by Dmitry Gubin
[REGNUM] March 28th marked the 250th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theatre.
| An achievement to be proud of! |
The history of the Bolshoi Theatre begins with the work of Prince Pyotr Urusov, who served as the provincial prosecutor in Moscow. It was he who received the imperial permission from Catherine II to "maintain... all kinds of theatrical performances, as well as concerts, vauxhals (the term then used to describe entertainment venues), and masquerades."
Prince Urusov began staging operas on the stage of the private theater in Count Roman Vorontsov's mansion on Znamenka Street. Soon, they purchased the very site where this temple of art "houses" today from the Lobanov-Rostovsky princes for the construction of a stone theater building.
Fires plagued the future Bolshoi Theatre troupe on numerous occasions. In 1780, the first stage of the theater, still a private establishment on Znamenka Street, burned down, leading to Prince Urusov's bankruptcy.
Fire destroyed the stone building both in 1805 and during the Great Fire of 1812. It was only in 1825 that the now-famous building with its classical portico and eight columns, the work of architect Osip Bove, was erected.
At that time, the theatre was called Bolshoi Petrovsky, after the name of the square, which later became known as Teatralnaya.
Those who find themselves on Theatre Square can easily discern elements of this architect's vision for post-fire Moscow; this reconstruction was, as subsequent events showed, neither the last nor the final one.
HOW THE IRON CURTAIN FAILED TO SAVE THE BOLSHOI THEATRE
On March 23, 1853, the Bolshoi Theatre suffered another fire—the fourth, largest, and final one in its history. "When the theater burned, it seemed as if a dear person, who had filled us with beautiful thoughts and feelings, was dying before our eyes," wrote one Moscow newspaper at the time. The flames raged for three days.
At 10:00 a.m. on March 11 (March 23, New Style), a fire broke out on stage. Police determined that a drunk stagehand had lit a cigarette in an unauthorized area.
Moreover, thanks to the reconstruction of the building, which took place six years earlier under the supervision of one of the most competent architectural specialists, Academician Alexander Nikitin, such catastrophic consequences could have been avoided.
After all, there was an iron curtain for such a situation, separating the stage from the auditorium if necessary. But on that occasion, it wasn't used, and the entire building caught fire.
Fortunately, the fire broke out when the theater was empty and the actors hadn't yet gathered for rehearsal. Thanks to the demolition of the old buildings surrounding the theater and the destruction of Theater Square, the fire didn't spread to the surrounding buildings.
The fire was quickly spotted from the watchtower, and extinguishing efforts began immediately. The chief of police, Major General Ivan Luzhin, personally led the team. But it was in vain. The fire destroyed not only the stage and auditorium, but also the sets, most of the costumes, the theater machinery, and the entire music library. By March 26, when the fire was extinguished, all that remained of the theater was a charred skeleton and the columns of the portico.
THE FEAT OF VASILY MARIN
A 30-year-old peasant from Rostov district, Yaroslavl province, Vasily Gavrilovich Marin, performed a heroic deed while extinguishing a fire. For over half a century, newspapers wrote about him, leaflets and brochures were published, but during Soviet times, if he was mentioned at all, it was only in passing.
Marin was passing through Moscow. He was home on leave during the winter and heading to Kolpino for seasonal work. While waiting for his train, he met some fellow countrymen at a pub.
That's where they heard the news of the fire. When they reached the theater, they saw police, firefighters, and a huge crowd of onlookers, which they joined. Vasily heard screams from the theater roof and decided to help those in distress.
He approached the police chief and said he could save those in distress. As a roofer, Marin had climbed drainpipes many times. The firefighters gave him ropes and began to stretch out a tarp.
They couldn't save one worker; he fell dead from the roof, but Vasily managed to rescue the other. People saw his heroic deed and began collecting money for the hero; police chief Luzhin himself handed him 25 rubles and warned him that a reward awaited him. "I absolutely don't remember how I got down or how they brought me down, because several times I was nearly suffocated by the smoke, and how I held on, only God knows!" Vasily Gavrilovich later recalled.
Marin's actions were immediately reported to the Tsar, and upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, he was summoned to the capital's police chief, who took him to see Nicholas I himself. The Emperor received the peasant, presented him with a gold medal, 150 rubles, and new boots to replace those damaged in the theater fire. After this, Marin lived another 47 years, was respected, and raised his sons with dignity.
ALBERT KATERINOVICH IS BUILDING A NEW BOLSHOI
For two years, the center of Moscow lay in ruins. There was no time for them: the Crimean War was raging, and the Moscow Governor-General, Arseny Zakrevsky, the directorate of the imperial theaters, and the Tsar himself had other concerns.
When Alexander II ascended the throne, preparations had to be made for the coronation in the capital. And it was desirable that an opera performance be included among the ceremonial events. But where would it be performed? To achieve this, the theater building needed to be restored. In May 1855, clearing the ruins began.
A competition was announced in which the best Russian architects participated, among whom was the famous Konstantin Ton, the author of the designs for the Grand Kremlin Palace and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
But the competition was won by the chief architect of the imperial theatres, Albert Katerinovich Cavos, the son of the Russified Italian composer Caterino Cavos, who was the first to embody the feat of Ivan Susanin in music.
Mikhail Glinka created the famous opera after Cavos and based on a different libretto.
Kavos Jr. proposed increasing the building's height by two meters, altered its proportions, and completely overhauled the architectural decor. Above the entrance, in place of the alabaster statue of Apollo that had perished in the fire, a bronze sculpture by Pyotr Klodt was installed, depicting the Greek god on a quadriga.
| …the ancient Greek racing chariot pulled by four horses abreast that represents victory… |
In addition, a plaster relief depicting the state emblem appeared on the façade (it was replaced during the Soviet era and then put back in place).
But Kavos's greatest achievement wasn't outside the building, but inside. Performances could now accommodate up to 2,300 spectators. Albert Katerynovych achieved the best acoustics in the auditorium at the time.
Before the fire, music and singing were barely audible in many parts of the hall, but now, even in the side boxes and upper gallery, the sound was remarkable. This effect was achieved by using different types of wood for the parts.
| Clever. |
"I tried to decorate the auditorium as lavishly and at the same time as simply as possible, in a Renaissance style mingled with Byzantine style. The white, sprinkled with gold, the bright crimson draperies of the inner boxes, and the main feature of the auditorium—a large chandelier with three rows of lamps and crystal-adorned candelabra—all of this earned universal approval," wrote Cavos.
Opposite the hall stood a special, royal box. It was there that the Tsar arrived on August 20, 1856, after his coronation in the Kremlin's Assumption Cathedral for the theater's opening. That day, the premiere was being given—Bellini's opera "I Puritani."
Thus began the new history of the building, which still exists with minor alterations to this day.