Odessa Opera House

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View from the stage into the auditorium

The Odessa Opera House ( Ukrainian : Одеський національний академічний театр опери та балету / Odesskyj nazionalnyj akademitschnyj teatr opery ta balety - about "Academic National Theater of Opera and Ballet Odessa") is one of the landmarks of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Odessa . In 1926 it received the honorary title of Academic Theater .

history

First theater

The first theater in Odessa , the work of the St. Petersburg architect Jean-François Thomas de Thomon , opened in 1809. It stood almost on the site of today's opera house and was a building built in the classicist style, the front of which showed a gable supported by six columns and thus imitated a Greek temple . Its gas lighting was the undoing of this theater : the house burned down on January 2, 1873 due to a defect in the lighting system.

Today's opera house

An international architectural competition was announced for the construction of today's opera house , which the Viennese firm Fellner & Helmer won. From 1883 their design was carried out, the theater was opened in the autumn of 1887 the construction costs amounted to 1.3 million rubles. The design of the building is based on historicism . In terms of urban planning , the opera house represents the city crown of Odessa.

  • Opera house, around 1890

  • Front view

  • Reflection in the water basin

  • Academic National Opera and Ballet Theater of Odessa

Exterior design

The outside of the theater was designed in neo-baroque style and decorated with numerous sculptures . So is z. B. shown:

  • On the main portico there is a group with the muse Melpomene on a chariot pulled by four leopards . In her left hand she carries a torch, the right one is raised in greeting for the visitors of the theater. She is accompanied by two geniuses who hold laurel wreaths in their hands.
  • On the pedestal above the pillars to the right of the main entrance there is a group of figures depicting Terpsichore teaching a young person to dance .
  • On the pedestal above the pillars to the left of the main entrance is a group of figures depicting Orpheus enchanting a centaur with the play of his lyre .
  • On the entrance level, to the right and left of the main entrance, there are two groups of figures depicting comedy and tragedy .
View from the auditorium onto the fire curtain on the stage
Stairwell, detail

Inner design

The interior of the opera is committed to the Rococo . The great hall is luxuriously decorated and richly gilded . Floral elements predominate , complemented by figure decorations. The ceiling of the hall has a large chandelier in the center, weighing more than two tons, and paintings on themes taken from the works of William Shakespeare : Hamlet , A Midsummer Night's Dream , As You Like It, and A Winter's Tale . The great hall is famous for its excellent acoustics . After the accident with the gas lighting of the first building, the opera became the first electrically lit building in the city.

The architects did without a large, centrally located staircase and a foyer in front . Rather, the main entrances are two splendidly furnished, but laterally located staircases, the decoration of which can compete with that of the main hall. This also expresses structurally that this is not the representative building of a monarchical residence, but that of an upper-class urban society.

Further building history

A fire broke out in 1925, but the damage was repaired immediately. In the 1960s, the opera was partially redesigned. Static problems became apparent at the end of the last century: the building lies at the top of the slope of the steep slope from the city to the port of Odessa . The part of the building facing the port began to slide and it had to be closed first. It was then secured, renovated, and reopened in 2007 for more than seven years.

Artistic program

The Odessa Opera House is a two-branch house that performs opera and ballet . The performance practice is - in keeping with the architectural ambience - very traditional, director's theater is unknown. Well-known artists who worked here were:

Web link

literature

  • Шубарт, Павло. З історії одеської опери та Театральної площі // Чорноморські новини. - 10 серпня 2013. - N62-63.
  • NN: Odessa Theater . [Handout with the programs for the presentation]. Odessa 2007/10.

Web links

Commons : Odessa Opera House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Jakowlewitsch Schnejer: Академический театр. Советская энциклопедия. In: dic.academic.ru. Retrieved July 5, 2018 (Russian).
  2. ↑ Kononova: Odessa: A Guide. Raduga Publishers, 1984, p. 67 , archived from the original on September 28, 2007 ; accessed on June 30, 2019 (English).

Coordinates: 46 ° 29 ′ 7.7 ″  N , 30 ° 44 ′ 28.3 ″  E