Mannerheim, many crowned heads of European states. It was here, at the Alexandrinsky Theater, that the premieres of almost all the works of Russian dramatic classics from “Woe from Wit” by A.S. Griboedov to the plays by A.N. Ostrovsky and A.P. Chekhov. The Alexandrinsky Theater is a textbook on the history of Russian theatrical art. It was on this stage that famous Russian actors played - from V. Karatygin and A. Martynov to N. Simonov, N. Cherkasov, V. Merkuriev, I. Gorbachev, B. Freindlich. This stage was adorned with the talents of famous Russian actresses from E. Semenova, M. Savina (the founder of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia), V. Komissarzhevskaya to E. Korchagina-Aleksandrovskaya, E. Time, N. Urgant. Today, such artists as S. Parshin, V. Smirnov, N. Marton, G. Karelina, I. Volkov, P. Semak, S. Smirnova, S. Sytnik, M. Kuznetsova and many other outstanding experienced and young artists.
Over the years, great theater directors Vs. Meyerhold, L. Vivien, G. Kozintsev, G. Tovstonogov, N. Akimov. The performances of the Alexandrinians were included in all the world's theater encyclopedias. Great artists A. Benois, K. Korovin, A. Golovin, N. Altman, outstanding composers A. Glazunov, D. Shostakovich, R. Shchedrin collaborated with the theater.
Since 2003, the artistic director of the theater has been a director with a European name, People's Artist of Russia, laureate of State Prizes Valery Fokin.
Among the great oldest national theaters in Europe - Paris' Comedie Francaise, Vienna's Burgtheater, London's Drewry Lane, Berlin's Deutsches Theater - the Alexandrinsky Theater occupies a place of honor, serving as a symbol of the Russian National Theatre. The theater has unique collections of scenery, costumes, furniture, theatrical props, weapons, the richest museum funds, which can be exhibited both in Russia and abroad in the most prestigious exhibition spaces. During the 2005/2006 season The Alexandrinsky Theater carried out a general reconstruction, as a result of which the historical appearance of the building's interiors was recreated. At the same time, Aleksandrinka has become one of the most advanced stage venues in terms of engineering. The grand opening of the reconstructed Alexandrinsky Theater took place on August 30, 2006 during the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the oldest state drama theater in Russia. In the morning, Metropolitan Vladimir of St. Petersburg and Ladoga blessed the stage and auditorium of the theatre, blessing the assembled actors, directors and theater workers. In the afternoon, the Marble Palace hosted the opening of the exhibition "The Theater of Illustrious Masters", timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Russian theater. The opening of the renovated Alexandrinsky Stage was the culmination of the anniversary celebrations. Among the guests were Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Vladimir, Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko, Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for the North-Western District Ilya Klebanov, Head of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography Mikhail Shvydkoy.
The celebration of this anniversary has become the most important event of the state policy in the field of theatrical art. On the basis of the order of the President of the Russian Federation No. Pr-352 dated 02.03.2004, the order of the Government of Russia dated 12.05.2005 No. 572-r "On the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian State Theater" was issued, in accordance with which the main events were held in Alexandrinsky Theater throughout 2006. In November 2012, the 180th anniversary of the building of the Alexandrinsky Theater was solemnly celebrated. The new stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater was opened on May 15, 2013. The modern unique architectural complex of the New Stage was built according to the project of the St. Petersburg architect Yuri Zemtsov on the site of the former workshops of the theater between Ostrovsky Square and the Fontanka Embankment. The new stage is a multi-level space, including 4 halls of different sizes and a spacious two-level foyer, it is equipped with the most advanced lighting, sound, video and media equipment. The New Stage Media Center - an ideal venue for meetings, master classes and film screenings for 100 seats - has everything you need to organize television-level Internet broadcasts; many events of the New Stage are broadcast on various Internet resources.
The new stage is not only a modern stage platform of the oldest drama theater in the country, which produces 4-5 premieres during the season and hosts more than 120 performances. For three years, the New Stage has developed a reputation as one of the main cultural and educational multidisciplinary centers in St. Petersburg. The New Stage regularly hosts master classes and meetings, concerts, film screenings, exhibitions –– 250 events annually. In the summer of 2016, another venue was opened for the audience on the New Stage - Roof, where meetings, poetry readings, concerts, film screenings are held. In August 2014, the Alexandrinsky Theater was given the status of a National Treasure.
In April 2016, the Alexandrinsky Theater was included in the register of the State Code of Particularly Valuable Cultural Heritage Objects of the Peoples of the Russian Federation.
The Alexandrinsky Theater is the oldest national theater in Russia. It was established by the Senate Decree, signed by the daughter of Peter the Great Empress Elizabeth on August 30, 1756 on the day of St. Alexander Nevsky. It is this theater that is the progenitor of all Russian theaters, and the date of its foundation is the birthday of the Russian professional theater. The establishment of the theater was the beginning of the state policy of the Russian state in the field of theatrical art.
The Russian State Drama Theater has served as an attribute of Russian statehood for two and a half centuries. In the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, it was the main imperial theater, the fate of which was dealt with by the Russian emperors.
Since 1832, the Russian State Drama Theater has received a magnificent building in the center of Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, designed by the great architect Karl of Russia. This building was named the Alexandrinsky Theater (in honor of the wife of Emperor Nicholas I Alexandra Feodorovna) and since then the name of the Alexandrinsky Theater has been inextricably linked with the world history of performing arts.
It was here, in the Alexandrinsky Theater, that the premieres of almost all the works of Russian dramatic classics from A. S. Griboedov’s “Woe from Wit” to the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky and A. P. Chekhov took place. The Alexandrinsky Theater is a textbook on the history of Russian theatrical art. It was on this stage that famous Russian actors played - from V. Karatygin and A. Martynov to N. Simonov, N. Cherkasov, V. Merkuriev, I. Gorbachev, B. Freindlich. This stage was decorated with the talents of famous Russian actresses from E. Semenova, M. Savina (the founder of the Union of Theater Workers of Russia), V. Komissarzhevskaya to E. Korchagina-Aleksandrovskaya, E. Time, N. Urgant. Today, such artists as S. Parshin, V. Smirnov, N. Burov, N. Marton, I. Volkov, A. Devotchenko, S. Smirnova, I. Voznesenskaya, M. Kuznetsova, K. Petrova and others
Great theater directors Vs. Meyerhold, L. Vivien, G. Kozintsev, G. Tovstonogov, N. Akimov worked in the theatre. Today, the Alexandrinsky Theater is directed by a well-known director, People's Artist of Russia, laureate of State Prizes Valery Fokin. The performances of the Alexandrinians were included in all the world's theater encyclopedias. Great artists A. Benois, K. Korovin, A. Golovin, N. Altman, outstanding composers A. Glazunov, D. Shostakovich, R. Shchedrin collaborated with the theater.
Academician D.S. Likhachev repeatedly said and wrote that the Alexandrinsky Theater "is truly a national treasure of Russia."
