Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre

(Redirected from Odesa Opera and Ballet Theater) 19th century theatre in Odesa, Ukraine

Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Construction
Ukrainian: Одеський національний академічний театр опери та балету
Logo
Odesa Theatre of Opera and Ballet

Address	Tchaikovsky Lane 1 Odesa Ukraine
Coordinates	46°29′08″N 30°44′30″E / 46.485556°N 30.741667°E / 46.485556; 30.741667
Designation	Architectural Landmark
Capacity	1,636
Opened	1810
Rebuilt	1887, Fellner & Helmer
Website
operahouse.od.ua

The Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre (Ukrainian: Одеський національний академічний театр опери та балету) is the oldest theatre in Odesa, Ukraine. The Theatre and the Potemkin Stairs are the most famous edifices in Odesa.

The first opera house was opened in 1810 and destroyed by fire in 1873. The modern building was constructed by Fellner & Helmer in neo-baroque (Vienna Baroque) style and opened in 1887. The architecture of the luxurious audience hall follows the late French rococo style. The unique acoustics of the horseshoe-designed hall allows performers to deliver even a whisper-low tone of voice from the stage to any part of the hall. The most recent renovation of the theatre was completed in 2007.

History

Odessa's first theatre (called the City Theatre) was built on the location of the current Odessa Opera and Ballet Theatre and opened on 10 February 1810. The original design, created by the Italian architect Francesco Frapolli, was later modified by the French architect Jean-François Thomas de Thomon who also designed St. Petersburg's Old Stock Exchange. The main entrance with its colonnade faced the sea. There was no foyer.

In 1831, Michael Vorontsov, governor-general of Russian empire, Novorossia kray (currently part of Ukraine) decided to assign the old instituted quarantine fees to the Odessa Theatre. Historian Charles King explains that one of the medical inspectors in Odessa was also the owner of the Odessa Theatre. When ticket sales were low, he would announce the discovery of an infection among newly arrived passengers and ordered them to be quarantined at their own cost. The expenses of the lazaretto, where the passengers that stayed would be used to hire a major performer for the theatre.

On the night of 2 January 1873, the building was gutted by fire.

A fund raising campaign began immediately. The city announced an international contest for the best theatre design. Forty designs were submitted, but none was chosen. Finally, the project was drafted along the lines of Dresden Semperoper built in 1878, with its nontraditional foyer following the curvatures of auditorium.

Two Viennese architects, Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer began to construct the larger replacement in 1883. The foundation stone was laid on 16 September 1884. On 1 October 1887 the theatre was completed, costing 1,300,000 rubles to build. It was named the Odessa City Theatre.

The theatre was the first building in Odesa to employ the Edison Company with electric illumination.

To keep theatre patrons comfortable in the summers, workers would lower wagonloads of ice and straw down a 35-foot shaft, then would carry it through a tunnel to a basement beneath the hall, where cool air rose up from vents beneath the seats.

In 1925, the building was burnt again in a fire. Fire team localized the burning, but the stage and orchestra pit were destroyed. During the fire of 1925, original curtain of the theatre stage burned, which was never restored.

There is a story that, when the Odesa people learned that the construction cost 1.3 million gold rubles, they gasped, but when they saw the new theatre, they gasped again, this time in admiration.

In August 1941, when the Romanian army was dangerously close to Odesa, the command of the Odesa defensive area appointed a special anti-aircraft unit, which was given the task of protecting the theatre building from bombing. On the roofs of the houses adjacent to the theatre, guns were installed that shot all 73 days of the city defending. During World War II, Nikita Khrushchev, concerned about the condition of the city, visited Odesa immediately after the German army was ousted from the city. Khrushchev reported that only one corner of the building had been damaged by an enemy shell.

The theatre was remodelled in the 1960s.

The theatre sits upon shifting ground and is in danger of collapse. The first cracks in the foundation appeared almost as soon as the theatre opened. The theatre's eastern half sagged almost seven inches in its first three years, and the six walls began to tilt. Gleb Dranov, a former opera singer who sang at the theatre for 25 years, and who worked five years as a geologist, is helping repair the building.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine the theatre used similar defences, including anti-aircraft units and anti-tank hedgehogs, to defend the theatre as had been used during August 1941.

Construction

The building's façade is decorated in the Italian baroque style. In the niches are the busts of Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Gogol, Alexandr Griboyedov and Alexander Pushkin. The large hall was modelled after the style of Louis XVI, and is richly decorated with gilded stucco figures and designs. The architects provided the foyer with twenty-four exits, to avoid tragedy in the case of a fire. On the side of the theatre is a lawn with fresh flowers and shrubs.

People

The famous Russian singer Feodor Chaliapin gave many concerts at the Odesa Opera. Soprano Lyudmila Shirina was a leading singer from 1975, and later head of the company.

"Imposter" group European performances

In February of 2023, the Irish Times reported that the Ukrainian Embassy was concerned about an "imposter" group calling itself the "Ukrainian National Ballet of Odessa" performing in Ireland.

In March of 2023, the Odesa National Opera and Ballet Theatre issued a statement, saying in part:

"We officially state that “The Ukrainian National Ballet of Odessa” ballet company, whose management is using the likeness of the brand name, video footage from our productions and false information in the advertisements, thus misleading the audience and discrediting the honest name of the Odessa opera, is in no way associated with the Odessa National Opera. The management of “The Ukrainian National Ballet of Odessa” has not properly responded to the repeated requests to terminate their illegal and anti-Ukrainian activities, despite the call of the artistic community to boycott the repertoire of Russian composers, refuses to remove the ballets which in the whole world are associated with the culture of the aggressor."

According to the Ukrainian Embassy, this group was not authorized to use the word "national" in its name as this word "is an honorary title assigned by the Ukrainian president to the best cultural institutions and companies only under a certain procedure."

Gallery

References

"About theatre". Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre. Retrieved 2022-09-04.
Iljine, Nicholas V., ed. (2004). Odessa Memories. essay by Patricia Herlihy; contributions by Bel Kaufman, Oleg Gubar, and Alexander Rozenboim. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 13. ISBN 0-295-98345-0.
Herlihy, Patricia (1986). Odessa: A History 1794–1914. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. p. 35. ISBN 0916458083.
Verbytskaia, Lada. "История Одесского оперного театра: пожары, призраки и магическое зеркало" [The history of the Odesa Opera House: fires, ghosts and a magic mirror]. 048.ua. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
^ Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. p. 67
Karakina, p. 68 Lists the architect's name as Toma de Tomana.
Anthony L.H. Rhinelander. (1990). Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy to the Tsar. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. ISBN 0-7735-0747-7. p. 110
King, Charles (2004). The Black Sea: A History. Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924161-9. p. 171
Karakina, Yelena; Tatyana Samoilova; Anna Ishchenko (2004). Touring Odessa. BDRUK. ISBN 966-8137-01-9. Archived from the original on 2009-09-07. p. 67
Karakina, p. 67 States: There were forty three entrants, and...Felner and Gelmer were selected.
Buildings for Music, Michael Forsythe, Cambridge University Press, p. 344
^ Herlihy, Patricia (1991) . Odessa: A History, 1794–1914. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-916458-15-6. p. 266-7
Karakina, p. 70 States: The Opera and Ballet Theatre acquired its name in the early 20th century. When first created, it was simply called the City Theatre.
^ Wines, Michael (November 1, 1999). "An Aged Beauty Gets a Facelift From a Geologist". The New York Times: 4. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
^ Kaufman, p. 14.
"Odessaguide: attractions". Odessa Opera House. 2019.
"Archodessa". Odesa Opera House in the Second World War. 2014.
Khrushchev, Nikita (2004). Sergei Khrushchev (ed.). Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev: The Commissar, 1918–1945. Penn State Press: Pennsylvania State University. ISBN 0-271-02332-5. p. 597
Khurshudyan, Isabelle (March 17, 2022). "Odessa's beloved opera house plays starring role in wartime drama". Washington Post. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
^ "Ukrainian embassy warns of 'impostor' ballet company due to tour Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
"Odessa National Opera and Ballet Theatre's position regarding fraud around its brand". Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2023-12-31.

External links

"Official website of the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre". Retrieved 2018-10-27.
"Odesa Opera Theatre". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-08-03.
"Odessa urges political parties to finance theatre restoration". TASS. January 18, 2006. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
Wines, Michael (November 1, 1999). "An Aged Beauty Gets a Facelift From a Geologist". The New York Times: 4. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
"Ukrainian embassy warns of ‘impostor’ ballet company due to tour Ireland" The Irish Times. February 13, 2023.
"Odessa National Opera and Ballet Theatre’s position regarding fraud around its brand" March 30, 2023.

v t e Tourist attractions in Odesa, Ukraine
Buildings	Bristol Hotel City Hall Londonskaya Hotel Maraslis House Mayurov House Opera Theater Odesa Passage Quarantine Odesa railway station Sea Port Odesa University Philharmonic Theater Potemkin Stairs Transfiguration Cathedral Vorontsov Palace Vorontsov Lighthouse
Museums	Archeological Museum Art Museum Catacombs Museum of the Cinema Museum of Concrete Holocaust Museum Jewish Museum Literature Museum Maritime Museum Numismatics Museum Pushkin Museum Regional History Museum Museum of Western and Eastern Art
Streets and squares	Derybasivska Street Frantsuzskyi Boulevard Hretska Square Italiiska Street Prymorskyi Boulevard Rishelievska Street Soborna Square Yevropeiska Square
Parks and gardens	Arcadia Park Botanical Garden City garden Luzanivka Hydropark Shevchenko Park Transfiguration Park Victory Park Odesa Zoo
Beaches	Arcadia Beach Langeron Beach Luzanivka Beach
Other	Chornomorets Stadium Kuialnyk Cemetery Kulykove Pole Pryvoz Market
Category

v t e State Theatres of Ukraine
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Kyiv	Theatre of Drama and Comedy on the left-bank of Dnieper Kyiv National Academic Molodyy Theatre Theatre of Ukrainian Folklore "Berehynia" Puppet Theatre Theatre of Opera and Ballet for Children and Youth Kyiv Modern-Ballet

State Theatres of Ukraine

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Kyiv

v t e Ballet companies
Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet
Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Gwangju City Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China New National Theatre Tokyo Philippine Ballet Theatre Seoul Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet
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Oceania	The Australian Ballet Ballet Theatre of Queensland Queensland Ballet Melbourne City Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet
South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet National Ballet of Uruguay

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