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On the site of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow Previously there was the Petrovsky Theater, which completely burned down on October 8, 1805.

In 1806, with money from the Russian treasury, the site was purchased, and with it the surrounding buildings.

According to the original plans, this was done in order to simply clear large areas to prevent large fires in Moscow.

But even then they began to think about creating a theater square on this site. There was neither a project nor money at that time, and they returned to their plans only at the beginning of 1816, after the war with Napoleon.

To the already approved territory for the creation of Theater Square, the courtyards of two demolished churches were added. And in May the project was approved by Alexander I.

History of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow begins in 1817, when the tsar was presented with a project for a new theater that was to be built on this site.

It is interesting that the building’s façade was already oriented in the design with access to the square (this is exactly how the theater looks now), although the old Petrovsky Theater had a central entrance from the side of the current Central Department Store. The project was presented to the Tsar by General Engineer Corbinier.

But then the unimaginable happened!

The project somehow disappeared without a trace on the eve of its presentation to the Governor General of Moscow D.V. Golitsyn. Architect O.I. Beauvais is urgently preparing new drawings of the building plan with two floors and a sketch of the facade.

In 1820, work began to clear the territory and begin construction of the Bolshoi Theater. By this time, the project of the architect A. Mikhailov had already been approved, which preserved the concept laid down by the architect O.I. Beauvais.

The appearance of the theater in Moscow was influenced by the design of the Bolshoi St. Petersburg Theater, reconstructed in 1805 by the architect Tom de Thomas. The building also featured a sculpted pediment and Ionic columns.

Simultaneously with the construction of the theater, work was underway to enclose the Neglinnaya River in a pipe (it runs from the corner of the Maly Theater building and goes to the Alexander Garden).

The freed “wild stone” with which the river embankment was covered, as well as the steps of the Kuznetsky Bridge, were used for the construction of the Bolshoi Theater. The bases of the columns at the central entrance were made of stone.

The Bolshoi Theater building turned out to be grandiose.

The stage alone occupied an area equal to the area of ​​the entire former Petrovsky Theater, and the walls left after the fire became the frame of this part of the theater. The auditorium was designed for 2200-3000 seats. The theater boxes were supported on cast iron brackets, the weight of which was more than 1 ton. Enfilades of masquerade rooms stretched along both side facades.

The construction of the building took a little over 4 years.

The opening took place on January 6, 1825 with the play “The Triumph of the Muses”, the musical accompaniment for which was written by A. Alyabyev and A. Verstovsky.

In the initial years of its development, the Bolshoi Theater was not a purely musical platform. Representatives of all genres were able to give performances here.

And the name of Teatralnaya Square, on which the Bolshoi Theater stood, did not reflect the essence. At first, it was intended for drill training; it was fenced and entry to it was severely limited.

Over the following years, the theater was constantly reconstructed. This is how separate entrances to the royal and ministerial boxes appeared, the ceiling of the hall was completely rewritten, and artillery chambers were built in place of the masquerade halls. The main stage did not go unnoticed.

In March 1853, a fire started in the theater. A fire began to burn in one of the closets and the fire quickly engulfed the scenery and the theater curtain. Wooden buildings contributed to the rapid spread of the flames and the force of the elements, which subsided only after a few days.

7 people died during the fire. Only thanks to the actions of two servants was it possible to avoid more casualties (they took a group of children who were studying on the main stage of the theater from the fire).

The building was heavily damaged by fire.

The roof and back wall of the stage collapsed. The interior was burnt out. The cast iron columns of the mezzanine boxes melted, and in place of the tiers only metal brackets were visible.

Immediately after the fire, a competition was announced to restore the Bolshoi Theater building. Many famous architects presented their works: A. Nikitin (created designs for many Moscow theaters, took part in the last reconstruction of the building before the fire), K.A. Ton (architect of the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior).

The competition was won by A.K. Kavos, who had more experience in building music halls. He also had a deep knowledge of acoustics.

For better sound reflection, the architect changed the curvature of the hall walls. The ceiling was made flatter and gave the appearance of a guitar soundboard. Under the stalls, they filled in a corridor that had previously served as a dressing room. The walls were covered with wooden panels. All this led to a significant improvement in acoustics, an important component of any theater.

The portal arch of the stage was increased to the width of the hall, and the orchestra pit was deepened and expanded. We reduced the width of the corridors and created outer rooms. The height of the tiers became the same on all floors.

During this reconstruction, a royal box was built and placed opposite the stage. Internal transformations have added comfort to the seats, but at the same time reduced their number.

The curtain for the theater was painted by the then famous artist Kozroe Duzi. The plot was the theme with Prince Pozharsky at the head, who enters the Moscow Kremlin through the gates of the Spasskaya Tower.

The appearance of the building has also undergone changes.

The Bolshoi Theater building has increased in height. An additional pediment was erected above the main portico, which covered an impressive decorative hall. Klodt's quadriga was brought forward a little and it began to hang directly over the colonnade. The side entrances were decorated with cast iron canopies.

More sculptural decorations were added to the external decoration, and decorative niches were built in. The walls were covered with rustication and they were no longer smoothly plastered as before. The podium in front of the entrance was equipped with a ramp for carriages to enter.

By the way, the most common question is: “How many columns does the Bolshoi Theater have?” Their number did not change even after the reconstruction. There were still 8 of them.

The revived theater stopped staging any performances on its stage, but began to limit its repertoire only to ballet and opera performances.

At the end of the century, noticeable cracks appeared on the building. A thorough examination showed that the building needed major repairs and work to strengthen the foundation.

From 1894 until the first years of the new millennium, a grandiose reconstruction of the Bolshoi was carried out: the lighting became completely electric, the heating was switched to steam, and the ventilation system was improved. At the same time, the first telephones appeared in the theater.

The foundation of the building could only be strengthened during the years of Soviet Power, 1921-1925. Supervised the work of I.I. Rerberg is the architect of the Kievsky railway station and the Central Moscow Telegraph.

Reconstruction of the theater is carried out constantly. Our time was no exception.

At the beginning of the third millennium, transformations affected not only the interior decoration and the exterior of the building. The theater began to grow in depth. A new concert hall is located under the current Theater Square.

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185 years ago the Bolshoi Theater was inaugurated.

The founding date of the Bolshoi Theater is considered to be March 28 (March 17), 1776, when the famous philanthropist and Moscow prosecutor, Prince Pyotr Urusov, received the highest permission to “contain ... theatrical performances of all kinds.” Urusov and his companion Mikhail Medox created the first permanent troupe in Moscow. It was organized from actors of a previously existing Moscow theater troupe, students of Moscow University and from newly recruited serf actors.
The theater initially did not have an independent building, so performances were staged in Vorontsov’s private house on Znamenka Street. But in 1780, the theater moved to a stone theater building specially built according to the design of Christian Rozbergan on the site of the modern Bolshoi Theater. To build the theater building, Medox bought a plot of land at the beginning of Petrovskaya Street, which was in the possession of Prince Lobanov-Rostotsky. The three-story stone building with a plank roof, the so-called Medox Theater, was erected in just five months.

Based on the name of the street on which the theater was located, it became known as “Petrovsky”.

The repertoire of this first professional theater in Moscow included drama, opera and ballet performances. But operas received special attention, so the Petrovsky Theater was more often called the “Opera House”. The theater troupe was not divided into opera and drama: the same artists performed in both drama and opera performances.

In 1805, the building burned down, and until 1825, performances were staged at various theater venues.

In the early 20s of the 19th century, Petrovskaya Square (now Teatralnaya) was completely rebuilt in the classicist style according to the plans of the architect Osip Bove. According to this project, its current composition arose, the dominant feature of which was the building of the Bolshoi Theater. The building was built according to the design of Osip Bove in 1824 on the site of the former Petrovsky. The new theater partially included the walls of the burnt Petrovsky Theater.

The construction of the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater was a real event for Moscow at the beginning of the 19th century. A beautiful eight-column building in the classical style with the chariot of the god Apollo above the portico, decorated inside in red and gold tones, according to contemporaries, was the best theater in Europe and was second in scale only to Milan's La Scala. Its opening took place on January 6 (18), 1825. In honor of this event, a prologue “The Triumph of the Muses” was given by Mikhail Dmitriev with music by Alexander Alyabyev and Alexei Verstovsky. It allegorically depicted how the Genius of Russia, with the help of the muses, on the ruins of the Medox Theater creates a new beautiful temple of art - the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater.

The townspeople called the new building "Colosseum". The performances held here were invariably a success, gathering high-society Moscow society.

On March 11, 1853, for an unknown reason, a fire started in the theater. Theatrical costumes, stage sets, the troupe's archives, part of the music library, and rare musical instruments were destroyed in the fire, and the theater building was also damaged.

A competition was announced for the restoration of the theater building, in which the winning plan was submitted by Albert Kavos. After the fire, the walls and columns of the porticos were preserved. When developing a new project, architect Alberto Cavos took the three-dimensional structure of the Beauvais Theater as a basis. Kavos approached the issue of acoustics carefully. He considered the optimal arrangement of the auditorium to be based on the principle of a musical instrument: the deck of the ceiling, the deck of the ground floor, wall panels, and balcony structures were made of wood. The acoustics of Kavos were perfect. He had to endure many battles with his contemporaries, architects, and with firefighters, proving that the installation of a metal ceiling (as, for example, in the Alexandrinsky Theater by architect Rossi) could be detrimental to the acoustics of the theater.

While maintaining the layout and volume of the building, Kavos increased the height, changed the proportions and reworked the architectural decoration; Slender cast-iron galleries with lamps were built on the sides of the building. During the reconstruction of the auditorium, Kavos changed the shape of the hall, narrowing it towards the stage, changed the size of the auditorium, which began to accommodate up to 3 thousand spectators. The alabaster group of Apollo, which adorned the Osip Bove Theater, died in a fire. To create a new one, Alberto Cavos invited the famous Russian sculptor Pyotr Klodt, the author of the famous four equestrian groups on the Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka River in St. Petersburg. Klodt created the now world-famous sculptural group with Apollo.

The new Bolshoi Theater was built in 16 months and opened on August 20, 1856 for the coronation of Alexander II.

The Kavos Theater did not have enough space to store scenery and props, and in 1859 the architect Nikitin made a project for a two-story extension to the northern facade, according to which all the capitals of the northern portico were covered. The project was implemented in the 1870s. And in the 1890s, another floor was added to the extension, thereby increasing the usable area. In this form, the Bolshoi Theater has survived to this day, with the exception of minor internal and external reconstructions.

After the Neglinka River was drawn into the pipe, the groundwater receded, the wooden foundation piles were exposed to atmospheric air and began to rot. In 1920, the entire semi-circular wall of the auditorium collapsed during the performance, the doors jammed, and the audience had to be evacuated through the barriers of the boxes. This forced the architect and engineer Ivan Rerberg in the late 1920s to place a concrete slab on a central support, shaped like a mushroom, under the auditorium. However, the concrete spoiled the acoustics.

By the 1990s, the building was extremely dilapidated, its deterioration was estimated at 60%. The theater fell into disrepair both structurally and decoratively. During the life of the theater, they endlessly added something to it, improved it, tried to make it more modern. Elements of all three theaters coexisted in the theater building. Their foundations were at different levels, and accordingly, cracks began to appear on the foundations, on the walls, and then on the interior decoration. The brickwork of the facades and the walls of the auditorium were in disrepair. The same goes for the main portico. The columns deviated from the vertical by up to 30 cm. The tilt was recorded at the end of the 19th century, and since then it has been increasing. These columns of white stone blocks tried to “heal” the entire 20th century - humidity caused visible black spots at the bottom of the columns at a height of up to 6 meters.

The technology is hopelessly behind the modern level: for example, until the end of the 20th century, a decoration winch from the Siemens company, manufactured in 1902, operated here (now it has been handed over to the Polytechnic Museum).

In 1993, the Russian government adopted a decree on the reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater complex.
In 2002, with the participation of the Moscow government, the New Stage of the Bolshoi Theater was opened on Teatralnaya Square. This hall is more than two times smaller than the historical one and can only accommodate a third of the theater’s repertoire. The launch of the New Stage made it possible to begin the reconstruction of the main building.

According to the plan, the appearance of the theater building will remain almost unchanged. The only thing that will lose its extensions is the northern façade, which has been covered for many years by warehouses where decorations are stored. The Bolshoi Theater building will go 26 meters deep into the ground; in the old and new building there will even be room for huge set structures - they will be lowered to the third underground level. The Chamber Hall with 300 seats will also be hidden underground. After reconstruction, the New and Main stages, which are located 150 meters from each other, will be connected to each other and to the administrative and rehearsal buildings by underground passages. In total, the theater will have 6 underground tiers. The storage will be moved underground, which will allow the rear facade to be restored to its proper form.

Unique work is underway to strengthen the underground part of the theater buildings, with a guarantee from the builders for the next 100 years, with parallel placement and modern technical equipment of parking lots under the main building of the complex, which will make it possible to relieve traffic from the most complex interchange in the city - Theater Square.

Everything that was lost during Soviet times will be recreated in the historical interior of the building. One of the main tasks of the reconstruction is to restore the original, largely lost, legendary acoustics of the Bolshoi Theater and make the stage floor covering as comfortable as possible. For the first time in the Russian theater, the gender will change depending on the genre of the performance being shown. Opera will have its own gender, ballet will have its own. In terms of technological equipment, the theater will become one of the best in Europe and the world.

The Bolshoi Theater building is a historical and architectural monument, so a significant part of the work is scientific restoration. The author of the restoration project, Honored Architect of Russia, Director of the Scientific and Restoration Center "Restavrator-M" Elena Stepanova.

According to Russian Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev, the reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater will be completed by the end of 2010 - beginning of 2011.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources.

In total, there are about 3,800 - 3,900 seats in which lovers of the classics can simultaneously sit: ballet, opera, classical music, enjoying the atmosphere of intimacy and elitism of what is happening on the stages and in the auditoriums of the Bolshoi... Ask: “where did so many theater seats come from? ?" Let's count:

1. Historical (Main) stage, numbering up to 2.5 thousand seats, intended for lovers and admirers of musical and classical productions. The theater’s calling card, where theatergoers, newcomers, “pioneers” of the Bolshoi flock to first see and taste the symbiosis of golden monograms on a red background, and then immerse themselves in the magic of the production itself. It's a secret, but when you first find yourself at the Bolshoi, it is the interior of the historical stage that "knocks out" the newcomer; if you conduct some statistical research, the performance begins after... when the first portion of impressions has already been received.
2. A new (main? More likely, also yes) stage, which, during the reconstruction of the historical “stage,” managed to cope with the theater’s repertoire. But still inferior in scope and capacity, providing its performances for viewing by approximately 1.0 thousand theatergoers.
3. And the third hall is the Beethoven hall, designed for 320 people. With this simple addition, we calculated how many people can simultaneously receive a portion of art, provided that there are performances or concerts at all Bolshoi venues.

Since we have figured out the number of seats, we can begin to recommend choosing the right chair. Here the recommendation will be subjective, because in the end everyone himself feels a good location in the auditorium. So, if you go to the ballet, then the best view of the action will be from the seats of the amphitheater and a little higher, but not the 4th row of the balcony, where mostly students sit. In the stalls you will not see the formations well enough, for which a view from a little above is desirable, but the opera is both the stalls and slightly higher places above it. The second point is to buy tickets to the central sectors so that the stage is exactly in front of your eyes. The side view, where the boxes are usually located, somewhat blurs the overall picture of the performance; you see what is happening in a somewhat distorted image. But you can watch and listen to symphony concerts anywhere; here it is no longer so important where you sit.

An important point is the cost of tickets, and they are not the cheapest for the Bolshoi Theater. The stalls with performances on the historical or new stage cost around 14-15 thousand rubles, the balcony, naturally, is the “cheapest”, about 5-6 thousand rubles. If you choose between stages, then the New Stage has practically no seats with "poor" visibility, while historical visibility has such limitations. But according to its history, the stage has the right to do so, right? The most economical option is to visit the Beethoven Hall, with a price policy of 3.5 thousand rubles, but here there is music, not ballet, but you can see it from everywhere. Therefore, choose what is closest to you and buy the coveted ticket.

P.S. A little secret: during evening performances, on a monitor installed on the facade of the theater, there is an online broadcast of the production that is on stage, and rows of chairs are placed in the public garden for the convenience of street spectators. For some reason, there are few compatriots among the audience, more and more foreigners, who already during the day begin to quietly take their seats so that in the evening they can comfortably, albeit outside the auditorium, attend the evening extravaganza of the Bolshoi Theater. This is an alternative for those who love classical performances, but finances do not allow it...

BIG THEATER

The oldest opera and ballet theater in Russia. The official name is the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia. In colloquial speech the theater is simply called Big.

Bolshoi Theater Hall:

Russia. Large linguistic and cultural dictionary. - M.: State Institute of Russian Language named after. A.S. Pushkin. AST-Press. T.N. Chernyavskaya, K.S. Miloslavskaya, E.G. Rostova, O.E. Frolova, V.I. Borisenko, Yu.A. Vyunov, V.P. Chudnov. 2007 .

See what "BIG THEATER" is in other dictionaries:

Big theater- Building of the Main Stage of the Bolshoi Theater Location Moscow, Coordinates 55.760278, 37.618611 ... Wikipedia

Grand Theatre- Big theater. Moscow. Bolshoi Theater (State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater of Russia) (, 2), the largest center of Russian and world musical culture. The history of the Bolshoi Theater dates back to 1776 (see). The original name was Petrovsky... Moscow (encyclopedia)

Grand Theatre- State Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR (SABT), the leading Soviet opera and ballet theater, the largest center of Russian, Soviet and world musical theater culture. The modern theater building was built in 1820 24... ... Art encyclopedia

Grand Theatre- Big theater. Theater Square on the opening day of the Bolshoi Theater on August 20, 1856. Painting by A. Sadovnikov. BOLSHOY THEATER State academic (SABT), opera and ballet theater. One of the centers of Russian and world musical theater... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

BIG THEATER- State Academic (SABT), Opera and Ballet Theater. One of the centers of Russian and world musical theater culture. Founded in 1776 in Moscow. Modern building from 1824 (architect O. I. Bove; reconstructed in 1856, architect A. K. ... ... Russian history

BIG THEATER- State Academic (SABT), Opera and Ballet Theater. One of the centers of Russian and world musical theater culture. Founded in 1776 in Moscow. Modern building from 1824 (architect O.I. Bove; reconstructed in 1856, architect A.K.... ... Modern encyclopedia

BIG THEATER- State Academic Theater (SABT), Founded in 1776 in Moscow. Modern building from 1825 (architect O. I. Bove; reconstructed in 1856, architect A. K. Kavos). Foreign and first Russian operas and ballets by M. I. Glinka, A. S. were staged... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Grand Theatre- This term has other meanings, see Bolshoi Theater (meanings). Bolshoi Theater ... Wikipedia

Grand Theatre- BOLSHOY THEATER, State Order of Lenin Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR (SABT), leading Soviet musical theater. tr, who played an outstanding role in the formation and development of the national. traditions of ballet art. Its emergence is associated with the rise of Russian... ... Ballet. Encyclopedia

BIG THEATER- State Order of Lenin Academic Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, the oldest Russian. music theater, the largest center of music. theatrical culture, the building was also a venue for congresses and celebrations. meeting and other societies. events. Main... Soviet historical encyclopedia

Books

• Bolshoi Theater Culture and politics New history, Volkov S.. The Bolshoi Theater is one of the most famous brands in Russia. In the West, the word Bolshoi does not need translation. Now it seems that it has always been this way. Not at all. For many years the main musical…

The most famous theater in Russia and one of the famous theaters in the world is the Bolshoi Theater. Where is the main theater in the country located? Well, of course, in the main city - Moscow. Its repertoire includes opera and ballet productions by Russian and foreign classical composers. In addition to the classical repertoire, the theater constantly experiments with innovative modern productions. The history of the Bolshoi Theater is very rich and is associated with the names of people significant to our country. In March 2015, the theater turns 239 years old.

How it all began

Prince Pyotr Vasilyevich Urusov is considered the founder of the Bolshoi Theater; he was a provincial prosecutor and at the same time had his own theater troupe. He was the only one who was allowed to organize performances, masquerades, concerts and other entertainment. No one else was allowed to engage in such work, so that the prince would not have competitors. But this privilege also imposed on him an obligation - to build a beautiful building for the troupe in which all performances would take place. The prince had a companion named Medox, who was a foreigner, he taught mathematics to Grand Duke Paul, the future Russian emperor. Having fallen in love with the theater business, he stayed in Russia and became closely involved in the development of the theater. failed to build a theater because he went bankrupt, the privilege of the theater holder, as well as the obligation to build the building, passed to Medox, as a result of which it was he who built the Bolshoi Theater. Every second resident of Russia knows where the theater created by Medox is located; it is located at the intersection of Teatralnaya Square and Petrovka.

Theater construction

For the construction of the theater, Medox chose a plot that belonged to Prince Rostotsky, who bought it from him. This was a street called Petrovskaya, its very beginning, and the Bolshoi Theater was built here. The address of the theater now is Teatralnaya Square, building 1. The theater was built in record time, in just 5 months, which is amazing and amazing even for our time with all its modern technologies and building materials. The project for the construction of the theater building was developed by Christian Rosberg. The theater was magnificent inside, the auditorium amazed with its beauty, but on the contrary, it was modest, unremarkable and practically undecorated. The theater received its first name - Petrovsky.

Theater opening

The Bolshoi Theater building was opened in 1780, on December 30. On this day, the very first performance of the theater troupe took place in its own building. All the newspapers wrote about the opening, theater masters and famous architects as one showered compliments on the building, characterizing it as durable, huge, profitable, beautiful, safe and superior in all respects to most famous theaters in Europe. The city governor was so pleased with the construction that the privilege that gave Madox the right to hold entertainment was extended for another 10 years.

Interior decoration

A round hall, the so-called rotunda, was built to hold performances. The hall was decorated with numerous mirrors and illuminated by forty-two crystal chandeliers. The hall was designed by Medox himself. Next to the stage, as expected, there was an orchestra pit. Closest to the stage were stools for honored guests of the theater and regular spectators, most of whom were owners of serf troupes. Their opinion was important to Madox, for this reason they were invited to dress rehearsals, after which they were involved in discussing the upcoming production.

The theater showed about 100 performances a year. It was impossible to buy tickets for one performance; to visit the theater, spectators purchased an annual subscription.

Over time, the theater's attendance deteriorated, profits decreased, actors began to leave the theater, and the building fell into disrepair. As a result, the Bolshoi Opera House became state-owned and received a new name - the Imperial.

Temporary sunset

The history of the Bolshoi Theater was not always so beautiful; there were also tragic moments. In 1805, the theater burned down after 25 years of existence. Only the load-bearing walls have been preserved, and then only partially. Reconstruction began only in 1821, when Moscow was being reconstructed after the invasion of Napoleonic troops. The main architect, who was tasked with restoring the central part of the city, including the theater, was Osip Bove. He was an innovator; according to his project, the streets began to be built differently; now mansions began to face the street, and not inside the courtyard. Bove supervised the restoration of the Alexander Garden, the square near the theater. The reconstruction of the Bolshoi Theater became his most successful project. The new building was erected in the Empire style. According to the architect's contemporaries, the Bolshoi Theater rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

The metro is located very close to the theater, so getting to the theater is very convenient from anywhere in Moscow.

Reconstruction of the theater building

The restoration of the theater began in 1821 and lasted several years. Initially, the plan for the renovated theater building was developed by the famous architect Andrei Mikhailov in St. Petersburg; the governor of Moscow approved this plan. Mikhailov designed the theater building in the shape of a rectangle, as well as a portico of eight columns and Apollo in a chariot at the top of the portico; the hall was designed to accommodate up to two thousand spectators. Osip Bove reworked Mikhailov's design, where the Bolshoi Theater became lower and the proportions of the building changed. Beauvais also decided to abandon the placement on the ground floor as he considered that it was unaesthetic. The hall became multi-tiered, the decoration of the hall became rich. The required building acoustics were met. Bove even had a very original idea - to make a mirror curtain, but bringing such an idea to life, of course, was unrealistic, since such a curtain would be incredibly heavy.

Second birth

The reconstruction of the theater was completed by the end of 1824, and in January 1825 the renovated theater building was inaugurated. The first performance took place, the program of which included the ballet “Cendrillon” and the prologue “The Triumph of the Muses” specially written for the opening of the theater by Alyabyev and Verstovsky. Beauvais was the center of attention, and the audience greeted him with thunderous applause as a sign of gratitude. The new theater was simply amazing in its beauty. Now the theater has received the name “Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater”. All the theater's productions were a constant success. Now the Bolshoi Theater has become even more brilliant.

The metro is the most convenient way to get to the Bolshoi Theater. The closest stations to the theater are Teatralnaya, Ploshchad Revolyutsii, Okhotny Ryad and Aleksandrovsky Sad stations. Which station to choose depends on the starting point of the route.

And again the fire

In the spring of 1853, there was a fire in the theater again; it was very strong and lasted two days. The sky was so clouded with black smoke that it was visible in all corners of the city. All the snow has melted on Theater Square. The building burned down almost completely, leaving only the load-bearing walls and portico. The fire destroyed the scenery, costumes, music library, and musical instruments, including rare specimens. The Bolshoi Theater was once again damaged by fire.

Where the theater is located is not difficult to find, it is located on Teatralnaya Square and there are a lot of attractions next to it: Maly Drama Theater, Youth Theater, Shchepkin Theater School, Metropol Cabaret, House of Unions, Okhotny Ryad, Central Department Store, opposite the theater there is a monument to Karl Marx.

Restoration work

The architect who brought the theater back to life was Albert Kavos, and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg was built according to his design. Unfortunately, little information about this architect has survived to this day. There was not enough money to restore the theater, but the work progressed quickly and took just over a year. The theater was opened on August 20, 1856, now it was called the “Bolshoi Imperial Theater”. The premiere performance of the restored theater was the opera “The Puritans” by the Italian composer. There were different attitudes towards the new theater. The townspeople considered it magnificent and were proud of it, as for engineers and architects, some of them believed that the reconstruction carried out by Cavos was too different from the way the theater was conceived by Mikhailov and Bove, especially with regard to the facades and some interiors. It is worth giving the architect his due; thanks to his redevelopment of the hall, the acoustics in the Bolshoi Theater became one of the best in the world.

The theater not only hosted performances, it also hosted balls and masquerades. This is what the Bolshoi Theater became. The theater address is City Square, building 1.

Our days

The theater entered the 20th century in a fairly dilapidated state, with a sagging foundation and cracks on the walls. But several reconstructions carried out in the theater in the 20th century, one of which was completed quite recently (lasted 6 years), did their job - and now the theater shines with all its facets. In addition to operas and ballets, the theater's repertoire also includes operettas. You can also take a tour of the theater - see the hall and several other very interesting rooms. A visitor who wants to visit the Bolshoi Theater, where it is located, may have difficulty finding it, although in fact it is located in the very center of the city and finding it will not be difficult; not far from it there is another landmark of the capital, which is known throughout the world - the Red square.