Kyiv Opera House

About

Kyiv Opera House, officially the National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko (Ukrainian: Національний академічний театр опери та балету України імені Тараса Шевченка, romanized: Natsionalnyi akademichnyi teatr opery ta baletu Ukrainy imeni Tarasa Shevchenka), is an opera house in Kyiv, Ukraine. It is the home of the National Opera of Ukraine. The building is located at the junction between Volodymyrska Street and Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street. Designed by the Russian architect Victor Schröter with an exterior in the Renaissance Revival style, it was opened in 1901, replacing an earlier structure, the City Theatre, that had been established in 1856, but destroyed by fire in 1896. On 1 September 1911, the Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin was mortally wounded in the opera house after an assailant shot him during a visit to the opera, and it was where the First Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council on Ukraine's autonomy was proclaimed in June 1917.

Further information: First City Theatre (Kyiv)

The first theatre to stage operas in Kyiv was built in c. 1804–1806 on Horse Square ( Ukrainian : Кінна площа ), later known as Teatralnaya, now European Square. Designed by Andrey Melensky, it was a wooden two-storey building, designed in the Empire style, and constructed from wood from demolished buildings originating from the Pecherskyi district of the city. The theatre entrance was decorated with a portico. The theatre had 32 boxes, a gallery, and a parterre that contained space 40 seats and a standing area. It apparently had good acoustics. It quickly became the cultural life of Kyiv.

In the middle of the 19th century, it was decided to demolish the old theatre building on Teatralnaya, as it had become outdated. The final performance occurred on 30 July 1851. Prisoners were brought in to demolish the building. For five years, Kyiv had no permanent theatre. A group of artists founded a small theatre company and rented private premises on Khreshchatyk, and later in a house in Lypky.

The old theatre was eventually replaced by the City Theatre [ uk ], which was designed by the Russian architect Ivan Strom [ uk ]. The City Theatre opened in 1856, and was until 1863 leased to Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish theatrical companies, before being used by an Italian opera company. The opera house was located at the junction between Volodymyrska Street and Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street [ uk ].

The Russian Opera Theatre, the city's first permanent opera company, was formed in the summer of 1867, under the directorship of the singer and entrepreneur Ferdinand Berger [ uk ] The company's first opera was Alexey Verstovsky 's Askold's Grave, which was first performed on 6 November 1867 The opera company's most notable director was Josef Setov [ uk ], who managed the theatre from 1874–1883, and again from 1892–1893). At first, only works by Russian composers, or occasionally operas from the Western European repertoire, were staged. In 1874, the opera house was the venue for the premiere of the first opera written in Ukrainian, Mykola Lysenko 's Christmas Night [ uk ]. Other operas staged during this period were Mikhail Glinka 's operas A Life for the Tsar, Ruslan and Ludmila, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, and Die Maccabäer by Anton Rubinstein. The Kyiv premieres of Aleko by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1893) and The Snow Maiden by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1895) were performed at the opera house, under the direction of the composers.

In February 1896, following a performance of Tchaikovsky 's opera Eugene Onegin, a fire started in one of the City Theatre dressing rooms. The fire destroyed the building, along with one of the Russian Empire 's largest music libraries and collections of costume and stage props. Performances were then moved to the Bergogne Theatre, the Solovtsov Theatre, and at the Krutikov Circus.

Further information: First City Theatre (Kyiv)

The first theatre to stage operas in Kyiv was built in c. 1804–1806 on Horse Square ( Ukrainian : Кінна площа ), later known as Teatralnaya, now European Square. Designed by Andrey Melensky, it was a wooden two-storey building, designed in the Empire style, and constructed from wood from demolished buildings originating from the Pecherskyi district of the city. The theatre entrance was decorated with a portico. The theatre had 32 boxes, a gallery, and a parterre that contained space 40 seats and a standing area. It apparently had good acoustics. It quickly became the cultural life of Kyiv.

In the middle of the 19th century, it was decided to demolish the old theatre building on Teatralnaya, as it had become outdated. The final performance occurred on 30 July 1851. Prisoners were brought in to demolish the building. For five years, Kyiv had no permanent theatre. A group of artists founded a small theatre company and rented private premises on Khreshchatyk, and later in a house in Lypky.

The old theatre was eventually replaced by the City Theatre [ uk ], which was designed by the Russian architect Ivan Strom [ uk ]. The City Theatre opened in 1856, and was until 1863 leased to Russian, Ukrainian, or Polish theatrical companies, before being used by an Italian opera company. The opera house was located at the junction between Volodymyrska Street and Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street [ uk ].

The Russian Opera Theatre, the city's first permanent opera company, was formed in the summer of 1867, under the directorship of the singer and entrepreneur Ferdinand Berger [ uk ] The company's first opera was Alexey Verstovsky 's Askold's Grave, which was first performed on 6 November 1867 The opera company's most notable director was Josef Setov [ uk ], who managed the theatre from 1874–1883, and again from 1892–1893). At first, only works by Russian composers, or occasionally operas from the Western European repertoire, were staged. In 1874, the opera house was the venue for the premiere of the first opera written in Ukrainian, Mykola Lysenko 's Christmas Night [ uk ]. Other operas staged during this period were Mikhail Glinka 's operas A Life for the Tsar, Ruslan and Ludmila, by Alexander Dargomyzhsky, and Die Maccabäer by Anton Rubinstein. The Kyiv premieres of Aleko by Sergei Rachmaninoff (1893) and The Snow Maiden by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1895) were performed at the opera house, under the direction of the composers.

In February 1896, following a performance of Tchaikovsky 's opera Eugene Onegin, a fire started in one of the City Theatre dressing rooms. The fire destroyed the building, along with one of the Russian Empire 's largest music libraries and collections of costume and stage props. Performances were then moved to the Bergogne Theatre, the Solovtsov Theatre, and at the Krutikov Circus.

After the fire, the St. Petersburg Society of Architects [ ru ] announced an international competition to design a new opera house, built in stone. Entries were received from about 30 architects from Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, and Italy. The winning design, announced in February 1897, was by the Russian architect Victor Schröter, then the chief architect of the Directorate of Imperial Theatres. The project received the approval of the Kyiv City Duma [ uk ] on 24 May 1897.

Schröter produced over 250 design drawings for the new opera house. Construction began in August 1898, initially under the supervision of the city architect, Oleksandr Kryvosheev [ uk ]. In 1899, Kryvosheev was replaced by the Ukrainian architect Vladimir Nikolaev [ uk ] and his assistant Oleksandr Verbytsky [ uk ]. Up to 500 workers and 60 horses were engaged on the project at any one time, which was completed after three years, which included a delay of 12 months.

The opera house was officially opened on September 29 [ O.S. September 16] 1901, with a performance of cantata Kyiv, especially composed by the Swedish Wilhelm Harteveld, and a presentation of A Life for the Tsar. Not all the responses to the new opera house were positive. One newspaper referred to the building as "quite unattractive", comparing it to "a giant clumsy tortoise" in the middle of the square. The interior was criticised in an article for its simplicity, whilst at the same time having "moderate exquisiteness". A critic writing in Kievlyanin commented on the interior of the opera house, and the expense incurred in completing the new building: "The auditorium of the new theatre is quite comfortable, but most of the boxes are excessively narrow and uncomfortable. In total, the hall has 11 exits, but, gentlemen, they are impossible to find! And another question—860,000 rubles were spent on the construction of the theatre, which is 360,000 more than planned, why haven't the people of Kyiv been informed of the reasons for such outrageous overspends?" The opera house was one of the first theatres in Europe to operate the equipment with electricity. Another innovation for the time was the use of a safety curtain.

On the day of the opening, prayer were said by the clergy, the opera house was sprinkled with holy water. Guests were then invited on to the stage, and a group photograph was taken. The Kyiv Herald [ uk ] declared: "Today is a day of great celebration for Kyiv music lovers. No matter how much public figures complain about the fact that we have a lack of hospitals, a million-dollar theatre has been built—the music lover triumphs!"

Until 1918, a private Russian opera company rented the opera house from the city authorities.

On 1 September 1911, during a visit to the opera to see a performance given in honour of Tsar Nicholas II 's visit to Kyiv, the Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, Pyotr Stolypin, was mortally wounded by an assassin, who fired two bullets at him. He died of his injuries four days later, and was buried on the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Between 1893 and 1919, a ballet company directed by Polish choreographers was employed at the theatre. In June 1917, the First Universal of the Ukrainian Central Council on Ukraine's autonomy was proclaimed at the session of the Second All-Ukrainian Congress [ uk ] in the opera house. In 1918, the Hetmanate of Pavlo Skoropadskyi encouraged the opera's repertoire was translated into Ukrainian, and the opera house was renamed the Ukrainian Theatre of Drama and Opera.