Moscow

Imperial Bolshoi Theatre

1856-1917

Over the years the theatre has had the following names: 1825–1853 – Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre 1856–1917 – Imperial Bolshoi Theatre 1919–1922 – State Academic Bolshoi Theatre 1922–1991 – State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of the USSR since 1992 – State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia (Bolshoi Theatre) The Bolshoi Theatre is one of the world’s most renowned theatres. Its building, located in the heart of Moscow on Theatre Square, is a federally protected cultural heritage site and a symbol of Russian culture and art. The theatre’s history began in March 1776, when Prince Pyotr Urusov received Empress Catherine the Great’s imperial permission “to manage all theatrical performances in Moscow.” Initially, the theatre troupe performed in a wooden building on the Vorontsov estate known as the Znamensky Theatre. This structure burned down in February 1780. Later that same year, a stone theatre was built on the site of today’s Bolshoi building. It was named the Petrovsky Theatre after Petrovka Street, where it was located. In 1805, the theatre again suffered fire damage. A new wooden building was constructed by architect Carlo Rossi on Arbatskaya Square in 1808. Just four years later, it was destroyed in the great Moscow fire of 1812. In 1813, the Commission for the Construction of Moscow launched a competition for a new theatre design. The winning entry belonged to Andrei Mikhailov, professor at the Imperial Academy of Arts, but the project proved too expensive to realize. Architect Joseph Bové was entrusted with revising the plan. He preserved Mikhailov’s compositional concept while significantly altering its proportions. The new theatre building was completed in 1825. In 1853, it was once more devastated by fire. Reconstruction under Albert Cavos, chief architect of the Imperial Theatres, was completed in time for the coronation of Emperor Alexander II. Major modifications were introduced: the building’s height was increased, the auditorium expanded, and the original alabaster sculptural group on the façade — Apollo’s chariot drawn by a troika — was replaced with a bronze quadriga. The theatre triumphantly reopened on 20 August 1856 with Vincenzo Bellini’s opera "I Puritani". In 1898, Vladimir Telyakovsky was appointed head of the Moscow branch of the Directorate of Imperial Theatres. His innovative leadership elevated the Bolshoi to international prominence. Telyakovsky brought together extraordinary talents: singer Feodor Chaliapin, composer and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff, and artists Konstantin Korovin and Alexander Golovin. A landmark in the theatre’s history is the 1869 premiere of Marius Petipa’s ballet "Don Quixote", which became one of the great classical ballets. It gained its greatest fame in the early 20th-century revision by Alexander Gorsky. Among the theatre’s most significant productions are the operas "Boris Godunov" by Modest Mussorgsky, "The Maid of Pskov" and "The Snow Maiden" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and "Eugene Onegin" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky; as well as the ballets "Salambo" by Andrey Arends (choreography by Alexander Gorsky), and "Swan Lake" and "The Sleeping Beauty" by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The Bakhrushin Theatre Museum collection includes posters, playbills, costume and set design sketches, photographs, and archival documents related to the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre.