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The history of the Mariinsky Ballet Company dates from 1783, when the Bolshoi Theatre was opened on the site now occupied by the Conservatoire.
In the eighteenth century, Carousel Square was built in the Second Admiralteisky district of St Petersburg. It derived its name from the theatricalised horse shows held there - the favourite amusement of court society. Fêtes with dancing and music were also held on the square, while an unpretentious wooden structure was used for dramas and performances of the Italian opera company, in which pupils of the St Petersburg Dance School took part.
Catherine the Great ordered that a Bolshoi (Stone) Theatre be erected in place of this wooden structure. Its magnificence and splendour surpassed even that of the leading European theatres of the day. The Bolshoi Theatre opened in 1783 with a performance of Paisiello´s Il Mondo della Luna and the surrounding area acquired the name of Theatre Square. The theatre was reconstructed in 1802 by Jean-François Thomas de Thomon and then again in 1836 by Albert Cavos.
On the 29th of January 1849, a circus opened with a festive equestrian show in the hall built opposite the Bolshoi Theatre by the architect Albert Cavos. This building was designed so that it could accommodate theatrical performances.
Exactly ten years later, the circus caught fire and burnt down. This time the reconstructed building was designed purely for musical performances. The opera company of the Bolshoi Theatre was the first to be transferred here, followed by its ballet troupe.
The new theatre was opened on the 2nd of October 1860 with a performance of Glinka´s opera A Life for the Tsar. It was named the Mariinsky Theatre after Alexander II´s wife Maria. According to contemporaries, it was "the finest theatre in Europe". A shortage of office space and the aged wooden constructions, however, necessitated the addition of new premises and the resturcturing of existing ones. The theatre building was twice reconstructed in the nineteenth century. Victor Shroeter, head architect at the Department of The Imperial Theatres, redesigned the back-stage areas between 1884 and 1886. Between 1894 and 1896, the engineer Smirnov carried out restoration work on the auditorium. A new wing was added to the main façade, with a vestibule, grand staircases and foyer. New wings were also built to the right and left of the main building.
The theatre´s magnificent decor has survived almost unchanged to the present day. Dazzling white sculptures, lustrous gilt and light blue drapings and upholstery all combine to create the beautiful and unusual colour scheme of the Mariinsky´s auditorium. Above is the Italianate ceiling, designed by Professor Dusi and painted by Fracioli, and a magnificent three-tiered bronze chandelier, shaped like Monomakh´s cap and burning with the fire of a thousand crystal pendants. The chandelier and candelabra were a gift from the mechant Pleske, who was decorated with a gold medal " in recognition of his special services to the arts".
The unique curtain, an emblem of the Mariinsky Theatre, was created in 1914 by the famous designer Alexander Golovin. Previously dark red, its colour scheme was altered to blue in 1952 by the artists Simon Virsaladze and Mikhail Zandin, in keeping with the general tone of the auditorium´s decor. During the Second World War, more than twenty shells struck the theatre building, yet by the autumn of 1944 it had already been restored to its former glory.
In the late 1960´s, the stage was rebuilt in the course of further reconstruction work carried out by Sergei Gelfer, from the foundations right up to the flies. The rising floor and other technical improvements offer new opportunities for the positioning of the orchestra and permit highly complicated stage effects. The passage of time, however, necessitates the constant renewal of the stage machinery and the theatre is currently undergoing yet another technical reconstruction programme.
Official web-site of the Theatre: http://www.mariinsky.ru/
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