While St. Petersburg has always been the capital of Russian ballet, and there are many major ballet companies and theatre halls in St. Petersburg that tourists can visit during their travel to Russia; Moscow has its own major theatre company, which if it’s not better than companies in St. Petersburg, it has the same reputation and expertise. The Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow has an exceptional history. While it got burnt down several times throughout history and reconstructed several times, it always considered as one of the most active and famous theatre companies in Russia, even though the Soviet era. It’s also one of the most renowned theatre companies in the world, which many tourists would visit during their travel to Russia to see a performance of ballet, opera, orchestra, and drama. However, the history of this place is one of the reasons behind its identification as one of the major attractions of Moscow on tour to Russia.
Bolshoi Theatre is one of the oldest theatre companies in Russia and one of the top attractions of Russia tour for people who have decided to travel to Russia. The theatre origin dates back to 1776 when Peter Ouroussoff was granted permission to establish a theatrical, masquerades, and dance forms of entertainment in Moscow by one of the greatest Empresses of Russia, Catherine II. The year 1776 was the beginning of what later became Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. In the beginning, the theatrical and opera’s troupe had formed a single company, which its members came from various backgrounds, from professional Russian singers to serf artists, and even internationally-known guest artists from around the world. Organizing a theatre performance required lots of financial support. That was the reason why Ouroussoff partnered with English theatrical contractor Michael Maddox, who was a theatre mechanic as well. At first, the theatre performances were held inside a private home that belonged to Ouroussoff. However, after a while, they had acquired a building on the right bank of the River Neglinka, on the street called Petrovka.
The establishment of the Petrovka Theatre was immense for Moscow because there was no theatre hall as big and beautiful in Moscow. It was also one of the fastest building that had been erected in Moscow, in less than six months. On the opening night, there were both opera and ballet performances. From then on, the theatre began to produce its productions. However, by the time that the Petrovka Theatre was opened, Peter Ouroussoff had sold his rights to the theatre to Maddox. Unfortunately, the Petrovka Theatre was burnt down in the great fire of 1805 in Moscow, and the company had performed on different private theaters until in 1808 when the New Arbat Imperial Theatre had replaced the Patrovka Theatre building. The new building was one of the few works of prominent Italian architect Carlo Rossi in Moscow. However, the Arbat Imperial Theatre didn’t see the happy face of destiny as it also burnt down during the Napoleon invasion in 1812, as the French Grand Army set up a great fire to burn down the city of Moscow. In 1819, new competition had held to build the new theatre building, in which Andrei Mikhailov, who was a Petersburg-based architect, had won the competition. However, his design was too expensive for the Governor of Moscow, so he turned to Joseph Bové and commissioned him to alter Mikhailov’s plan to be more affordable. Bové was won the trust of the governor by designing the Maly Theatre, which was constructing at the same time. The new theatre was opened in 1825 as Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre, and until the 1840s, it only presented Russian performances. For 30 years, the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre stood there and remained as one of the top attractions of Moscow in Russia tour, but it also shared the same fate as its predecessors as it was burnt down by the fire that broke out in 1853. Everything in the theatre, including the set designs, costumes, instruments, notes, and theatre mechanics, had destroyed alongside the entire building. A year after, a competition held between three prominent architects of Russia in that time, in which Alberto Cavos, who was an expert in building theaters, had won and began his work in 1855. Since the deadline for his work was the coronation day of Alexander II, they had opened the theatre in August of 1856.
After the October Revolution, both the theatre and its institute came under a threat of shut down due to various reasons. However, by giving the academic title to the theatre, they could save the theatre from being shut down, but it was a temporary solution. The State Academic Bolshoi Theatre began its work, and even a few days after the opening, there was an unsuccessful attempt to close it down forever. After a few years, the Bolsheviks government realized that closing down the theatre is not the right economic move. The theatre stage was also the place where the formation of the USSR was announced. From then to the days of the Second World War, the theatre building went under several reconstructions. During the war, a bomb severely damaged the building, which caused the theatre to went under another repair during the war in 1942. During the Soviet era, especially after the death of Joseph Stalin, Moscow’s Bolshoi company had become an essential source of cultural prestige by touring in the west as well as a great source of foreign currency earnings for the Soviet government. Even though the theatre went under several reconstructions till the 1990s, by the end of the 1980s, it was clear for everyone that the historical Bolshoi Theatre required vital rebuilding. However, since Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre was a significant attraction in Russia tour as well as one of the central cultural heritage of Moscow in the tour to Russia, it needed to work uninterrupted.
That was the main reason why it was decided to open up a second stage for the Bolshoi Theatre. However, it took several years for building a new place, and in 2002, the New Stage opened its door to the public with The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov, which was perfect for the atmosphere of the new building. The main Bolshoi Theatre building went under a major reconstruction in 2005, which lasted until 2011. The new building was rebuilt entirely, and the rebuilding included an improvement in acoustics, an entire interior restoration, and adding several imperial decorations to the building. Throughout this time, the Bolshoi company had performed on the New Stage and also on Grand Kremlin Palace stages. The grand reopening of the main Bolshoi theatre features several international artists and multiple opera and Russian ballet shows.
Currently, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre is one of the most excellent places for people who want to see a Russian ballet performance on their tour to Russia as well as other forms of performing art, including drama, opera, and even orchestra. The theatre is also considered as one of the top Russia attractive places on Russia tour, in which many tourists would visit on their travel to Russia. We at the Star Travel Group also recommend our tourists who want to see a Russian ballet show on their tour to Russia to visit this theatre during their tour to Moscow. If you want to learn more about other things that you can do during your travel to Russia, you can always check our weblog on the Star Travel Group website, in which we also provide several tips and pieces of advice on how to travel to Russia.
