famous theatres. The most famous opera houses in the world: list

The number of Russian theaters is very large: there are about six hundred state theaters alone, and their largest concentration is, of course, in Moscow and St. Petersburg. What theaters in Russia are among the most famous in the country - find out further.

The first theater in Russia

Some believe that the first theaters are performances of buffoons. In fact, their semi-pagan singing and dancing can be considered the birth of theatrical performances in Russia, but still the founder of the very first theater in the country in the modern sense is Fedor Grigorievich Volkov, the very first professional theater actor.

It was he who created the theater, which can be considered public and professional. Volkov arranged theatrical performances at home in Yaroslavl with his friends and brothers. This theater can be considered the first, since it met all the requirements of this concept: it was public, paid, permanent, with its own theatrical etiquette. Soon the rumor about this reached Tsarina Elizaveta Petrovna, who summoned them to St. Petersburg and instructed them to create a public theater.

But since then, it is Yaroslavl that has been spoken of as the place where all theaters in Russia- their homeland. The oldest building is the Yaroslavl Academic Theatre, now the Russian State Academic Theater named after F. G. Volkov.

The most famous theaters in Russia

Consider such theaters in Russia as the Bolshoi, Mikhailovsky, Mariinsky and Zimny ​​- the most famous theaters in the country.

big theater

The Bolshoi Theater is called the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia, located in Moscow. It is included not only in the theaters, which are among the most famous in Russia, but also in the most famous theaters around the world.

The history of this cultural institution began in 1776, when Catherine II signed a permit for Prince Peter Urusov to hold theatrical performances, masquerades, and concerts. However, the building did not survive until the opening and burned down in a fire. Urusov decided to hand it over to the Englishman Michael Maddox, his partner, who is building a new building in a little less than six months. And in 1780 it opens its doors to the first spectators.

However, the series of fires does not end there, and the building of the Bolshoi Theater at different times is subjected to fire three more times. The building of the Bolshoi Theater, restored for the fourth time by the architect Albert Kavos, received the famous bronze quadriga by the famous Russian sculptor Pyotr Klodt over the entrance, which is a feature of the theater. The modern building can accommodate just over two thousand people - rare theaters in Russia have such a capacity.

The Bolshoi Theater, without a doubt, can be called the main cultural platform of the Russian Federation. It consists of both a ballet and an opera troupe, as well as a stage and brass band and the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater. Here, anyone who loves theater, in particular, opera and ballet performances, can always choose a performance to their liking. For a long time of existence, more than eight hundred different works have been staged on the stage of the theater. Sergei Rachmaninov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Maya Plisetskaya and other famous names of Russian and world art are related to this theater.

Mikhailovsky Theater

Of course, talking about theaters in Russia, it is impossible not to mention the Mikhailovsky Theater. It bears the name of Prince Mikhail, son of the All-Russian Emperor Paul I, and was opened in 1833. It is located on the current Square of Arts in the city of St. Petersburg. Mikhailovsky is one of the oldest theaters in Russian cities.

This temple of Melpomene was a favorite place for secular exits not only for the entire St. Petersburg nobility, but also for the imperial family itself with its courtiers. Troupes from France and Germany came here on tour, and the orchestra was often led by Johann Strauss himself. However, after the February Revolution of 1917, foreign artists stopped coming to St. Petersburg, so the Mikhailovsky Theater began to think about how to assemble their own troupe of actors.

Before the war, the formation of the “Soviet opera” took place here, they staged The Quiet Flows the Don, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, and after the war, Russian classics began to revive on the Mikhailovsky stage: they began to stage Eugene Onegin, Boris Godunov, etc.

Winter theater

It is one of the main attractions of the city of Sochi. It was erected in 1937 in the central area of ​​the city.

Surrounded by 88 Corinthian columns, this conservative building immediately attracts the attention of guests of the resort capital of Russia and is one of the best architectural monuments of national importance. The theater hall is designed in gold, blue and white. It can accommodate just over nine hundred spectators.

The Sochi State Philharmonic Society is located in the same building - although the Winter Theater does not have its own theater troupe, it does have its own wonderful orchestra. Nevertheless, Zimny ​​is an excellent venue for theatrical tours. The first work with which it was opened in 1938 is The Tsar's Bride, an opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Subsequently, the best troupes from all over the Soviet Union played here, and teams from many cities in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and other countries still perform.

Mariinskii Opera House

The history of the Mariinsky Theater dates back to 1783 in St. Petersburg. Of all the theaters in Russia, it is the Bolshoi and Mariinsky theaters that are known all over the world. In addition, the Mariinsky is one of the oldest theaters in the country. Then it was opened under the name of the Bolshoi Stone Theater, and is located on Carouselnaya Square. The current building of the theater was built opposite it; the area is now called the Theater for a reason, and he himself is called the Mariinsky, in honor of Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of Alexander II.

Even in those days, the beauty and grandeur of this building already surprised observers. It is famous for its magnificent interiors. The furniture and drapery of the hall was not always the blue-blue hues as we know it now - until 1952 it was traditionally dark red. There is no larger opera and ballet theater than the Mariinsky in Russia yet.

"Boris Godunov", "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "The Night Before Christmas" and many other productions were first presented here, and not only Russian, but also foreign, for example, "Tristan and Isolde", "Carmen", "Romeo and Juliet". Such artists as Fyodor Chaliapin and Fyodor Stravinsky left their mark on the history of the Mariinsky.

If you love theaters, their architecture and interior decoration, we suggest you take a short trip to Theater Square in St. Petersburg and look at the magnificence of the Mariinsky Theater:

Among music lovers there are fans of an old, but very interesting manifestation of it - opera. But even if you are indifferent to opera music, you will most likely admire the beauty of its abode - the opera house. This top 10 most beautiful opera houses in the world will tell you about the amazing buildings and "take" you through the luxurious halls.

10 Theater Royal, Covent Garden

9 Sydney Opera House

8 Opera Royal de Versailles

7 Gran Teatro del Liceo

6 Teatro di San Carlo

5 Estates Theater

4 Markgrafliches Opernhaus

3 Opera House in Harbin

2 State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Russia

1 Opera Garnier

Do you love theater the way Belinsky loved it? What exactly do you like about theater?

hanger with which it begins, high ceilings and paintings on the walls, tired and

the happy faces of the actors who go out for an encore, or maybe a cake in the buffet?

Especially for those who have not decided why they love the theater, we have made a selection

theaters, famous all over the world for their uniqueness.

La Scala Opera House, Milan

The name of the theater came to him "inherited" from the church of Santa Maria della Scala, on

where it was built. The temple, in turn, was named in honor of its patroness from the kind of rulers of Verona by the name of Skala. The theater was opened on August 3, 1778 with Antonio Salieri's opera Europe Recognized, written by

especially for this event.

Stendhal wrote in his diary: “I consider Skala the first theater in the world, because it

music is the most enjoyable. There is not a single lamp in the hall: it is lit

only by the light reflected from the scenery. It is impossible to imagine anything more

majestic, more luxurious, more impressive than all its architectural forms.

The theater building was destroyed during the Second World War, but by 1946 -

completely restored. The last restoration was completed in 2004, on December 7, Salieri's "Recognized Europe" was again performed on the renovated stage.

Vienna state opera, Vienna

The court opera appeared in Vienna in the middle of the 17th century, and by 1869 it was completed

Mozart's Don Giovanni.

On the facade of the Vienna Opera are depicted excerpts from The Magic Flute by Mozart.

The building was badly damaged during the Second World War, and was restored only in 1955, at the same time the tradition of the annual opera ball was resumed. To this day passes here the most important ball in Austria equivalent to state admission. By tradition, the ball begins with a polonaise performed by the debutants, and then the rest of the guests enter, among whom the president is also present.

Over the years of its existence, the Vienna Opera has seen many triumphs best composers, and many premieres that took place here became truly immortal.

Metropolitan Opera, New York

One of the most famous opera stages in the world was created at the expense of the Metropolitan Opera House Company and, having opened on October 22, 1883 in the building of the Broadway Opera House, by the beginning of the twentieth century it began to be considered one of the leading opera stages, along with the theaters of La Scala and the Vienna Opera House. AT building on Broadway the theater survived the fire, only 9 years after the opening, however, after repair work, it reopened and was located there until 1966. In 1966, the building was demolished and the theater moved to a new building at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan, where it still exists today. Metropolitan Opera in New York. Photo: social networks An important detail of the interior and a separate attraction of the new building are monumental frescoes by Marc Chagall, which decorate the walls of the lobby.

Theater Royal Covent Garden, London

Home stage of the Royal Opera House of London and the Royal Ballet of London

It got its name from its location in Covent Garden. The first theater

built on the site of a park that used to be located here, it was opened on December 7, 1732 with the performance “Thus they do in the world”, and in 1734 opera and ballet began to be staged in the theater.

In 1808, the first Covent Garden theater was destroyed by fire, and after 9 months a new building was erected in its place, which also did not stand for long - on March 5, 1856, the theater burned down again.

The modern building of the theater was opened for guests on May 15, 1858 with Meyerbeer's opera The Huguenots, he had to "participate" in two wars. During the First World War, the theater building was used as a warehouse, and during the Second World War, a dance hall was arranged in the theater. In 1946, everything fell into place: on February 20, Covent Garden reopened ballet The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky.

Opera Garnier (Grand Opera), Paris

One of the most important opera and ballet theaters in the world is located in the Palais Garnier,

recognized the benchmark of eclectic architecture.Grand Opera in Paris. Photo: Anna GORBUNOVA The competition for the best project for a new building for the Paris Opera was announced by order Napoleon Bonaparte who refused to attend the old opera after

the attempt on his life that took place there. The project of an unknown architect Charles Garnier won, and the 30-year-old architect set to work.

Due to the difficult political situation in the country, the construction of a new opera

stretched out for 15 years and were completed only by October 30, 1874, which cost 36 million francs in gold.

The Opera Garnier inspired Gaston Leroux to create the famous novel The Phantom of the Opera. It is noteworthy that the underground lake mentioned in the novel really exists - in the basement of the building there is a reservoir with water, which contributes to the stability of the foundation. In addition, water from the tank can be used in case of fire.

Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow The State Academic Bolshoi Theater is one of the most significant in the world

opera and ballet theatres, includes ballet and opera troupes, the Orchestra of the Bolshoi

theater and stage and brass band.

In March 1776, Prince Pyotr Vasilievich Urusov, by the highest permission

Empress Catherine II began the construction of the theater, which, however, burned down

before completion of construction. The prince handed over the business to Michael Madox, his English

companion, under whose leadership the first Bolshoy Petrovsky was built

the theater, named after its location - on Petrovsky Square and burned down

after 25 years. A new building was erected on Arbat Square, but it also burned down in

1812, without surviving the invasion of Napoleon.

In January 1825, rebuilt by architect O.I. Beauvais Theater opened on Petrovskaya

square, later renamed the Theater Square, with the performance "The Triumph

Muses" and burned down again in March 1853. By the middle of 1856 the theater had been restored and

no longer burned, but later rebuilt more than once.

Sydney Opera House, Sydney

Sydney Opera House - musical theater and Sydney business card, one of

top attractions in australia. Sydney Opera House building

unique example of expressionism, with a radical and innovative design. The building was designed by the Dane Jorn Utzon, who received the Pritzker Prize for it, and opened by the Queen

structures, had to hide it behind separate sound-reflecting ceilings.

Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova - Soviet and Russian opera singer, mezzo-soprano. People's Artist of the USSR, Lenin Prize Laureate, Hero of Socialist Labor. One of the famous singers of our time. Elena Vasilievna Obraztsova was born on July 7, 1939 in Leningrad. During World War II, together with her family, she was evacuated from Leningrad to Ustyuzhna. Music was an integral part of Elena's childhood, her father, an engineer by profession, had a beautiful baritone and, moreover, he played the violin well - she always remembered musical home evenings. In 1948-1954 she sang in the children's choir of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers. A.A. Zhdanova (head of the choir - M.F. Zarinskaya). In 1954-1957, in connection with the official transfer of her father, the family lived in Taganrog, where Elena studied at the P.I. Tchaikovsky with the teacher Anna Timofeevna Kulikova. At the reporting concert in music school Obraztsova was heard by the director of the Rostov Musical College M.A. Mankovskaya, and on her recommendation in 1957 Elena was admitted to the school immediately for the 2nd year. A year later, in August 1958, having passed a successful audition, she entered the preparatory department of the LGK. ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1962 she won the first prize at the All-Union Competition of Vocalists. M.I. Glinka and a gold medal at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Helsinki. On December 17, 1963, being a student at the conservatory, E. Obraztsova made her debut on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater as Marina Mniszek in M. P. Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. In 1964 she graduated from the Leningrad State Conservatory named after I. ON THE. Rimsky-Korsakov in the class of Professor A.A. Grigoryeva (opera class of A.N. Kireev). The chairman of the graduation committee, Sofya Petrovna Preobrazhenskaya, gave Elena Obraztsova 5 plus - a mark that had not been given at the Leningrad Conservatory for about 40 years. In the same year she became a permanent soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre. Nature generously endowed Elena Obraztsova. She has a voice of rare beauty in timbre, velvety, organ richness of sound, a bright stage appearance that gives her opera heroines a rare artistic relief and expressiveness, the talent of a real dramatic actress. In 1964, Elena Obraztsova, as part of the Bolshoi Theater troupe, performed on the stage of La Scala as Martha in the opera Khovanshchina and as Marie in the opera War and Peace. Obraztsova's performances in Italy were a great success, and in 1977 she was invited to open the 200th anniversary season at La Scala as Princess Eboli in the opera Don Carlos by G. Verdi. In 1975, Elena Obraztsova, together with the Bolshoi Theater, went on tour to the United States. During the play "Boris Godunov" Obraztsova, who played the role of Marina Mnishek, was called onto the stage five times by enthusiastic spectators, the performance had to be stopped. The triumph of Elena Obraztsova in the USA finally confirmed her in the status of a world opera star. A few months later, Elena Obraztsova performed in Il trovatore, a performance that opened the season of the San Francisco Opera, her partners were Luciano Pavarotti and Joan Sutherland. In 1976, Obraztsova, already a guest soloist with the Metropolitan Opera, caused a sensation with her performance as Amneris in Verdi's Aida. In 1977, Obraztsova performed as Delilah in the Metropolitan. Thor Eckert, a critic for the New York Times, then wrote: "I doubt that we have heard Delilah, who would have been able to master two and a half octaves so easily - Obraztsova performs this most difficult part without a shadow of tension." She was invited by Franco Zeffirelli to play the role of Santuzzi in Rural Honor (1982). “In my life,” Zeffirelli wrote, “there were three shocks: Anna Magnani, Maria Callas and Elena Obraztsova, who worked a miracle during the filming of the film Rural Honor.” In total, Elena Obraztsova's repertoire includes 86 roles in operas by Russian and foreign classical repertoire, as well as in operas by composers of the 20th century, many of her roles have become living classics of the modern opera stage: Marina Mnishek ("Boris Godunov", 1963), Governess, Polina, Milovzor ( 1964), Countess (1965, "The Queen of Spades"), Lyubasha ("The Tsar's Bride", 1967), Konchakovna ("Prince Igor", 1968), Martha ("Khovanshchina", 1968). Lyubava ("Sadko", 1979), Amneris ("Aida", 1965), Azuchena ("Troubadour", 1972), Eboli ("Don Carlos", 1973), Santuzza ("Country Honor", 1977), Ulrika (" Masquerade Ball, 1977), Princess de Bouillon (Adrienne Lecouvrere, 1977), Adalgisa (Norma, 1979), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Boleyn, 1982), Orpheus (Orpheus and Eurydice, 1984) , Neris ("Medea", 1989), Leonora ("Favorite", 1992), Duchess ("Sister Angelica", 1992), Carmen ("Carmen", 1972), Charlotte ("Werther", 1974), Delilah (" Samson and Delilah", 1974), Herodias ("Herodias", 1990), Oberon ("Dream in midsummer night"B. Britten, 1965), Zhenya Komelkov ("The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by K. Molchanov, 1975), Judith ("The Castle of Duke Bluebeard" B. Bartok, 1978), Jocasta ("Oedipus Rex" by I. Stravinsky, 1980) , Eudosia ("Flame" by O. Respighi, 1990), S. Prokofiev: Frosya ("Semyon Kotko", 1970), Princess Mary (1964), Helen Bezukhova (1971), Akhrosimova (2000, "War and Peace"), Granny ("Player", 1996), Count Orlovsky (" Bat", 2003) and others. In addition to opera roles, Elena Obraztsova is active in concert activities in Russia and around the world. Her repertoire of solo concerts includes music by more than 100 Russian and foreign composers: M.I. Glinka, A.S. Dargomyzhsky , N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, M.P. Musorgsky, P.I. Tchaikovsky, S.V. Rakhmaninov, S.S. Prokofiev, G.F. Handel, W.A. Mozart, L. Beethoven, R .Schumann, R. Strauss, R. Wagner, J. Brahms, K. Weil, G. Mahler, G. Donizetti, G. Verdi, G. Puccini, P. Mascagni, J. Bizet, J. Massenet, C. Sen "Sansa and others, as well as Russian songs and old romances. She participated in the performance of oratorios, cantatas, masses, works of Russian sacred music. Jazz compositions added new bright touches to her talent. In 1986, she made her debut as a director, putting on stage of the Bolshoi Theater opera "Werther" by J. Massenet. The singer starred in television musical films "The Merry Widow", "My Carmen", "Country Honor" and "Tosca", etc. From 1973 to 1994 Elena Ob Raztsova taught at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Since 1984 - professor. Since 1992 he has been teaching at the Musashino Tokyo Academy of Music; gives master classes in Europe and Japan, at the Academy of Young Opera Singers at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. She was and is a member of the jury of many international competitions, including the International Competition named after P.I. Tchaikovsky in Moscow, the International Vocal Competition in Marseille, the International Competition named after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg, the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Competition in Deutschlandsberg, the Montserrat Caballe International Competition for Opera Singers. In September 1999, the 1st International Competition for Young Opera Singers Elena Obraztsova was held in St. Petersburg, in 2011 - the 8th Competition. Elena Exemplary has recorded more than 50 discs, including operas, oratorios, cantatas, solo discs with works of chamber and opera music. In recent years, "live recordings" of particular value have been released. From June 2007 to October 2008, she served as Artistic Director of the Mikhailovsky Theater Opera (formerly the Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet Theater in St. Petersburg). Now in St. Petersburg she runs a cultural center named after her, where she works with young performers. On October 24, 1981, a minor planet No. 4623 was discovered, which received the name "Obraztsova".

Kiri Janet Te Kanawa is a New Zealand opera singer and lyric soprano. One of the leading opera singers of our time with a warm beautiful voice and a very wide repertoire of opera roles in various languages. Kiri Te Kanawa (born Claire Mary Teresa Rostron) March 6, 1944 in Gisborne, New Zealand to an Irish mother and a Maori father, but little is known about her parents, as She was adopted as a baby by the Te Kanawa family, her adoptive parents were also Maori and Irish. She received her general and musical education in Auckland and was already a popular singer in clubs in New Zealand during her teenage years and youth. At the same time, she collected all the significant music prizes in Australia and New Zealand in 1963, she was second in the "Mobil (Lexus) Song Quest", the first place at that time was taken by another famous opera singer from New Zealand, Malvina Major. Kiri Te Kanawa herself won the same competition in 1965 with the aria "Vissi d'arte" from Puccini's "Tosca". In the same year, without audition, she entered the Center for Opera Singing in London, teachers noted both her talent and the initial lack of vocal technique. The debut on the opera stage took place in 1968 as the second lady in Mozart's Magic Flute at the London Theater " Sadler Wells", he was immediately followed by roles in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and the title role in Donizetti's Anna Boleyn. to my ears, I did a thousand auditions and it was a fantastically beautiful voice." The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden signed a contract with Kiri Te Kanawa for three years and her first performances on the stage of this theater took place in the role of Xenia in "Boris Godun ove" and the flower girl in "Parsifal" in 1970. Te Kanawa continued to carefully prepare for the role of the Countess, which was scheduled to premiere at Covet Garden in December 1971, but before that there was a performance at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (New Mexico, USA), where she tested this role, along with her at the same festival, US singer Frederica von Stade performed, later the press noted their performance: "... there were two newcomers who dazzled the audience ... everyone immediately realized that these were two finds and history confirmed their performance." These two singers became friends for many years. On December 1, 1971, at Covent Garden, Kiri Te Kanawa repeated her performance in Santa Fe and created an international sensation. On this day, she received the status of an undisputed opera star and became one of the most famous sopranos in the world, performing at the world's leading opera houses - Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera (1974 debut), the Paris Opera (1975), the Sydney Opera House (1978) , Vienna State Opera (1980), La Scala (1978), Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco, Bavarian and many others. Her heroines include a huge repertoire for soprano, among them - the three main roles of Richard Strauss - Arabella from "Arabella", Marchalsha, Princess Maria Therese von Werdenberg from "The Rosenkavalier" and the Countess from "Capriccio"; Mozart's Fiordiligi from All Women Do It, Donna Elvira from Don Giovanni, Pamina from The Magic Flute, and, of course, Countess Almaviva from The Marriage of Figaro; Verdi's Violetta from "Triaviatta", Amelia Boccanegra from "Simon Boccanegra", Desdemona from "Ottello"; from Puccini - Tosca, Mimi and Manon Lescaut; Carmen Bizet, Tatiana Tchaikovsky, Rosalind Johann Strauss and many others. On the concert stage, her vocal beauty and clarity combined with the world's leading symphony orchestras from London, Chicago, Los Angeles under the baton of such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Colin Davis, Charles Duthoit, Georg Solti and others. She became a regular participant in international opera festivals - in Glideborn, Salzburg, Verona. During her long creative career, Kiri Te Kanawa has released about eighty discs of both operatic and concert music - Mozart's concert arias, Strauss's Four Last Songs, Brahms' German Requiem, Handel's Messiah and others, as well as albums with popular music and songs of the Maori people such as tribute to his people. Some of her discs have been awarded Grammy awards. The last album "Kiri Sings Karl" was released in 2006. Two significant events were in her career, which are almost impossible for any opera singer to repeat. In 1981, she performed as soloist at the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana at St Paul's Cathedral in London. The live television broadcast of this event attracted over 600 million viewers. The second record - in 1990 she gave an open concert in Auckland, 140 thousand spectators came to her solo performance. Now her activity outside the stage is connected with the fund she created for support and financial assistance to young singers and musicians. Kiri Te Kanawa has been awarded many awards and prizes for her services to the development of art, the highest of which are Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1982), Companion of the Order of Australia (1990), Order of New Zealand (1995). She has also received honorary degrees from Cambridge, Oxford, Chicago, Nottingham and other universities. In recent years, Kiri Te Kanawa's performances on the opera stage and concert venues have become rare, but she has not yet announced her retirement from the stage, although it was believed that her last performance would be in April 2010. but she continues to perform.

Lyubov Yurievna Kazarnovskaya - Soviet and Russian opera singer, soprano. Doctor of Musical Sciences, Professor. Lyubov Yuryevna Kazarnovskaya was born on May 18, 1956 in Moscow, mother, Kazarnovskaya Lidia Aleksandrovna - philologist, teacher of Russian language and literature, father, Kazarnovsky Yuri Ignatievich - reserve general, older sister - Bokadorova Natalya Yuryevna - philologist, professor of French language and literature. Lyuba always sang, after school she ventured to apply to the Gnessin Institute - to the faculty of musical theater actors, although she was preparing to become a student of the faculty foreign languages. Student years gave Lyuba a lot as an actress, but the meeting with Nadezhda Matveevna Malysheva-Vinogradova, a wonderful teacher, vocalist, accompanist of Chaliapin, a student of Stanislavsky himself, was decisive. In addition to invaluable singing lessons, Nadezhda Matveevna, the widow of Pushkin literary critic Academician VV Vinogradov, revealed to Lyuba all the power and beauty of Russian classics, taught her to understand the unity of music and words hidden in it. The meeting with Nadezhda Matveevna finally determined the fate of the young singer. In 1981, at the age of 21, while still a student at the Moscow Conservatory, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya made her debut as Tatyana (Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky) on the stage of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater. Laureate of the All-Union Competition named after Glinka (II prize). Since then, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya has been in the center musical life Russia. In 1982 she graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory, in 1985 - postgraduate studies in the class of Associate Professor Shumilova Elena Ivanovna. 1981-1986 - soloist of the musical academic theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, in the repertoire of "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky, "Iolanthe", "May Night" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "Pagliacci" by Leoncavallo, "La Boheme" by Puccini. 1984 - at the invitation of Svetlanov, he performs the part of Fevronia in new production“Tales of the Invisible City of Kitezh” by Rimsky-Korsakov, and then in 1985 - the part of Tatiana (“Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky) and Nedda (“The Pagliacci” by Leoncavallo) at the State Academic Theater of Russia. 1984 - Grand Prix of the UNESCO Young Performers Competition (Bratislava). Laureate of the Competition Mirjam Hellin (Helsinki) - III prize and an honorary diploma for the performance of an Italian aria - personally from the chairman of the competition and the legendary Swedish opera singer Birgit Nilsson. 1986 - Laureate of the Lenin Komsomol Prize. 1986 -1989 - Leading soloist of the Kirov State Academic Theatre: Leonora (“Force of Destiny” by Verdi), Margarita (“Faust” by Gounod), Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (“Don Giovanni” by Mozart), Leonora (“Troubadour” by Verdi), Violetta ( Verdi’s “La Traviatte”), Tatiana (“Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky), Lisa (“The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky), Soprano (“Verdi’s Requiem”). Close cooperation with such conductors as Janssons, Temirkanov, Kolobov, Gergiev. The first foreign triumph - at the Covent Garden Theater (London), in the part of Tatiana in Tchaikovsky's opera "Eugene Onegin" (1988) 1989. - "Maestro of the World" Herbert von Karajan invites a young singer to "his" festival - a summer festival in Salzburg. In August 1989 - a triumphant debut in Salzburg (Verdi's Requiem, conductor Ricardo Muti). The entire musical world noted and appreciated the performance of the young soprano from Russia. This sensational performance marked the beginning of a dizzying career, which later led her to such opera houses like Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Colon, Houston Grand Opera. Her partners are Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras, Araiza, Nucci, Cappuccili, Cossotto, von Stade, Baltza. September 1989 - participation in the world gala concert on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia in support of the victims of the earthquake in Armenia, together with Kraus, Bergonzi, Prey, Arkhipova. October 1989 - participation in the tour of the Milan Opera House "La Scala" in Moscow (G. Verdi's "Requiem"). 1991 - Salzburg. 1992-1998 - Close cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera. 1994-1997 - close collaboration with the Mariinsky Theater and Valery Gergiev. In 1996, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya made her successful debut on the stage of the La Scala Theater in Prokofiev's The Gambler, and in February 1997 she triumphantly sang the part of Salome at the Teatro Santa Cecilia in Rome. The leading masters of operatic art of our time work with her - such conductors as Muti, Levine, Thielemann, Barenboim, Haitink, Temirkanov, Kolobov, Gergiev, directors - Zefirelli, Egoyan, Wikk, Taymor, Dew ... “La Kazarnovskaya”, as it is called by the Italian press, has more than fifty parties in its repertoire. She is called the best Salome of our days, the best performer of operas by Verdi and verists, not to mention the part of Tatyana from Eugene Onegin, her calling card. Particular success brought her performance of the main roles in the operas "Salome" by Richard Strauss, "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky, "Manon Lescaut" and "Tosca" by Puccini, "Force of Destiny" and "La Traviata" by Verdi. 1997 - Lyubov Kazarnovskaya creates her own organization in Russia - the Lyubov Kazarnovskaya Foundation, to support the opera art of Russia: she invites leading masters of vocal art to Russia for concerts and master classes, such as Renata Scotto, Franco Bonisolli, Simon Estes , Jose Cura and others, establishes scholarships to help young Russian singers. * 1998-2000 - close cooperation with the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. 2000 - the singer patronizes the world's only Children's Opera Theater named after Lyubov Kazarnovskaya (Dubna). With this theater, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya plans interesting projects in Russia and abroad. 2000 - heads the creative coordinating Council of the Cultural Center "Union of Cities", carrying out a large cultural and educational work in the cities and regions of Russia. 12/25/2000 - another premiere took place in the concert hall "Russia" - a brilliant opera show "Faces of Love", broadcast live to the whole world. The three-hour musical action, presented for the first time in the world by a leading opera singer, became an event of the last year of the outgoing century and evoked enthusiastic responses in Russia and abroad. 2002 - Lyubov Kazarnovskaya is in the center of active social activity, was elected Chairman of the Commission for Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation of Municipalities of the Russian Federation, is Chairman of the Board of the Russian Musical Educational Society. Lyubov Kazarnovskaya was awarded a diploma from a prestigious center in Cambridge (England) as one of the 2000 most outstanding musicians of the 20th century. creative life Lyubov Kazarnovskaya - a series of rapid and unstoppable victories, discoveries, achievements, in relation to which the epithet “first” is appropriate in many respects: *Grand Prix at the UNESCO vocal competition. *Kazarnovskaya is the first Russian soprano invited to Salzburg by Herbert von Karajan. *The only Russian singer who performed Mozart's parts in the composer's homeland in Salzburg on his 200th birthday. *The first and still the only Russian singer who performs the most difficult part of Salome (Salome by Richard Strauss) on the world's largest opera stages with great success. L. Kazarnovskaya is considered the best Salome of our time. *The first singer to record (on CD) all 103 Tchaikovsky romances. *With these discs and her numerous concerts in all musical centers of the world, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya opens the musical creativity of Russian composers to the Western public. *The first opera singer of international stature who made an unprecedented show in terms of her range - opera, operetta, romance, chanson ... *The first and only singer who performed two roles in one evening (in the operas "Manon Lescaut" by Puccini) in the play "Portrait of Manon on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia. Recently, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya, in addition to her international activities, has been devoting a lot of time and energy to the development of musical life in the Russian regions. Without a doubt, she is the most striking phenomenon in the vocal and musical life of Russia, and the press devoted to her is unprecedented in genre and volume. Her repertoire includes more than 50 opera parts and a huge repertoire chamber music. Her favorite roles are Tatiana, Violetta, Salome, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Leonora ("Force of Destiny"), Amelia ("Masquerade Ball"). Choosing a program for solo evenings, Kazarnovskaya avoids a disparate selection of even winning, attractive things, preferring original cycles representing the work of different authors. The uniqueness of the singer, the brightness of interpretation, a subtle sense of style, the individual approach to the embodiment of the most complex images in the works of different eras make her performances real events. cultural life. Numerous audio and video recordings emphasize the huge vocal possibilities, high style and the greatest musical talent this brilliant singer, who actively demonstrates to the whole world the real level of Russian culture. The American company VAI (Video Artists International) released a series of video cassettes with the participation of the Russian diva, including "Great Singers of Russia 1901-1999" (two cassettes), "Gypsy Love" (video recording of Lyubov Kazarnovskaya's concert in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory). The discography of Lyubov Kazarnovskaya includes recordings by DGG, Philips, Delos, Naxos, Melodia. Currently, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya is preparing new programs for solo concerts, new opera parts (Carmen, Isolde, Lady Macbeth), is planning numerous tours abroad and in Russia, and is acting in films. Married to Robert Roscik since 1989, in 1993 their son Andrey was born. These few quotes are just a small part of the enthusiastic responses that accompany Lyubov Kazarnovskaya's speeches: "Her voice is deep and seductively insinuating ... Touching, beautifully executed scenes of Tatiana's letter and her last meeting with Onegin leave no doubt about the highest skill of the singer ("Metropolitan Opera", "New York Times") "Powerful, deep, superbly controlled soprano, expressive throughout the entire range ... The range and brightness of vocal characteristics are especially impressive" (Lincoln Center, solo concert, "New York Times") "Kazarnovskaya's voice is focused, delicately deep in the middle register and bright in the upper ... She is the radiant Desdemona" (France, "Le Monde de la Musique") "... Lyuba Kazarnovskaya charmed the audience with her sensual, magical soprano sounding in all registers" ("Muenchner Merkur") "The Russian Diva is so radiant in the role of Salome, - the ice began to melt on the streets when Lyuba Kazarnovskaya sang the final scene of "Salome"..." ("Cincinnati Enquirer") Information and photos from the official site: http://www.kazarnovskaya.com A new site about beautiful flowers. Iris world. Breeding, care, transplantation of irises.

Elina Garanca is a Latvian singer (mezzo-soprano), one of the leading opera singers of our time. Elina Garancha was born on September 16, 1976 in Riga in a family of musicians, her father is a choral director, and her mother, Anita Garancha, is a professor at the Latvian Academy of Music, an associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture, and a vocal teacher at the Latvian National Opera. In 1996, Elina Garancha entered the Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, where she studied vocals with Sergey Martynov, and since 1998 she continued her studies with Irina Gavrilovich in Vienna, and then with Virginia Zeani in the USA. One of the most profound events that influenced Elina during her studies was the performance in 1998 of the part of Jane Seymour from the opera Anna Boleyn by Gaetano Donizetti - Garancia learned the role in ten days and found a deep sympathy for the bel canto repertoire. After graduation, Garancha made her debut on the professional opera stage at the State Theater of Southern Thuringia in Meiningen, Germany, with the role of Octavian in The Rosenkavalier. In 1999 she won the Miriam Helin Vocal Competition in Helsinki, Finland. In 2000, Elina Garanca won the main prize in the Latvian National Performing Competition, and then was accepted into the troupe and worked at the Frankfurt Opera, where she performed the roles of the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Rosina in Seville barber." In 2001, she became a finalist at the prestigious Cardiff International Singing Competition and released her debut solo album with a program of opera arias. The young singer's international breakthrough came in 2003 at the Salzburg Festival, when she sang the part of Annio in Mozart's production of Titus' Mercy conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. This performance was followed by success and numerous engagements. The main place of work was the Vienna State Opera, in which Garancha performed the parts of Charlotte in "Werther" and Dorabella in "Everybody Does It So" in 2003-2004. In France, she first appeared at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées (Angelina in Rossini's Cinderella) and then at the Paris Opera (Opera Garnier) as Octavian. In 2007, Elina Garanca performed for the first time on the main opera stage of her hometown of Riga at the Latvian National Opera as Carmen. In the same year, she made her debuts at the Berlin State Opera (Sext) and at the Royal Theater "Covent Garden" in London (Dorabella), and in 2008 - at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with the role of Rosina in " Barber of Seville" and at the Bavarian Opera in Munich (Adalgisa). Currently, Elina Garancha performs on the stages of the world's leading opera houses and concert venues as one of the brightest musical stars thanks to her beautiful voice, musicality and convincing dramatic talent. Critics noted the ease, speed and sheer comfort with which Garancha wielded her voice, and the success with which she applied modern vocal technique to the complex Rossini repertoire of the early 19th century. Elina Garancha has a solid collection of audio and video recordings, including the award-winning music award"Grammy" recording of Antonio Vivaldi's opera "Bayazet" conducted by Fabio Biondi, where Elina performed the part of Andronicus. Elina Garancha is married to English conductor Karel Mark Chichon and the couple are expecting their first child at the end of October 2011.

Salomeya Amvrosievna Krushelnitskaya is a famous Ukrainian opera singer (soprano), teacher. Even during her lifetime, Salomea Krushelnitskaya was recognized as an outstanding singer in the world. She had an outstanding voice in terms of strength and beauty of a wide range (about three octaves with a free middle register), a musical memory (she could learn opera parts in two or three days), and a bright dramatic talent. The singer's repertoire included over 60 different parts. Among her many awards and distinctions, in particular, the title of "Wagner prima donna of the twentieth century." The Italian composer Giacomo Puccini presented the singer with his portrait with the inscription "beautiful and charming Butterfly". Salomeya Krushelnytska was born on September 23, 1872 in the village of Belyavintsy, now the Buchatsky district of the Ternopil region, in the family of a priest. Comes from a noble and ancient Ukrainian family. Since 1873, the family moved several times, in 1878 they moved to the village of Belaya near Ternopil, from where they never left. She started singing from a young age. As a child, Salome knew a lot of folk songs, which she learned directly from the peasants. She received the basics of musical training at the Ternopil gymnasium, where she took exams as an external student. Here she became close to the musical circle of high school students, of which Denis Sichinsky, later a famous composer, the first professional musician in Western Ukraine, was also a member. In 1883, at the Shevchenko concert in Ternopil, the first public performance of Salome took place, she sang in the choir of the Russian conversation society. In Ternopil, Salomea Krushelnytska got acquainted with the theater for the first time. Here, from time to time, the Lvov theater of the Russian conversation society performed. In 1891, Salome entered the Lviv Conservatory. At the conservatory, her teacher was the then famous professor in Lviv, Valery Vysotsky, who brought up a whole galaxy of famous Ukrainian and Polish singers. While studying at the conservatory, her first solo performance took place; on April 13, 1892, the singer performed main party in the oratorio by G.F. Handel "Messiah". The first operatic debut of Salome Krushelnitskaya took place on April 15, 1893, she performed the role of Leonora in the performance of the Italian composer G. Donizetti "The Favorite" on the stage of the Lviv City Theater. In 1893 Krushelnytska graduated from the Lvov Conservatory. In Salome's graduation diploma, it was written: "This diploma is received by Panna Salomea Krushelnitskaya as evidence of an art education received by exemplary diligence and extraordinary success, especially at a public competition on June 24, 1893, for which she was awarded a silver medal." While still studying at the conservatory, Salomea Krushelnytska received an offer from the Lviv Opera House, but she decided to continue her education. Her decision was influenced by the famous Italian singer Gemma Bellinchoni, who at that time was touring in Lviv. In the autumn of 1893, Salome leaves to study in Italy, where Professor Fausta Crespi became her teacher. In the process of studying, performances at concerts in which she sang opera arias were a good school for Salome. In the second half of the 1890s, her triumphant performances on the stages of theaters around the world began: Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Russia, Poland, Austria, Egypt, Argentina, Chile in the operas Aida, Il trovatore by D. Verdi, Faust » Ch. Gounod, "The Terrible Yard" by S. Moniuszko, "African" by D. Meyerbeer, "Manon Lescaut" and "Cio-Cio-San" by G. Puccini, "Carmen" by J. Bizet, "Electra" by R. Strauss, “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” by P.I. Never before had the composer been so sure of success... but the audience booed the opera indignantly. The celebrated maestro felt crushed. Friends persuaded Puccini to rework his work, and to invite Salome Krushelnitskaya to the main part. On May 29, on the stage of the Grande Theater in Brescia, the premiere of the updated Madama Butterfly took place, this time triumphant. The audience called the actors and the composer to the stage seven times. After the performance, touched and grateful, Puccini sent Krushelnitskaya his portrait with the inscription: "To the most beautiful and charming Butterfly." In 1910, S. Krushelnitskaya married the mayor of the city of Viareggio (Italy) and lawyer Cesare Riccioni, who was a connoisseur of music and an erudite aristocrat. They were married in one of the temples of Buenos Aires. After the marriage, Cesare and Salome settled in Viareggio, where Salome bought a villa, which she called "Salome" and continued to tour. In 1920, Krushelnitskaya left the opera stage at the zenith of her fame, performing for the last time at the Naples Theater in her favorite operas Lorelei and Lohengrin. She devoted her further life to chamber concert activity, performing songs in 8 languages. She has toured Europe and America. All these years until 1923 she constantly came to her homeland and performed in Lvov, Ternopil and other cities of Galicia. She had strong ties of friendship with many figures in Western Ukraine. A special place in the creative activity of the singer was occupied by concerts dedicated to the memory of T.Shevchenko and I.Ya.Frank. In 1929, the last tour concert of S. Krushelnitskaya took place in Rome. In 1938, Krushelnitskaya's husband, Cesare Riccioni, died. In August 1939, the singer visited Galicia and, due to the outbreak of World War II, was unable to return to Italy. During the German occupation of Lviv, S. Krushelnytska was very poor, so she gave private vocal lessons. In the post-war period, S. Krushelnytska began working at the Lviv State Conservatory named after N.V. Lysenko. However, her teaching career barely started, almost ended. During the "cleansing of personnel from nationalist elements" she was accused of not having a conservatory diploma. Later, the diploma was found in the funds of the city historical museum. Living and teaching in the Soviet Union, Salomeya Amvrosievna, despite numerous appeals, for a long time could not obtain Soviet citizenship, remaining a subject of Italy. Finally, having written a statement about the transfer of her Italian villa and all property to the Soviet state, Krushelnitskaya became a citizen of the USSR. The villa was immediately sold, compensating the owner for a meager part of its value. In 1951, Salome Krushelnitskaya was awarded the title of Honored Art Worker of the Ukrainian SSR, and in October 1952, a month before her death, Krushelnitskaya received the title of professor. On November 16, 1952, the heart of the great singer stopped beating. She was buried in Lviv at the Lychakiv cemetery next to the grave of a friend and mentor - Ivan Franko. In 1993, a street was named after S. Krushelnytska in Lviv, where she lived the last years of her life. The memorial museum of Salomea Krushelnytska was opened in the singer's apartment. Today, the name of S. Krushelnitskaya is the Lviv Opera House, the Lviv Musical Secondary School, the Ternopil Musical College (where the Salomeya newspaper is published), the 8-year-old school in the village of Belaya, the streets in Kyiv, Lvov, Ternopil, Buchach (see Salomei Krushelnytska Street ). In the Mirror Hall of the Lviv Opera and Ballet Theater there is a bronze monument to Salome Krushelnytska. Many artistic, musical and cinematographic works are devoted to the life and work of Salomea Krushelnytska. In 1982, at the A. Dovzhenko film studio, directed by O. Fialko, the historical and biographical film "The Return of the Butterfly" was shot (based on novel of the same name V. Vrublevskaya), dedicated to the life and work of Salome Krushelnitskaya. The picture is based on the real facts of the singer's life and is built as her memories. The parts of Salome are performed by Gisela Zipola. The role of Salome in the film was played by Elena Safonova. In addition, documentaries were created, in particular, "Salome Krushelnitskaya" (directed by I. Mudrak, Lvov, "Most", 1994) "Two Lives of Salome" (directed by A. Frolov, Kyiv, "Contact", 1997), a telecast from cycle "Names" (2004), documentary film "Solo-mea" from the cycle "Game of Fate" (director V. Obraz, VIATEL studio, 2008). March 18, 2006 on the stage of the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater named after S. Krushelnitskaya hosted the premiere of Miroslav Skorik's ballet "The Return of the Butterfly", based on facts from the life of Salomea Krushelnitskaya. The ballet uses the music of Giacomo Puccini. In 1995, the premiere of the play "Salome Krushelnitskaya" (author B. Melnichuk, I. Lyakhovsky) took place at the Ternopil Regional Drama Theater (now the academic theater). Since 1987, the Salomea Krushelnytska Competition has been held in Ternopil. Every year Lviv hosts the international competition named after Krushelnytska; festivals of opera art have become traditional.

Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian opera singer, coloratura mezzo-soprano. One of the leading and commercially successful opera singers of our time. Cecilia Bartoli was born on June 4, 1966 in Rome. Bartoli's parents are Silvana Bazzoni and Pietro Angelo Bartoli, professional singers, employees of the Rome Opera. The first and main teacher of Cecilia in vocals was her mother. At the age of nine, Cecilia first appeared on the "big stage" - she appeared in one of the mass scenes at the Rome Opera in the form of a shepherd boy in the production of "Tosca". As a child, the future singer was fond of dancing and was engaged in flamenco, but her parents did not see her career in dancing and were unhappy with her daughter's hobby, they insisted that she continue her musical education. Flamenco gave Bartoli the ease and passion with which she performs on stage, and her love for this dance is still relevant today. At the age of 17, Bartoli entered the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. In 1985, she performed in the television show New Talents: she sang "Barcarolle" from Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann", Rosina's aria from "The Barber of Seville" and even a duet with baritone Leo Nucci. And although she took second place, her performance made a splash among opera lovers. Bartoli soon performed in a concert organized by the Paris Opera in memory of Maria Callas. After this concert, three "heavyweights" in the world of classical music drew attention to her - Herbert von Karajan, Daniel Barenboim and Nikolaus Arnoncourt. His professional operatic debut took place in 1987 at the Arena di Verona. The following year, she sang the role of Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Cologne Opera and the role of Cherubino opposite Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro in Zurich, Switzerland. Herbert von Karajan invited her to participate in the Salzburg Festival and perform J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor with him, but the maestro's death prevented her plans from being fulfilled. In 1990, Bartoli made her debut at the Bastille Opera with the role of Cherubino, at the Hamburg State Opera as Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, and also in the USA at the Mostly Mozart festival in New York and signed an exclusive contract with DECCA. In 1991 she made her debut at La Scala as the page Isolier in Rossini's La Comte Ori, and since then, at the age of 25, she has established her reputation as one of the world's leading performers of Mozart and Rossini. Since then, her career has developed rapidly - listing the best theaters in the world, premieres, solo concerts, conductors, recordings, festivals and Chechili Bartoli awards could grow into a book. Since 2005, Cecilia Bartoli has focused on baroque and early classicist music by composers such as Gluck, Vivaldi, Haydn and Salieri, and more recently on the music of the romantic era and Italian bel canto. She currently lives with her family in Monte Carlo and works at the Zurich Opera. Cecilia Bartoli is a frequent guest in Russia, since 2001 she has visited our country many times, the last of the tours took place in September 2011. Some critics notice that Cecilia Bartoli is considered one of the best mezzo-sopranos of our time only because with this type of voice (unlike soprano) she has very few competitors, nevertheless her performances gather full halls of fans, and discs are sold in millions of copies. . For services in the field of music, Cecilia Bartoli has been awarded many state and public awards, including the French Orders of Merit and Arts and Letters and the Italian knighthood, and she is also an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, etc. She is the owner of five Grammy awards, the last of which won in 2011 in the nomination "Best Classical Vocal Performance" with the album "Sacrifice" (Sacrificium).

Maria Callas (eng. Maria Callas; name on the birth certificate - Sophia Cecelia Kalos, eng. Sophia Cecelia Kalos, baptized as Cecilia Sophia Anna Maria Kalogeropoulos - Greek Μαρ?α Καλογεροπο?λου; 2 (4) December 1923, New York - September 16, 1977, Paris) - American opera singer (soprano). Maria Callas is among such opera reformers as Richard Wagner and Arturo Toscanini. The culture of the second half of the 20th century is inextricably linked with her name. In the early 1950s, on the eve of the phenomenon of postmodernism, when the 19th century opera became an aesthetic anachronism, Maria Callas returned the art of opera to the top of the stage Olympus. Having revived the era of bel canto, Maria Callas did not limit herself to virtuoso coloratura in the operas of Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti, but turned her voice into the main means of expression . She has become a versatile singer with a repertoire ranging from classic opera series such as Spontini's Vestals to the latest Verdi operas, Puccini's verist operas and Wagner's musical dramas. The rise of Callas' career in the middle of the 20th century was accompanied by the appearance of an LP in sound recording and friendship with a prominent figure in the EMI record company, Walter Legge. The arrival of a new generation of conductors such as Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein and film directors such as Luchino Visconti and Franco Zeffirelli on the stage of opera houses made every performance with the participation of Maria Callas an event. She turned the opera into a real dramatic theater, making even "trills and scales express joy, anxiety or longing." Maria Callas was born in New York to Greek immigrant parents. In 1936, Mary's mother, Evangelia, returned to Athens to continue her daughter's musical education. The mother wanted to embody her failed talents in her daughter and began to take her to the New York Library on Fifth Avenue. Maria started listening to classical music at the age of three, took piano lessons at five, and vocal lessons by the age of eight. At the age of 14, Maria began studying at the Athens Conservatory under the guidance of the former Spanish singer Elvira de Hidalgo. In July 1941, in German-occupied Athens, Maria Callas made her debut at the Athens Opera as Tosca. In 1945, Maria Callas returned to New York. A series of setbacks followed: she was not introduced to Toscanini, she refused to sing Cio-Cio-San at the Metropolitan Opera because of her great weight, and hopes for the revival of the Lyric Opera in Chicago, where she hoped to sing, collapsed. In 1947, Callas made her debut on the stage of the Arena di Verona amphitheater in the opera La Gioconda by Ponchielli conducted by Tullio Serafina. The meeting with Serafin was, in the words of Kallas herself: "The true beginning of a career and the biggest success of my life." Tullio Serafin introduces Callas to the world of grand opera. She sings the first parts in Verdi's Aida and Bellini's Norma at the end of 1948. At the beginning of 1949, within one week, the vocally incompatible parts of Brünnhilde in Wagner's Valkyrie and Elvira in Bellini's The Puritans created a creative phenomenon for the singer Maria Callas. She sang both lyrical, and dramatic, and coloratura parts, which was a singing miracle - "four voices in one throat." In 1949, Callas went on tour to South America. In 1950, she sang for the first time at La Scala and became the "queen of the Italian prima donnas". In 1953, EMI released the first complete recordings of operas with Maria Callas. In the same year, she loses 30 kilograms. The transformed Callas conquers the audience on the opera stages of Europe and America in the operas: Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti, Norma by Bellini, Medea by Cherubini, Il trovatore and Macbeth by Verdi, Tosca by Puccini. In September 1957, in Venice, at a ball in honor of the birthday of journalist Elsa Maxwell, Maria Callas met Aristotle Onassis for the first time. In the spring of 1959 in Venice they met again at a ball. After that, Onassis went to London for the Callas concert. After this concert, he invited her and her husband to his yacht. At the end of November 1959, Onassis's wife Tina filed for divorce, and Callas and Onassis at that time openly appeared in society together. The couple quarreled almost constantly, and in 1968 Maria Callas learned from the newspapers that Aristotle Onassis had married the widow of US President Jacqueline Kennedy. In 1959, there is a turning point in a successful career. This was facilitated by the loss of voice, a series of scandals, a divorce, a break with the Metropolitan Opera, a forced departure from La Scala, an unhappy love for Aristotle Onassis, and the loss of a child. An attempt to return to the stage in 1964 ends with another failure. In Verona, Maria Callas met the local industrialist Giovanni Batista Meneghini. He was twice her age and passionately loved opera. Soon Giovanni confessed his love to Maria, completely sold his business and devoted himself to Callas. In 1949, Maria Callas and Giovanni Meneghini got married. He became everything for Maria: a faithful husband, a loving father, a devoted manager, and a generous producer. In 1969, Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini invited Maria Callas to play the role of Medea in the film of the same name. Although the film did not enjoy commercial success, it is of great cinematic interest, like all the rest of Pasolini's work. The role of Medea was for Maria Callas the only role outside of the opera. The last years of her life, Maria Callas lived in Paris, practically without leaving her apartment, where she died in 1977. She was cremated and buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery. Later, her ashes were scattered over the Aegean Sea. Italian phoniatrists (specialists in diseases of the vocal cords) Franco Fussi and Nico Paolillo have established the most probable cause of death for the opera diva Maria Callas, writes the Italian La Stampa (translation of the article into English published by Parterre Box). According to the results of their study, Callas died of dermatomyositis, a rare disease of connective tissue and smooth muscle. Fussi and Paolillo came to this conclusion after studying the recordings of Callas made in different years and analyzing the gradual deterioration of her voice. Spectrographic analysis of studio recordings and concert performances showed that by the end of the 1960s, when the deterioration of her vocal abilities became apparent, Callas' voice range actually changed from soprano to mezzo-soprano, which explained the change in the sound of high notes in her performance. videos of her late concerts revealed that the singer's muscles were significantly weakened: her chest practically did not rise when breathing, and when inhaling, the singer lifted her shoulders and strained her deltoid muscles, that is, in fact, she made the most common mistake with the support of the vocal muscle. The cause of Maria Callas' death is not known for certain, but it is believed that the singer died of cardiac arrest. According to Fussy and Paolillo, the results of their work directly indicate that the myocardial infarction that led to this was a complication of dermatomyositis. It is noteworthy that this diagnosis (dermatomyositis) was made by Callas shortly before her death by her doctor Mario Giacovaczo (this became known only in 2002). Opera roles of Maria Callas Santuzza - Mascagni's Rural Honor (1938, Athens) Tosca - Puccini's Tosca (1941, Athens Opera) Gioconda - Ponchielli's La Gioconda (1947, Arena di Verona) Turandot - Puccini's Turandot ( 1948, Carlo Felice (Genoa) Aida - Verdi's Aida (1948, Metropolitan Opera, New York) Norma - Bellini's Norma (1948, 1956, Metropolitan Opera; 1952, Covent Garden) , London; 1954, Lyric Opera, Chicago) Brunnhilde - Wagner's Valkyrie (1949-1950, Metropolitan Opera) Elvira - Bellini's Puritani (1949-1950, Metropolitan Opera) Elena - Sicilian Vespers » Verdi (1951, La Scala, Milan) Kundry - Wagner's Parsifal (La Scala) Violetta - Verdi's La Traviata (La Scala) Medea - Cherubini's Medea (1953, La Scala) Julia - Spontini's Vestal Virgin (1954, La Scala) Gilda - Verdi's Rigoletto (1955, La Scala) Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio-san) - Puccini's Madama Butterfly (La Scala) Lady Macbeth - "Macbeth" by Verdi Fyodor - "Fedora" by Giordano Anna Boleyn - "Anna Boleyn" Donizetti Lucia - "Lucia di Lammermoor" Donizetti Amina - "Sleepwalker" Bellini Carmen - "Carmen" Bizet

Renee Fleming is an American opera singer and full lyric soprano. One of the world's leading opera singers of our time - "one of the few true superstars of our time." Renee Fleming was born February 14, 1959 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA and grew up in Rochester, New York. Her parents were music and singing teachers, so a musical education came naturally to her: "My parents discussed singing every night at the dinner table, I received a huge musical education." She attended the State University of New York at Potsdam, graduating in 1981 with a degree in music education. However, she did not consider that her future career associated with opera. Even while studying at the university, she performed in a jazz group at a local bar. Her voice and abilities attracted famed Illinois jazz saxophonist Jacquet, who invited her to tour with his big band. Instead, Rene went to graduate school at the Eastman School (conservatory) of music, and then from 1983 to 1987 studied at the Juilliard School (the largest American institution of higher education in the field of art) at New York's Lincoln Center. In 1984, she received a Fulbright Education Grant and went to Germany to study operatic singing, one of her teachers being the legendary Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Fleming returned to New York in 1985 and completed her studies at the Juilliard School. While still a student at the Juilliard School, Renee Fleming began her professional career, but so far in small opera companies and in minor roles. In 1986, at the Federal State Theatre, Salzburg, Austria, she sang her first major operatic role, Constanza from Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio. The role of Constanza is one of the most difficult in the soprano repertoire and Fleming admitted to herself that she still needed to work on both vocal technique and confidence on stage, she worked on this very actively and two years later, in 1988, she won several vocal competitions at once: young performers of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Prize and the Eleanor McCollum Competition in Houston. In the same year she made her debut as the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in Houston, and the following year at the New York Opera and Covent Garden as Mimi in La bohème. The first performance at the Metropolitan Opera was planned for 1992, but unexpectedly fell on March 1991, when Felicity Lott fell ill and Fleming replaced her in the role of the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. And although she was recognized as a strong soprano, there was no stardom in her - this came later, when she became the "Gold Standard of the soprano". And before that, there was a lot of work, rehearsals, diverse roles of the entire operatic spectrum, tours around the world, recordings, ups and downs. She was not afraid of risk and accepted challenges, one of which was in 1997 the role of Manon Lescaut Jules Massenet in French in Paris at the Bastille Opera, the French are reverent about their heritage, but Fleming's impeccable performance brought her a triumph. What went with the French did not go with the Italians, and Fleming was openly booed at the premiere of Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala in 1998, although at her first performance at La Scala in 1993 she was very warmly received as Donna Elvira in " Don Giovanni by Mozart. A 1998 performance in Milan, Fleming calls his "worst night of operatic life". Today René Fleming is one of the most popular sopranos of our time. The combination of vocal beauty, stylistic versatility and unusual dramatic charisma makes any of her performances an operatic, and not only, masterpiece. She easily and equally beautifully plays complete opposites - Verdi's Desdemona or Handel's Alcina. Thanks to her sense of humor, openness and ease of communication, Fleming is constantly invited to participate in various television and radio programs. In 2003, she recorded several songs for the soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, for which she had to learn the Elvish language. The singer's discography and DVD includes about 50 albums, including those in her passion - jazz. Three of her albums have been awarded Grammy awards, the last in 2010 - the album "Verismo" - a collection of arias by Puccini, Mascagni, Cilea, Giordano, Leoncavallo. Renee Fleming's work schedule is scheduled for several years ahead, but by her own admission, she currently gravitates more towards solo concert activity than opera, explaining this by the fact that having learned more than 50 operas, she is unlikely to discover much new for herself.

Renata Tebaldi is an Italian opera singer and lyric soprano. One of the most loved and popular singers post-war period. She performed all her roles exclusively in Italian. Often, opera lovers are compared with their rival and opposite - Maria Callas. Renata Ersila Clotilde Tebaldi was born on February 1, 1922 in the city of Pesaro, Italy, in the family of cellist Teobaldo Tebaldi and Giusepina Barbieri. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, her parents divorced and Renata and her mother moved to her hometown of Langirano in the province of Parma. Giusepina Barbieri, Renata's mother, was a gifted singer with a beautiful voice and dreamed of a singing career, however, her dreams did not come true and she eventually became a nurse. At the age of three, Renata fell seriously ill with polio, and it took five years to heal, considering the level of medical capabilities, it was almost a miracle. At the age of eight, her mother encouraged Renata to study music, then she sang in the church choir, and at the age of thirteen she entered the Parma Conservatory in piano. Renata worked with boundless diligence, playing music for five hours a day and, like her whole family, dreamed of becoming a pianist. However, over time, she realized that she leaned more towards vocals. She sang everything she heard, the main source of inspiration was the radio. She began to take vocal lessons, for three years Renata Tebaldi studied with maestro Ettore Campogalliani. Once, during the Christmas holidays, she was visiting Pesaro with her uncle Valentino, her father's brother. He was the owner of a small cafe where the famous opera diva Carmen Melis bought pastries, who at that time left the stage and was a teacher at the Gioachino Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. Valentino told Melis about his niece and the diva agreed to audition for the young singer. The next day and for the rest of the vacation, Tebaldi studied with Melis, and when she returned to Parma, the improvement was so dramatic that no one believed it was the same voice. After that, Renata Tebaldi decided to move to Pesaro, where she began to live with her father's family and entered the conservatory. Carmen Melis became Tebaldi's main teacher, she taught her both at the conservatory and privately. Melis organized a scholarship for her and staged her first public concert performance. On the opera stage, Renata Tebaldi made her debut in 1944, in the role of Elena in the opera "Mephistopheles" by Arrigo Boito, in the city of Rovigo, followed by several performances in Parma and Trieste. In Parma, Tebaldi performed the role of Mimi in La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, then she performed it dozens of times over several decades. The Second World War was on and opera life was in decline, many theaters were closed and there were few performances. The main breakthrough came in 1946 when she auditioned for Arturo Toscanini, who was recruiting performers for his concert. Tebaldi made a favorable impression on the maestro and he called her "angelic voice". In the same year, she made her debut at La Scala at a concert that marked the opening of the theater after the war. Toscanini secured Tebaldi a permanent position in one of the finest opera houses in the world. At La Scala she was given the operatic roles of Marguerite and Helena in Mephistopheles and Elsa in Lohengrin in 1946. The following year she appeared in La bohème and as Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger Nuremberg. Soon Toscanini invited her to the role of Aida and Tebaldi made her debut in this role at La Scala in 1950, paired with Mario Del Monaco, the creative union of Renata Tebaldi and Mario del Monaco on stage and in recording studios will be long and fruitful. In the same year, Tebaldi's international career began, with the La Scala troupe she performed at the Edinburgh Festival, then in London, at Covent Garden in the opera Otello and Verdi's Requiem, in the USA at the San Francisco Opera as Aida. Next were all major theaters peace. Tebaldi did not have time to become the leading singer of La Scala, when a new star appeared on the stage of the theater - Maria Callas, who took her place. When La Scala preferred Callas, Tebaldi was invited to many other theaters, especially the San Carlo Theater in Naples, where she was very loved and appreciated more than Callas. In the mid-1950s, Tebaldi left La Scala to become a diva at the Metropolitan Opera, debuting in 1955 as Desdemona. When she returned to La Scala on tour in 1958, the audience gave her a forty-minute standing ovation. The rivalry between Tebaldi and Callas was more fueled by the audience and the press than the singers themselves, although they perfectly understood the fruitfulness of this hype for their career. On September 16, 1968, the long rivalry between Tebaldi and Callas came to an end when Maria backstage congratulated Renata on her good performance in Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, the two sopranos embraced and never met again, but spoke kind words about each other. On March 4, 1960, Tebaldi appeared in an unforgettable performance of Verdi's The Force of Destiny. This performance has remained in the history of the opera because, in the middle of the second act, its partner, the famous baritone Leonard Warren, fell to the floor and died on stage from a stroke in front of the audience. In the early 1960s, Tebaldi's voice began to show signs of fatigue and lost its plasticity; she did not appear on stage for more than a year, having rested, she returned in 1964. From that moment, a kind of second career of Renata Tebaldi began, focused more on the dramatic repertoire. For almost twenty years, Tebaldi regularly performed at the Metropolitan Opera, participating in more than 270 productions, in such operas as La bohème, Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Manon Lescaut, Othello, Simon Boccanegra, " Falstaff" and many others, and completed work in it on January 8, 1973 in the same role with which she debuted. In 1976 she gave her farewell concert at La Scala. By the time she left the stage, Tebaldi's creative heritage was 1262 performances - 1048 full operas in 48 roles and 214 concerts, as well as 134 audio and video recordings with her participation. Renata Tebaldi died on February 1, 2004 at her home in San Marino.

Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (October 25, 1926 - December 11, 2012) - great Russian, Soviet opera singer (lyric-dramatic soprano). People's Artist of the USSR. Commander of the French Order of the Legion of Honor, honorary doctor of a number of universities. Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya was born on October 25, 1926 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), but she spent most of her childhood in Kronstadt. She suffered the blockade of Leningrad, at the age of sixteen she served in air defense units. Her creative activity began in 1944 as a soloist at the Leningrad Operetta Theatre, and began her career at big stage belongs to the fifties. In her first marriage, she was married to a naval sailor Georgy Vishnevsky, whom she divorced two months later, but retained his last name; in the second marriage - with the director of the operetta theater Mark Ilyich Rubin. In 1955, four days after they met, she married for the third time to the later famous cellist M.L. Rostropovich, in the ensemble with which (M.L. Rostropovich - first as a pianist, and later as a conductor) performed at the most prestigious concert venues peace. From 1951 to 1952, having left the operetta theater, Vishnevskaya took singing lessons from V.N. Garina, combining classical vocal classes with performances as a pop singer. In 1952, she took part in the competition in the trainee group of the Bolshoi Theater, was accepted, despite the lack of a conservatory education, and soon (according to the figurative expression of B.A. Pokrovsky) became "a trump card in the deck of the Bolshoi Theater", the leading soloist of the country's main opera house . During her 22 years of artistic career at the Bolshoi Theater (from 1952 to 1974), Galina Vishnevskaya created many (more than thirty!) unforgettable female images in Russian and Western European operatic masterpieces. Having brilliantly made her debut in the role of Tatiana in the opera Eugene Onegin, she performed the parts of Aida and Violetta (Aida and La Traviata by Verdi), Cio-Cio-san (Cio-Cio-san by Puccini), Natasha Rostova (“War and Peace” by Prokofiev), Katharina (“The Taming of the Shrew” by Shebalin, first performer, 1957), Lisa (“The Queen of Spades” by Tchaikovsky), Kupava (“The Snow Maiden” by Rimsky-Korsakov), Martha (“The Tsar's Bride” by Rimsky-Korsakov) Korsakov) and many others. Vishnevskaya took part in the first productions on the Russian stage of Prokofiev's opera The Gambler (1974, as Polina), Poulenc's mono-opera The Human Voice (1965). In 1966, she starred in the leading role in the film-opera "Katerina Izmailova" by D.D. Shostakovich (directed by Mikhail Shapiro). She was the first performer of a number of compositions dedicated to her by D.D. Shostakovich, B. Britten and other outstanding contemporary composers. Under the impression of listening to her recording, Anna Akhmatova's poem "Woman's Voice" was written. During the Soviet era, Galina Vishnevskaya, together with her husband, the great cellist and conductor Mstislav Rostropovich, provided invaluable support to the outstanding Russian writer and human rights activist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and this became one of the reasons for the constant attention and pressure from the secret services of the USSR. In 1974, Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich left the Soviet Union and in 1978 were deprived of citizenship, honorary titles and government awards. But in 1990, the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council was canceled, Galina Pavlovna returned to Russia, she was returned the honorary title of People's Artist of the Soviet Union and the Order of Lenin, she became an honorary professor at the Moscow Conservatory. Abroad, Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya lived in the United States, then in France and Great Britain. Galina Vishnevskaya sang on all the major stages of the world (Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Grand Opera, La Scala, Munich Opera, etc.). ), performing with the most outstanding masters of world musical and theatrical culture. She performed the part of Marina in a unique recording of the opera Boris Godunov (conductor Herbert von Karajan, soloists Gyaurov, Talvela, Spiess, Maslennikov), in 1989 she sang the same part in the film of the same name (director A. Zhulavsky, conductor M. Rostropovich). Among the recordings made during the period of forced emigration are the complete version of S. Prokofiev's opera "War and Peace", five discs with romances by Russian composers M. Glinka, A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Mussorgsky, A. Borodin and P. Tchaikovsky. The whole life and work of Galina Vishnevskaya was aimed at the continuation and glorification of the greatest Russian operatic traditions. After the start of perestroika, in 1990, Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich were restored to citizenship. In the early 1990s, G. Vishnevskaya returned to Russia and became an honorary professor at the Moscow Conservatory. She described her life in the book "Galina" (published on English language in 1984, in Russian - 1991). Galina Vishnevskaya is an honorary doctor of a number of universities, for many years she has worked with creative youth, giving master classes around the world and acting as a jury member of major international competitions. In 2002, the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Center was opened in Moscow, the creation of which the great singer had long dreamed of. At the center, she passed on her accumulated experience and unique knowledge to talented young singers so that they could adequately represent the Russian opera school on the international stage. The missionary aspect of the work of Galina Vishnevskaya is emphasized by the largest federal and regional mass media, heads of theaters and concert organizations, and the general public. Galina Vishnevskaya was awarded the most prestigious world prizes for her invaluable contribution to the world of music, numerous awards from the governments of different countries: the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad" (1943), the Order of Lenin (1971), the Diamond Medal of the City of Paris (1977), the Order of Merit for Fatherland" III degree (1996), II degree (2006). Galina Vishnevskaya - Grand-officer of the Order of Literature and Art (France, 1982), Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honor (France. 1983), Honorary Citizen of the city of Kronstadt (1996).

Joyce DiDonato is an American mezzo-soprano and mezzo-soprano. Considered one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of our time and the best interpreter of the works of Gioacchino Rossini. Joyce DiDonato (née Joyce Flaherty) was born on February 13, 1969 in the town of Prair Village, Kansas, USA in a family with Irish roots, was the sixth of seven children. Her father was a local leader church choir, Joyce sang in it and dreamed of becoming a Broadway star. In 1988, she entered Wichita State University, where she studied vocals. After Joyce University, DiDonato decided to continue her musical education and in 1992 entered the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. After the academy, she participated for several years in training programs "Young Artist" in various opera companies: in 1995 - in the "Santa Fe Opera", where she received musical practice and made her opera debut on the big stage, but so far in minor roles in operas "Marriage of Figaro" by W. A. ​​Mozart, "Salome" by R. Strauss, "Countess Maritza" by I. Kalman; from 1996 to 1998 - at the Houston Grand Opera and was recognized as the best "beginning artist"; in the summer of 1997 - at the San Francisco Opera in the training program "Merola Opera". During her studies and initial practice, Joyce DiDonato took part in several well-known vocal competitions. In 1996, she placed second in the Eleanor McCollum competition in Houston and won the Metropolitan Opera competition district audition. In 1997, she won the William Sullivan Award. In 1998, she won second place in the Placido Domingo Operalia competition in Hamburg and first place in the George London competition. In subsequent years, she received many more various prizes and awards. Joyce DiDonato began her professional career in 1998 with several regional opera companies in the United States, most notably the Houston Grand Opera. And she became known to a wide audience thanks to the appearance in the television world premiere of Marc Adamo's opera "The Little Woman". In the 2000-2001 season. DiDonato made her European debut, starting immediately at La Scala as Angelina in Rossini's Cinderella. The following season, she expanded her exposure to European audiences, appearing at the Netherlands Opera as Handel's Sesta "Julius Caesar", at the Paris Opera as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and at the Bavarian State Opera as Cherubino in Mazart's Marriage of Figaro. and in the concert programs "Glory" by Vivaldi with Riccardo Muti and the La Scala Orchestra and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by F. Mendelssohn in Paris. In the same season, she made her US debut at the Washington State Opera as Dorabella in Mozart's All Women Do It. At this time, Joyce DiDonato has already become a real opera star with world fame, loved by the audience and praised by the press. Later career only expanded its touring geography and opened the doors of new opera houses and festivals - Covent Garden (2002), Metropolitan Opera (2005), Bastille Opera (2002), Royal Theater in Madrid, New National Theater in Tokyo, Vienna State Opera, etc. Joyce DiDonato has collected a rich collection of all kinds of music awards and prizes. As critics say, this is perhaps one of the most successful and smooth careers in the modern opera world. And even the accident that happened on the stage of Covent Garden on July 7, 2009 during the performance of "The Barber of Seville", when Joyce DiDonato slipped on stage and broke her leg, did not interrupt this performance, which she ended on crutches, nor subsequent scheduled performances, which she navigated from a wheelchair, much to the delight of the audience. This "legendary" event is captured on DVD. Joyce DiDonato began her 2010-2011 season with a Salzburg Festival debut as Adalgiz in Belinni's Norma with Edita Gruberova as Norma, then with a concert program at the Edinburgh Festival. In the autumn she appeared in Berlin as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and in Madrid as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier. The year ended with another award, the first from the German Recording Academy "Echo Classic (ECHO Klassik)", which named Joyce DiDonato "Best Female Singer of 2010". The next two awards were from the English classical music magazine "Gramophone", which named her "Best Artist of the Year" and chose her CD with Rossini's arias as the best "Recital of the Year". Continuing the season in the US, she performed in Houston, and then with a solo concert at Carnegie Hall. The Metropolitan Opera welcomed her in two roles - the page Isolier in Rossini's "Count Ori" and the composer in R. Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos". She completed the season in Europe with tours in Baden-Baden, Paris, London and Valencia. The singer's website presents a rich schedule of her future performances, in this list for the first half of 2012 alone there are about forty performances in Europe and America. Joyce DiDonato is now married to Italian conductor Leonardo Vordoni with whom they live in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Joyce continues to use the last name of her first husband, whom she married right out of college.

Natalie Dessay (born Nathalie Dessaix) is a French opera singer, coloratura soprano. One of the leading singers of our time, at the beginning of her career she was known for her very high and transparent voice, now she sings in a lower range. Loved by the audience for excellent dramatic data and a lively sense of humor. Nathalie Dessay was born April 19, 1965 in Lyon and grew up in Bordeaux. While still at school, she omitted the letter "h" from her name, in honor of actress Natalie Wood, and later simplified the spelling of her last name. In her youth, Dessay dreamed of becoming a ballerina or an actress and took acting lessons, but one day, playing with fellow students in a little-known play of the 18th century, she had to sing, she performed Pamina's aria from The Magic Flute, everyone was amazed, she was recommended to switch attention to music. Natalie entered the State Conservatory in Bordeaux, completed a five-year study in just one year, and graduated with honors in 1985. After the conservatory, she worked with the National Orchestra of the Capitole of Toulouse. In 1989, she took second place in the New Voices competition held by France Telecom, which allowed her to study for a year at the Paris Opera School of Lyric Arts and perform there as Eliza in Mozart's The Shepherd King. In the spring of 1992, she sang the short role of Olympia from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann at the Bastille Opera, her partner was José van Dam, the production disappointed critics and audiences, but the young singer received a standing ovation and was noticed. This role will become a landmark for her, until 2001 she will play Olympia in eight different productions, including during her debut at La Scala. In 1993, Natalie Dessay won the International Mozart Competition held by the Vienna Opera and remained to study and perform at the Vienna Opera. Here she sang the role of Blonde from Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, which became another of her most famous and most frequently performed roles. In December 1993, Natalie was offered to replace Cheryl Studer in an already famous role Olympia at the Vienna Opera. Her performance was recognized by the audience in Vienna and praised by Placido Domingo, in the same year she performed with this role at the Lyon Opera. Natalie Dessay's international career began with performances at the Vienna Opera. In the 1990s, her recognition was constantly growing and the repertoire of roles was constantly expanding, she received many offers, she performed at all the leading opera houses in the world - the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Bavarian Opera, Covent Garden, the Vienna Opera and others. Distinctive feature actress Dessay in that she believes that an opera singer should consist of 70% of the theater and 30% of music and strive not only to sing her roles, but also to play them dramatically, so each of her characters is a new discovery, never similar to others. In the 2001/2002 season, Dessay began to experience vocal difficulties and had to cancel her performances and recitals. She left the stage and in July 2002 had an operation to remove polyps on her vocal cords, already in February 2003 she returned with a solo concert in Paris and actively continued her career. In the 2004/2005 season, Natalie Dessay had to undergo a second operation. A new public appearance took place in May 2005 in Montreal. The return of Natalie Dessay was accompanied by a reorientation in her lyrical repertoire. She eschews "light" roles without depth (like Gilda in "Rigoletto") or roles she no longer wants to play (Queen of the Night or Olympia) in favor of more "tragic" characters. This position at first brought serious disagreements with some directors and colleagues. Today, Natalie Dessay is at the pinnacle of her career and is the leading soprano of today. Lives and performs mainly in the USA, but constantly tours in Europe. Russian fans could see her in St. Petersburg in 2010 and in Moscow in 2011. In early 2011, she sang (for the first time) the role of Cleopatra in Handel's "Julius Caesar" at the Opéra Garnier, returned to the Metropolitan Opera with her traditional " Lucia di Lammermoor", then returned to Europe again with a concert version of "Pelléas et Mélisande" in Paris and London and a concert in Moscow. The singer's immediate plans include many projects: La Traviata in Vienna in 2011 and at the Metropolitan Opera in 2012, Cleopatra in Julius Caesar at the Metropolitan Opera in 2013, Manon at the Paris Opera and La Scala in 2012, Marie ("Daughter of the Regiment") in Paris in 2013, and Elvira at the Met in 2014. Natalie Dessay is married to bass-baritone Laurent Naoury and they have two children. On the opera stage, they can be seen together very rarely, unlike the star couple Alanya-Georgiou, the fact is that for a baritone-soprano there is much less repertoire than for a tenor-soprano. For the sake of her husband, Dessey adopted his religion - Judaism.

The State Chamber Musical Theater "St. Petersburg Opera" is an opera house in St. Petersburg, Russia. The theater is located in a small but very cozy mansion of Baron von Derviz. The Chamber Musical Theater was founded in 1987 in Leningrad by the leading musical director of Russia, who gained fame as an innovator of opera art, Honored Artist of Russia, laureate of the National Theater Award "Golden Mask", "Golden Soffit", People's Artist of Russia YURI ALEXANDROV. The creative laboratory of the St. Petersburg Opera, as originally conceived by the director, over time was reorganized into a professional State Theater, well known not only in our country, but also far beyond the Russian opera space. Despite its youth, the theater already has a rich creative biography. For twenty-three seasons, the Chamber Theater has formed as a single creative organism with a unique, original program. The theater troupe includes talented soloists and musicians, many of whom are Honored Artists of Russia, laureates and students of International and All-Russian competitions. The repertoire of the St. Petersburg Opera presents the entire palette of genres of opera art - from comic opera, buff operas to musical dramas, including operas by contemporary authors: "The Game of Robin and Marion" by Adam de la Alle, "Falcon" by Bortnyansky, "White Rose" by Zimmermann, "I Believe" by Piguzov, "Piebald Dog Running by the Edge of the Sea", "The Fifth Journey of Christopher Columbus" by Smelkov, "The Bell", "Rita" by Donizetti, "Eugene Onegin" by Tchaikovsky, "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky (nominated for the National Theater Award "Golden Mask" in 1996), "Players - 1942" by Shostakovich ( in 1997 he was awarded the Golden Sofit, the highest theater award of St. theater award "Golden Mask"), "Song of Love and Death by Cornet Christoph Rilke" by Mattus (in 1999 he was awarded the National Theater Award "Golden Mask" in the nomination "Best Opera Performance"), "The Queen of Spades" by Tchaikovsky (in 2000 nominated on Nazio National Theater Award "Golden Mask"), "Beautiful Elena" by Offenbach, "Antiformalistic Paradise" by Shostakovich, "Adrienne Lecouvreur" by Cilea, "Don Pasquale", "Peter the Great - the Tsar of All Russia, or the Carpenter from Livonia" by Donizetti, "Gianni Schicchi" Puccini and others. The theater "Saint Petersburg Opera" staged productions of operas that are staged in St. Petersburg only on the stage of the Chamber Theater - "Rita", "The Bell", Donizetti, "The Falcon" by Bortnyansky, "The Secret Marriage" by Cimarosa, "Players - 1942", Anti-Formalist Paradise "Shostakovich, "Adrienne Lecouvreur" Cilea, "Peter the Great - the Tsar of All Russia, or the Carpenter from Livonia" Donizetti. In 1997, the theater organized and held the Gaetano Donizetti Music Festival, at which the Italian composer's Requiem was performed for the first time in Russia. in the center of old St. Petersburg on Galernaya street, 33. The opening of the restored building took place on the day of the anniversary of St. ala European musical sensation - Gaetano Donizetti's playful melodrama "Peter the Great - the Tsar of All Russia, or the Carpenter from Livonia". A small cozy mansion on Galernaya Street, which belonged to turn of XIX - XX centuries to Baron S.P. von Derviz, has a rich musical and theatrical history. At the end of the 19th century, performances of the "House of Interludes" were staged here, which were staged by Vsevolod Meyerhold, who worked at that time under the pseudonym "Doctor Dapertutto". They were attended by the poet and musician M. Kuzmin, artists N. Sapunov and S. Sudeikin, artists N. Petrov, B. Kazarova-Volkova. K. Stanislavsky, Vl.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, E. Vakhtangov, A. Chekhov and many other artists. Since 1915, the house began to be called the "Concert and Theater Hall", in which concerts were held with the participation of F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, A. Duncan. Concerts and performances were held in the large White Hall with a specially equipped stage. Here, miraculously (after club events organized in Soviet times), the interior was preserved: baroque stucco walls with sculptures symbolizing arts, a soaring Genius with a lyre in his hands above the richly decorated stage portal, the coat of arms of the von Derviz on the windows of the front doors. Other interiors of the mansion have also been preserved: a luxurious Moorish drawing room, covered with gilded ornaments, decorated with a picturesque panel Maple drawing room, made in the form of a bizarre grotto Winter Garden. The first owner of the mansion was the famous statesman of the first half of the 18th century, cabinet minister under Anna Ioannovna A.P. Volynsky, who was executed in 1740 for participating in a conspiracy against Duke Biron. Then his daughter, who married Count I.I., owned the house. Vorontsov. At one time the house belonged to the merchants Schneider, Balabin, then Prince Repin. In 1870, the architect F.L. Miller remodels the façade and builds on another building. In 1883 the house was bought by Baron S.P. von Derviz. Architect P.P. Schreiber rebuilds the houses on the side of the English Embankment and Galernaya Street, uniting them with a common facade. Sergei Pavlovich von Derviz (1863 - 1918) - a descendant of the ancient Wiese family, originating from Germany. In the middle of the 18th century, John-Adolf Wiese, who served in Sweden, entered the Russian service as a legal adviser and was elevated to the nobility by the Holy Roman Empire, with the addition of "von der". Son Sergei had the rank of real privy councilor and the title of chamberlain of the highest court. He owned mines and estates in the Kyiv, Ryazan and Orienburg provinces. He, like his mother, became famous for his charitable work. The main attention was paid to the interiors of the house, which, according to the fashion of that time, were made in different styles. In 1902, the house on the side of the embankment was built on two floors, while losing the appearance of a mansion. In 1909 S.P. von Derviz sold the house, dividing it into three parts. The first was bought by the wife of Lieutenant General A.A. Ignatieva, left (including the mansion on Galernaya) - N.N. Shebeko. The mansion was reconstructed according to the project of the architect A.P. Maksimov and in this form has reached our days. In 1911 - 1913, the "House of Interludes" by V. Meyerhold was located here - an innovative, bohemian theater-restaurant with a unique repertoire. Since 1913 - the theater hall of N. Shebeko. After the revolution - the district committee of the RCPb, the Union of Metalworkers, the Estonian House of Education. From 1946 to 1991 - the club "Mayak". On May 27, 2003, on the day of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, after a long restoration, the mansion again became a theater house. Opera and symphonic music sounds here, new productions of the St. Petersburg Opera theater are born, which was founded and directed by Yuri Alexandrov. Information from the official website of the theater: http://www.spbopera.ru

La Scala (Italian: Teatro alla Scala or La Scala) is a world famous opera house in Milan (Italy). All the leading opera stars over the past two and a half centuries considered it an honor to perform at La Scala. The La Scala Theater is home to the eponymous opera troupe, choir, ballet and symphony orchestra. He is also affiliated with the La Scala Theater Academy, which offers professional training in music, dance and stage management. There is a museum in the lobby of the theatre, which exhibits paintings, sculptures, costumes and other documents relating to the history of opera and theatre. The theater building was built by decree of the Empress of Austria Maria Theresa according to the project of the architect Giuseppe Piermarini in 1776-1778. on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, from where the name of the theater itself came from. The church, in turn, received its name in 1381 from the patroness - a representative of the family of the rulers of Verona by the name of Scala (Scaliger) - Beatrice della Scala (Regina della Scala). The theater was opened on August 3, 1778 with a performance of Antonio Salieri's opera Recognized Europe. At the end of XVIII - early XIX For centuries, operas by Italian composers P. Anfossi, P. Guglielmi, D. Cimarosa, L. Cherubini, G. Paisiello, S. Mayra appeared in the theater's repertoire. The operas by G. Rossini The Touchstone (1812), The Aurelian in Palmyra (1813), The Turk in Italy (1814), The Thieving Magpie (1817) and others (in one of them Caroline Unger made her debut in Italy), as well as J. Meyerbeer's operas Margaret of Anjou (1820), The Exile from Grenada (1822) and a number of works by Saverio Mercadante. Starting from the 1830s, works by G. Donizetti, V. Bellini, G. Verdi, G. Puccini appeared in the theater repertoire, Bellini's "Pirate" (1827) and "Norma" (1831) and "Lucrezia Borgia" were staged here for the first time. (1833) Donizetti, "Oberto" (1839), "Nabucco" (1842), "Otello" (1887) and "Falstaff" (1893) by Verdi, "Madama Butterfly" (1904) and "Turandot" by Puccini. During World War II the theater was destroyed. After the restoration of its original appearance by the engineer L. Secchi, the theater was reopened in 1946. The theater building has been restored many times. The last restoration lasted three years and cost more than 61 million euros. The first piece of music performed on the renovated stage on December 7, 2004 was Antonio Salieri's opera Recognized Europe. The number of seats is 2030, which is much less than before the last restoration, the number of seats has been reduced for the purpose of fire safety and increased comfort. Traditionally, the new season at La Scala begins in winter - December 7 (which is unusual compared to other theaters in the world) on the Day of St. Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, and ends in November. And each performance must end before midnight, if the opera is very long, then it starts early.

Royal Opera House "Covent Garden" (Royal Opera House "Covent Garden") is a theater in London, UK, serving as a venue for opera and ballet performances, the home stage of the London Royal Opera and the London Royal Ballet. It is located in the Covent Garden area, after which it received its name. Initially, there were several independent troupes in the "Covent Garden", along with dramatic, musical and ballet performances, circus performances were arranged. By the middle of the 18th century, the main place on the stage of the theater was occupied by musical performances, and since 1847 only operas and ballets were staged. The modern building of the theater is the third in a row, located on this site. It was built in 1858 and underwent a radical renovation in the 1990s. The Royal Opera Hall seats 2268 spectators and consists of four tiers. The width of the proscenium is 12.2 m, the height is 14.8 m. on the initiative of the director and impresario John Rich and opened on December 7, 1732 with a performance based on the play by William Congreve "So do the world" (Eng. The Way of the World). Before the performance, the actors entered the theater in a solemn procession, carrying Rich in their arms. For almost a century, the Covent Garden Theater was one of two London dramatic theaters, since as early as 1660 King Charles II authorized the production of dramatic performances only in two theaters (the other was the no less famous Drury Lane Theatre). In 1734, the first ballet, Pygmalion, was staged at Covent Garden, with Marie Salle in the title role, who, contrary to tradition, danced without a corset. At the end of 1734, opera began to be staged in Covent Garden - primarily the works of George Frideric Handel, the former music director of the theater: his early, albeit heavily revised, opera The Faithful Shepherd (Italian: Il pastor fido) was staged first, then in January 1735 a new opera, Ariodant, and others followed. In 1743, Handel's oratorio "Messiah" was performed here, and later the performance of oratorios on religious themes during Great Lent became a tradition in the theater. Operas by the composer Thomas Arn were staged here for the first time, as well as operas by his son. In 1808 the first theater in Covent Garden was destroyed by fire. The new theater building was erected in the first nine months of 1809 according to the design of Robert Smork and opened on September 18 with a production of Macbeth. Theater management raised ticket prices to recoup the cost of the new building, but for two months the audience disrupted the performances with constant shouting, clapping and whistling, as a result of which the theater management was forced to return prices to the previous level. In the first half of the 19th century, operas, ballets, dramatic productions with the participation of the outstanding tragedians Edmund Kean and Sarah Siddons, pantomime and even clowning (performed here famous clown Joseph Grimaldi). The situation changed after, in 1846, as a result of a conflict at Her Majesty's Theater - the London Opera House - a significant part of his troupe, led by conductor Michael Costa, moved to Covent Garden; the hall was reconstructed, and on April 6, 1847, the theater reopened under the name of the Royal Italian Opera with a production of Rossini's opera Semiramide. However, less than nine years later, on March 5, 1856, the theater burned down for the second time. The third theater in Covent Garden was built in 1857-1858. designed by Edward Middleton Barry and opened on May 15, 1858 with a production of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. During World War I, the theater was requisitioned and used as a warehouse. During World War II, the theater building had a dance hall. In 1946, opera returned to the walls of Covent Garden: on February 20, the theater opened with Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty in an extravagant production by Oliver Messel. At the same time, the creation of an opera company began, for which the Covent Garden Theater would become a home stage, on January 14, 1947, the Covent Garden Opera Company (the future Royal Opera in London) presented Bizet's opera Carmen here.

Donetsk National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. A.B. Solovyanenko is an opera house in Donetsk, Ukraine. It was created in 1932 in the city of Lugansk on the basis of the Mobile Opera House of the Right-Bank Ukraine. In the documents of the People's Commissariat of Education of Ukraine, from March 15, 1932, it is proposed to transfer the Mobile Opera to the disposal of the Donetsk Theater Trust for permanent service to the population of Donbass. On September 1, 1932, the opera "Prince Igor" by A. Borodin opened the first theatrical season. The artistic director and director of the theater was the Honored Artist of the Republic Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolyubov, the music director and chief conductor of the theater was the Honored Artist of the Republic Alexander Gavrilovich Erofeev. The theater worked: conductor Max Cooper, director Alexander Zdikhovsky, choreographer Mark Zeitlin, artists - Oles Vlasyuk, Eduard Lyakhovich. In the repertoire of the theater in 1935: "The Queen of Spades", "Eugene Onegin" by P. Tchaikovsky, "Carmen" by J. Bizet, "Faust" Sh Gounod, "Rigoletto", "La Traviata", "Aida" by G. Verdi, "Madama Butterfly" by G. Puccini, "Pagliacci" by R. Leoncavallo, "The Barber of Seville" by G. Rossini, "Zaporozhian beyond the Danube" by S. Gulak- Artemovsky, "The Tales of Hoffmann" by J. Offenbach; ballets: "Raymonda", "The Red Poppy" by R. Glier, "Ferenji" by B. Yanovsky. The theater included 40 choir artists, 45 ballet dancers, 45 orchestra artists, 3 soloists. In total, the theater employed 225 people. By 1940, a group of talented masters of the opera stage was determined: conductors E.M. Shekhtman, A.F. Kowalski; director A.A. Zdikhovsky, artist E.I. Lyakhovich, P.I. Zlochevsky. The first performers who brought fame to the theater were Yuri Sabinin, Nadezhda Lototskaya, Alexander Martynenko, Pavel Nikitenko, Tamara Sobetskaya, Tamara Podolskaya and others. In 1936, the construction of the theater began in Donetsk. Ludwig Ivanovich Kotovsky was appointed chief architect of the construction, Solomon Davidovich Krol was appointed chief engineer. April 12, 1941 The Donetsk Musical Theater opens its season in a new theater building, built according to the project of the architect Ludwig Ivanovich Kotovsky, the premiere of the opera by M.I. Glinka "Ivan Susanin" (stage directors: directors I.M. Lapitsky, Y.S. Presman, conductor A.F. Kovalsky, artist E.I. Lyakhovich). Today the theater building is an architectural monument. The first director and artistic director theater was an outstanding opera director, a follower of the Stanislavsky system in the musical theater, Honored Artist of the RSFSR Yosif Lapitsky. The first artists arrived at the Donetsk Theater from Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Lugansk and Vinnitsa. The orchestra included best musicians Lugansk and Vinnitsa Opera and Ballet Theatres, the Stalin Regional Philharmonic. From the first days of the organization of the team, work was carried out with the audience: visiting performances, conversations, concerts. New productions of opera and ballet performances were carried out. The repertoire of 1941 included: C. Gounod's opera Faust, premiered on May 4, 1941, R. Leoncavallo's opera Pagliacci, premiered on May 22, G. Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville, premiered in June . On August 7, 1941, the premiere of the first ballet performance "Laurencia" by A. Crane took place. Nina Goncharova, later Honored Artist of Ukraine, danced the part of Laurencia. During the Great Patriotic War, the theater staff was evacuated to the Kyrgyz Republic (village of Sazanovka), and in June 1942 moved to the city of Przhevalsk, where he continued to work on the creation of new performances and performed concert activities in military units and hospitals. In April 1944, the theater returned from evacuation. And already in September 1944, the theater premiered A. Borodin's opera "Prince Igor ". " Polovtsian dances"The choreographer of the Bolshoi Theater, Honored Artist of the Republic Kasyan Goleizovsky staged the opera. The theater becomes the center of the musical culture of the Donetsk region, the stage for Ukrainian and foreign, classical and modern, opera and ballet art, classical operetta, musical performances for children. In 1946, at the theater In 1947, a choreographic studio was organized, headed by Claudia Vasina (soloist of the National Opera of Ukraine).Thanks to this studio, the Donetsk troupe was replenished with young artists, which contributed to the staging of ballet performances.The theater's ballet troupe achieved significant success under the direction of the theater's chief choreographer A.P. Girman.In 1947 The first ballet performances took place - B. Asafiev's ballet "The Fountain of Bakhchisaray", which was in the repertoire of the theater for 38 years, and "Lileya" by K. Dankevich. In 1948, the premiere of P. Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake" took place. In September 1947, the Donetsk Russian Musical Theater was renamed the Stalin State Russian Opera and Ballet Theatre. In 1961 it was renamed into the Donetsk State Russian Opera and Ballet Theatre. In the creative circles of the former USSR, the Donetsk theater was called a "laboratory contemporary opera ". A great merit in this is the chief director of the theater, People's Artist of Ukraine Oleksandr Afanasyevich Zdikhovsky, who has staged more than 70 opera and musical performances over the years of his work at the theater. For the first time in Ukraine, it was on the stage of the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater that operas were staged: "Betrothal in a Monastery", "Semyon Kotko" by S. Prokofiev, "Don Giovanni" by W. A. ​​Mozart, "Andre Chenier" by W. Giordano, "Yaroslav the Wise ” Y. Meitus and others. The Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theater was one of the first in Ukraine to turn to the works of modern Ukrainian composers, having staged the performances “Sorochinsky Fair”, “Oksana” based on the poem by T. Shevchenko, “Slip”, “Handy” Homolyaks, "Marusya Boguslavka" by A. Sveshnikov, "The Fox Song" by N. Skorulskaya, "Nezradzhena Love" by L. Kolodub, "Katerina" by N. Arkas, "Lileya" by K. Dankevich, "Zaporozhets beyond the Danube" by S. Gulak- Artemovsky, "Natalka Poltavka" by N. Lysenko. Performances by composers of the national republics were staged on the stage of the Donetsk Theater: "Shuralle" by F. Yarullin, "Keto and Kote" by V. Dumbadze, "Spartak" by A. Khachaturian, "A Thousand and One Nights" F. Amirova and others. The glory and pride of the theater in different years were famous artists: Y. Sabinin, E. Gorchakova, T. Podolskaya, A. Kolobov, A. Galenkin, Yu. Gulyaev, A. Korobeichenko, N Momot, V. Zemlyansky, G. Kalikin, R. Kolesnik, M. Vedeneva, A. Boytsov, director - A. Zdikhovsky, artists - V Moskovchenko, B. Kupenko, V. Spevyakin; conductor - T. Mikitka, and on the stage of the Donetsk Theater in different years danced and sang such luminaries and stage masters as People's Artists of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozlovsky, Sergey Lemeshev, Maria Bieshu, Olga Lepeshinskaya, Marina Semenova, K. Shulzhenko, A. Solovyanenko and many others. other. November 2, 1977 the theater was awarded the title of "academic". In 1992, the school of choreographic skills of Vadim Pisarev was established at the theater. By the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 9, 1999, the theater was named after A. B. Solovyanenko. Since 1993, the theater has been hosting the International Ballet Stars Festival, founded and artistic director by Vadym Pisarev, People's Artist of Ukraine, laureate of international ballet competitions in Moscow, Helsinki, Paris, and Jackson. Now Vadim Pisarev is the artistic director of the theater and focuses on the traditions and productions of classical ballet. Over the years, about 300 of the strongest dancers from 25 countries of the world have taken part in the festival. In November 2009, the XVI International Festival "Stars of the World Ballet" took place. In 2009, the theater hosted the VI International Festival of Children's Ballet Performances "Grand Pa" - the youngest and the only one in Ukraine. Created by the efforts of the theater management, "Grand Pa" already has its own history and its fans. Pupils of different choreographic schools from Ukraine, near and far abroad countries. Today, the theater's ballet troupe employs already recognized masters and talented young people who have won recognition at international ballet competitions. Talented and experienced teachers-tutors work with a team of artists: the chief choreographer of the theater People's Artist of Ukraine E. Khasyanova, People's Artist of Ukraine G. Kirillina, Honored Artist of Ukraine E. Ogurtsova. Spectators of many cities and republics of the former Soviet Union, as well as abroad: Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Sweden, Austria, Norway are familiar with the opera and ballet art of the Donetsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. The ballet troupe of the theater is invited to tour the USA, England, Japan, China, Korea; opera troupe, symphony orchestra and choir - to Italy, Spain, Switzerland. The theater choir, under the direction of the theater’s chief choirmaster, People’s Artist of Ukraine Lyudmila Streltsova, in addition to participating in theater tours, has repeatedly toured with a large concert program, including works of world choral classics, in Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, France, etc. Today, the theater choir is recognized as one of the best in Ukraine. The repertoire of the theater includes performances that are not in any other opera theater in Ukraine: "Bogdan Khmelnitsky" by K. Dankevich, "Falstaff", "Love Potion" by G. Donizetti. In 2009, the theater was given the status of "national". Theater building. Theater built according to the project of the architect L. Kotovsky, who sought to achieve a solemn monumentality of forms, convincing expressiveness and new planning solutions.Reworking the Renaissance techniques of composition, built on calm grandeur and harmonious proportions of volumes, the theater building is crowned with bas-reliefs and three-dimensional sculpture, which emphasize and complete the main architectural The theater building was originally designed for dramatic performances. classical style. The main façade with a loggia faces the theater square. The height of the facade from the side of the square is about 30 meters. The building is located along the axis of Teatralny Avenue, between Artem Street and Pushkin Boulevard. The square and the staircase provide a convenient approach to the theater from three sides. The auditorium, foyer, ceilings and walls of the theater are lavishly decorated with stucco and corresponding light gilding. Sculptural busts of composers, writers and decorative vases are installed in separate niches in the foyer. The auditorium is designed as a parterre for 650 seats and a mezzanine for 320 seats, with small balconies. Above the mezzanine and balconies of the auditorium, there are busts of prominent composers and poets in niches. The form of arrangement of rows of seats in the stalls and on the mezzanine is such that it provides good visibility. In the center of the ceiling of the hall is a large crystal chandelier. The theater has a mechanized stage, the main stage area is 560 sq. m. In 1989-1994. the theater was undergoing reconstruction and selective overhaul. Source: official website of the theater

Teatro San Carlo (Real Teatro di San Carlo) is an opera house in Naples, Italy. One of the oldest operating opera houses in the world. One of the largest opera houses in the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The San Carlo Theater was built by order of the Neapolitan king Charles VII (in Spain Charles III) from the Spanish branch of the Bourbon dynasty, who wanted to provide Naples with a new and larger theater, instead of the outdated San Bartolomeo theater built in 1621. San Carlo was built by the architects Giovanni Antonio Medrano and Angelo Carasale and was opened on November 4, 1737 (41 years older than La Scala in Milan and 51 years older than La Fenice in Venice). The interior of the new theater was in blue and gold colors (the official colors of the Bourbons) and admired for its architecture, the auditorium had five tiers and a large royal box. The first opera staged at San Carlo was Domenico Sarro's Achilles auf Skyros, based on the play famous poet and playwright Pietro Metastasio. On February 12, 1816, the San Carlo theater was destroyed by fire, however, it was quickly, in nine months, rebuilt according to the project of the architect Antonio Nicolini, and less than a year later, on January 12, 1817, the opening of the new San Carlo took place with the premiere of the opera Johann Simon Mayr "Partenope's Dream". The inauguration was attended by the famous French writer Stendhal, who expressed his impression of the theater: "There is nothing in Europe comparable to this theater, nothing can give the slightest idea of ​​​​what it is ... it dazzles the eyes, it delights soul..." In its history, the San Carlo Theater missed only one full season of 1874/75, all the rest of the numerous repairs and reconstructions that were made planned or unplanned, as in 1816 due to a fire, or in 1943 during World War II, when the theater suffered from bombings, or in 1969, when part of the facade collapsed due to lightning, they were carried out quickly and the theater did not miss seasons. Important stages in the reconstruction of the theater were in 1844, when the interior was changed and red and gold became the main colors, in 1890, when the orchestra pit was put into operation, and subsequent ones, when the theater was electrified and a new wing was attached to the building. AT recent history the theater is constantly updated, the last works were carried out in 2007 and 2008, during the last restorations all seats were completely replaced, an air conditioning system was installed, all decorative reliefs were gilded. The number of seats is 3285. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Neopolitan operatic school of composers enjoyed great success throughout Europe, both in the field of opera buffa and in the opera series. The representatives of this school were the composers Francesco Feo (1691-1761), Nicola Porpora (1686-1768), Tommaso Traetta (1727-1779), Niccolò Piccinni (1728-1800), Leonardo da Vinci (other) (1690-1730), Pasquale Anfossi (1727-1797), Francesco Durante (1684-1755), Niccolo Iomelli (1714-1774), Domenico Cimarosa (1749-1801), Giovanni Paisiello (1741-1816), Nicolo Zingarelli (1752-1837), Giuseppe Gazzaniga ( 1743-1818) and many others. Naples was one of the capitals of European music and some foreign composers came specially to give the premiere of their works in San Carlo, among them Johann Adolf Hasse (who later stayed in Naples), Joseph Haydn, Johann Christian Bach, Christoph Willibald Gluck. From 1815 to 1822 Gioacchino Rossini was the musical and artistic director of the royal opera houses, including the San Carlo. Here he held the premieres of ten of his operas: "Elizabeth, Queen of England" (1815), "The Newspaper", "Othello" (1816), "Armida", (1817) "Moses in Egypt", "Ricciardo and Zoraida" (1818) , "Hermione", "Bianca and Faliero", "Eduard and Christina", "Lady of the Lake" (1819), "Mohammed II" (1820) and "Zelmira" (1822). In Naples, Rossini met his future wife, Isabella Colbran, a singer at the San Carlo Theatre. A whole galaxy of famous singers worked (or regularly performed) in the theater, among them Manuel Garcia, a famous singer and teacher himself, he is the father of two legendary sopranos of his time - Maria Malibran and Pauline Viardot. Other famous singers were Clorinda Corradi, Maria Malibran, Giuditta Pasta, Giovanni Battista Rubini and two great Frenchmen - Adolphe Nourri and Gilbert Dupre. After Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, another star of Italian opera, became the artistic director of the royal opera houses. Donizetti remained in this position from 1822 to 1838 and wrote sixteen operas, including Mary Stuart (1834), Roberto Devereux (1837), Polyeuct (1838) and the famous Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Vincenzo Belini held the premiere of "Bianca and Fernando" in San Carlo, Giuseppe Verdi presented here "Alzira" (1845) and "Louise Miller" (1849), the premiere of his third opera "Gustav III" was banned by censors (and never came out in original form, later a revised version was presented in Rome under the name "Masquerade Ball"). In the twentieth century, composers and conductors such as Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea worked and staged their operas in the theater.

Moscow Novaya Opera Theatre. E.V. Kolobov Theater was created in 1991 on the initiative of the theater's artistic director Yevgeny Kolobov (1946-2003) and Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and soon gained fame as one of the best opera companies in Russia. In 1991, the chief conductor of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko MAMT, Yevgeny Kolobov, due to creative differences, left the theater, taking part of the troupe and the entire orchestra with him. Kolobov finds support from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and establishes the Novaya Opera Theater, of which he becomes chief conductor and artistic director. Kolobov's wife, Natalya Popovich, is appointed to the position of chief choirmaster. At first, the theater did not have its own premises, there were concert performances of operas, costumed divertissement (Rossini). In 1997, a building appeared in the Hermitage Garden near the Novaya Opera. The new building of the theater is a hall for 660 seats, equipped with modern lighting equipment and stage mechanics, which allow performances with complex stage effects to be staged. The theater has its own audio and video studio. Relying on opera scores unknown in Russia, Kolobov presents to the Moscow audience the operas Two Foscari (Verdi), Maria Stuart (Donizetti), Valli (Catalani), his own versions of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Verdi's La Traviata . In 2000, at the premiere of the opera Rigoletto, the main part was performed by Dmitry Hvorostovsky. In 2003, due to the death of the founder, the theater began a crisis. The play "Pearl Seekers" by Bizet is perceived critically, and "The Tsar's Bride" is completely negative. In 2005, the artistic management of the theater invites German directors Yossi Willer and Sergio Morabito (musical director and conductor of the production Felix Korobov) to stage Bellini's opera Norma. The opera aroused admiration among Muscovites. And for the difficult soprano part, Tatyana Pechnikova received the Golden Mask award. In March 2006, the People's Artist of the USSR Eri Klas became the chief conductor of the theater, who introduced performances with comic shades into the repertoire (Mozart's Magic Flute, Donizetti's Love Potion, Rossini's The Barber of Seville, Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Die Fledermouse » Strauss). In 2008, Wagner's opera Lohengrin was staged at the theater by director Kasper Holten, and the brilliant maestro Jan Latham-Koenig (Great Britain), who became a permanent guest conductor of the theater, is at the conductor's podium. In the spring of 2009, the premiere operetta The Bat caused dissatisfaction among the public due to the free translation of dialogues, but the reviews about the music were positive. Recently, the theater has begun to offer concert performances of frequently performed, but now unclaimed operas in Russia: Il trovatore, Prince Igor, The Maid of Orleans, etc. at the Novaya Opera" dedicated to the founder of the theater Yevgeny Kolobov, who was born on January 19 in Epiphany. Since 2006, the theater has been named after its founder. The full name of the theatre: Moscow Novaya Opera Theatre. E.V. Kolobov. The theater's repertoire includes masterpieces of opera classics; opera works previously unknown in Russia (“Hamlet” by A.Thoma, “Mary Stuart” by Gaetano Donizetti, “Valley” by A.Catalani); performances based on original musical editions by E.V. Kolobov (“Oh Mozart!” Mozart, “Ruslan and Lyudmila” by M. I. Glinka, “La Traviata” by G. Verdi, “Eugene Onegin” by P. I. Tchaikovsky). The theater owns the first productions in Russia of the operas Mary Stuart by G. Donizetti, The Valley by A. Catalani, The Two Foscari by G. Verdi, Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky (in the first author's version), Hamlet by A. Thomas. A new theatrical genre has also been created - a kind of creative portrait of famous composers and musicians ("Maria Callas", "Viva Verdi!", "Viva Puccini!", "Vincenzo Bellini", "Richard Wagner", "Rossini", "Bravissimo!") . In total, the repertoire of the Novaya Opera Theater includes more than 70 works of opera and concert genres. Every year in January, the theater holds the international festival Epiphany Week at Novaya Opera, in which outstanding masters of musical culture take part. Novaya Opera soloists — People's Artists of Russia Yulia Abakumovskaya, Emma Sargsyan, Honored Artists of Russia Marat Gareev, Marina Zhukova, Elena Svechnikova, Margarita Nekrasova — received honorary titles for years of work in the theatre. Young opera soloists, who have a permanent engagement in the theater, are laureates of international vocal competitions and owners of prestigious theatrical awards, such as Golden Mask, Casta Diva, Triumph. Many soloists of the theater can rightfully be ranked among the best voices of Russia - Tatiana Pechnikova, Elena Popovskaya, Tatiana Smirnova, Elvira Khokhlova, Margarita Nekrasova, Irina Romishevskaya, Alexander Bogdanov, Roman Shulakov, Andrzej Beletsky, Vitaly Bily, Andrey Breus, Vasily Ladyuk, Oleg Didenko , Vladimir Kudashev and others; many of them are also involved in the Bolshoi Theater of Russia, the theaters of the Metropolitan Opera, Arena di Verona, etc. The special role assigned to the orchestra is associated with the variety of creative interests of conductors working in the theater - the chief conductor of the theater, People's Artist of the USSR Eri Klas, People's Artist Russia Anatoly Gus, Honored Artists of Russia Evgeny Samoilov and Sergey Lysenko, Dmitry Volosnikov, Felix Korobov, Valery Kritskov, Nikolai Sokolov. In addition to participating in opera performances, the orchestra performs at the best concert venues in Russia with symphony programs: in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, the Concert Hall. P. I. Tchaikovsky, in the hall of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. The concert repertoire of the orchestra is diverse: symphonies by P.I. Tchaikovsky, D.D. Shostakovich, S.V. F. Chopin, E. Lalo, concert programs with the participation of theater soloists, choir and invited musicians. With independent tours, the orchestra visited Spain (the cities of Zaragoza, Barcelona, ​​Coruña, San Sebastian, 1992), Portugal (Porto, 1992), Germany (Karlsruhe, 2006). Together with the Imperial Russian Ballet, the orchestra visited Turkey (Istanbul, 2000), Finland (Annual Ballet Festival in Mikkele, 2000-2006), Thailand (Bangkok, 2005). In 2001, the orchestra took part in performances of the Los Angeles Opera Company's Don Giovanni by W. A. ​​Mozart and Salome by R. Strauss at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland. The theater choir is a constant participant in all performances, a team of like-minded professionals. In keeping with the aesthetics of the theatre, the choir is involved at all levels of the production. Great importance in the professional education of the choir, it is given to the performance of concert programs from the works of Russian and foreign choral classics, spiritual works, large cantata-oratorio forms, such as "John of Damascus" by S. I. Taneyev, "Requiem" by G. Verdi, "Spring" and " Three Russian Songs” by S. V. Rachmaninov, “Requiem” by V. A. Mozart, “Polovtsian Dances” by A. P. Borodin, “Alexander Nevsky” by S. S. Prokofiev, “Moscow” by P. I. Tchaikovsky, “Carmina Burana "C. Orff. Novaya Opera is characterized by a modern approach to scenography and directing. The theater cooperates with well-known masters in the field of theatrical art to create performances of different directions and styles: these are directors - Stanislav Mitin, Sergey Artsibashev, V. Vasiliev [who?], Valery Belyakovich, Mikhail Efremov, Alla Sigalova, Roman Viktyuk, Yuri Grymov, Andreys Žagars, Yuri Alexandrov, Achim Freier, Yossi Wheeler and Sergio Morabito, Ralph Lyangbaka, K. Heiskanen, Kasper Holten, Elijah Moshinsky, Gennady Shaposhnikov; artists - Sergey Barkhin, Alla Kozhenkova, Eduard Kochergin, Ernst Heydebrecht, Viktor Gerasimenko, Maria Danilova, Eleonora Maklakova, Marina Azizyan, V. Okunev, S. Pastukh, A. Frayer, A. Fibrok, A. Freibergs, S. Aarfing, E. Tilby. Outstanding masters of musical culture work with the Novaya Opera team: conductors Yuri Temirkanov, Eri Klas, Gintaras Rinkevicius, Daniel Lipton; instrumentalists Eliso Virsaladze and Nikolai Petrov, Tatyana Sergeeva (piano), Natalia Gutman (cello), Finnish jazzman Antti Sarpila (clarinet, saxophone); opera singers José Cura, Placido Domingo, Mario Frangulis, Dmitry Hvorostovsky (about 10 joint performances), Franz Grundheber, Paata Burchuladze, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Deborah Myers, Lyubov Kazarnovskaya and Anastasia Volochkova; Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, as well as soloists of the New York African-American opera company Ebony Opera. Tour map of the Novaya Opera: Greece (closing of the annual music festival in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens anniversary concerts Mikis Theodorakis in 2005), Cyprus (for several years the theater has been participating in opera festivals together with Mario Frangoulis and Deborah Myers, and also participated in a triumphal concert dedicated to the arrival of the outstanding Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis in Cyprus in 2005), Italy (Perugia Musicale Umbra Festival), France (Champs-Élysées Theatre, Paris), Germany (Reithalle Hall, Munich), Israel (Rishon Lezion), Finland (Savonlinna Opera Festival, Kuopio Concert Hall, annual festival Ballet in Mikkeli), USA (14 performances of Eugene Onegin at the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway, New York), Estonia (Birgitta Festival in Tallinn), Spain, Portugal, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine, and also Russian cities. The high performing skills of the troupe, the originality of stage solutions brought the theater a well-deserved fame. The theater team is the owner of the Golden Mask National Theater Award, the Casta Diva Russian Opera Award, the Triumph Independent Award, the Sony BMG Greece Award (Greece), and the Star of the Week diploma from the German newspaper Abendzeitung. In 1999 the theater was admitted to the European Opera Society Opera Europa. In 2003, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the founder of the theater Evgeny Kolobov (posthumously), the director of the theater Sergei Lysenko and the chief choirmaster Natalya Popovich were awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation for the creation of the Novaya Opera Theater. In 2006, the theater was named after its founder, Yevgeny Kolobov.

City Opera House (Lyric Opera) (Civic Opera House/Lyric Opera) is an opera house in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The auditorium of the theater is designed for 3563 seats, which makes it the second largest theater in the world, after the Metropolitan Opera. The theater is part of a 45-story office building with two 22-story wings. The building is now owned by the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The City Opera House was built in 1929 by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, which built a number of buildings in downtown Chicago, the main architect was Alfred Shaw, the lead civil engineer Magnus Gunderson (Magnus Gunderson) . The building is located on the main street of Chicago - Walker Drive and has two styles and two faces - from the side of the Chicago River it has a view in the exemplary art deco style, very common at this time, a view from the street with a long row of columns, as well as the interior tetras were inspired by French neoclassicism, presumably in imitation of the Paris Opera Garnier. The interior space and the hall are also richly decorated, the "fiery" curtain, painted with scenes and characters from various operas, stands out in particular, the grandiose march from "Aida" occupies the central place. The main customer and financier, who invested half the cost of construction, was the Chicago businessman, philanthropist and patron of the arts Samuel Insull, who was originally an employee of Thomas Edison's General Electric company and came to Chicago to expand the business. Within a few years, the new Chicago Edison Company (later renamed and reorganized) became the city's largest electrical and power company, and also owned some of the city's other major companies. Insull was married to an actress many years his junior, they both loved art, and he built a theater as a gift to his wife, who was denied a performance at the Metropolitan Opera (although this is only a rumor, because his wife was not a singer and did not aspired to perform in the opera). The idea of ​​combining the opera house and shopping and office space was to receive additional income during the breaks between opera seasons. The high-rise building with two wings resembles a giant armchair, which is why it is sometimes called the "throne of Insull" Samuel Insull himself. However, the Great Depression that began six days earlier had a negative impact on the theater, the theater was empty and was on the verge of survival, the first opera group broke up. Insull himself lost most of his business, was prosecuted, went into hiding in Europe, was later acquitted and died in Paris in relative poverty. Several opera companies were based at the theater in the 1930s and 40s, none of which lasted long. In 1954, the theater was leased by the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which bought the building outright in 1993. Lyric opera launched large-scale repair work. Everything that needed updating was updated, the global reconstruction was completed in 1996.

The Sydney Opera House is one of the most famous and easily recognizable buildings in the world, which is a symbol of Australia's largest city, Sydney, and one of the main attractions of Australia - The sail-shaped shells that form the roof make this building unlike any other in the world. The Opera House is recognized as one of the outstanding buildings of modern architecture and since 1973, along with the Harbor Bridge, has been the hallmark of Sydney. The Sydney Opera House was opened on October 20, 1973 by Queen Elizabeth II of England. The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney Harbour, at Bennelong Point. This place got its name from an Australian aborigine, a friend of the first governor of the colony. It is hard to imagine Sydney without the Opera, but until 1958 there was an ordinary tram depot in its place (before the opera building there was a fort, and then a tram depot). The architect of the Opera House is the Dane Jorn Utzon. Despite the success of the concept of spherical shells, which solved all the problems of construction, being well suited for mass production, precise manufacturing and ease of installation, construction was delayed, mainly due to interior decoration. It was planned that the construction of the Opera would take 4 years and would cost 7 million Australian dollars. Instead, the opera took 14 years to build and cost $102 million! The Sydney Opera House is an Expressionist building with a radical and innovative design. The building covers an area of ​​2.2 hectares. Its height is 185 meters and the maximum width is 120 meters. The building weighs 161,000 tons and rests on 580 piles sunk into the water to a depth of almost 25 meters from sea level. Its power supply is equivalent to the electricity consumption of one city with a population of 25,000 people. Electricity is distributed over 645 kilometers of cable. The roof of the opera house consists of 2,194 prefabricated sections, its height is 67 meters and the weight is more than 27 tons, the entire structure is supported by steel cables 350 kilometers long. The roof of the theater is formed by a series of "shells" of a non-existent concrete sphere 492 feet in diameter, commonly referred to as "shells" or "sails", although this is incorrect in terms of the architectural definition of such a structure. These shells are constructed from prefabricated, triangular concrete panels supported by 32 prefabricated ribs of the same material. All ribs form part of one large circle, which allowed the outlines of the roofs to have the same shape, and the whole building to have a complete and harmonious look. The entire roof is covered with 1,056,006 azulejo tiles in white and matte cream. Although from afar the structure seems to be made entirely of white tiles, under different lighting conditions the tiles create different color schemes. Thanks to the mechanical way of laying tiles, the entire surface of the roof turned out to be perfectly smooth, which was impossible with manual coating. All tiles were produced by the Swedish factory Höganäs AB with self-cleaning technology, but in spite of this, work is carried out regularly to clean and replace some of the tiles. The two largest arches of shells form the ceiling of the Concert Hall and the Opera Theatre. In other rooms, the ceilings form clusters of smaller vaults. The stepped structure of the roof was very beautiful, but created height problems inside the building, because the resulting height did not provide proper acoustics in the halls. To solve this problem, separate ceilings were made to reflect sound. In the smallest shell, away from the main entrance and the main staircase, is the Bennelong Restaurant. The interior of the building is finished with pink granite brought from the Tarana region (New South Wales), wood and plywood. For this project, Utzon received the Pritzker Prize, the highest award in architecture, in 2003. The award was accompanied by the words: "There is no doubt that the Sydney Opera House is his masterpiece. It is one of the great iconic buildings of the 20th century, an image of extraordinary beauty that has become known throughout the world - a symbol not only of the city, but of the whole country and continent ." The Sydney Opera House is home to four key art companies in Australia - the Australian Opera, the Australian Ballet, the Sydney Theater Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as many other companies and theaters based at the Sydney Opera House. This theater is one of the busiest centers for the performing arts, hosting around 1,500 performances each year with a total attendance of over 1.2 million people. It is also one of Australia's most popular attractions, with over seven million tourists visiting each year. The Opera House building has three main performance halls: - The Concert Hall, with 2,679 seats, is the home of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It contains the world's largest working mechanical organ, with over 10,000 pipes. - The Opera House, 1507 seats, is the home of the Sydney Opera House and the Australian Ballet. - Drama Theatre, 544 seats, used by the Sydney Theater Company and other dance and theater groups. In addition to these three halls, the Sydney Opera House contains several smaller halls and studios.

The Grand Theater La Fenice ("Phoenix") (Gran Teatro La Fenice) is an opera house in Venice, repeatedly destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The theater is the venue for the International Festival of Contemporary Music. The Teatro La Fenice was built between 1790 and 1792. The name "Phoenix" reflects the fact that the theater was "reborn from the ashes" twice. In 1774, the leading Venetian opera house of the time, San Benedetto, burned to the ground. The management company restored it, but lost the dispute with its owner in court and again lost the theater. As a result, the company decided to build its own new house operas. Construction began in June 1790 and was completed in May 1792. The theater was named "La Fenice", testifying to the revival. It was opened on May 16, 1792 with Paisiello's opera The Games of Agrigentum. On December 13, 1836, the theater was destroyed by fire, but quickly restored to its original model, under the direction of the architects Tommaso and Giambattista Medun. A year later, in 1837, the theater reopened its doors. In the nineteenth century, La Fenice became the venue for the premieres of many operas by prominent Italian authors, in particular Gioacchino Rossini (Tancred, 1813, Semiramide, 1823), Vincenzo Bellini (Capulets and Montecchis, 1830, Beatrice di Tandi, 1833). ) and Giuseppe Verdi (Ernani, 1843, Attila, 1846, Rigoletto, 1851, La Traviata, 1853, Simon Boccanegra, 1857). The premiere of La Traviata was initially booed by the audience in Phoenix. In 1930, the Venice Biennale initiated the first international festival of contemporary music. In 1937 the theater was reconstructed according to the project of Eugenio Miozzo. Outstanding premieres of the 20th century were productions of the opera The Rake's Progress by I. Stravinsky (1951) and The Turn of the Screw by B. Britten. On January 29, 1996, the theater building was again destroyed by fire, set on fire by the electrician Enrico Carella, who was trying to avoid contractual penalties for delays in work. With state support, the theater was restored and solemnly opened on December 14, 2003. The choir and orchestra of La Scala, conducted by Muti, performed at the opening. The program of celebrations on the occasion of the revival of Fenice included the best orchestras in the world, including the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov, who performed works by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is a musical theater in Samara, Russia. The Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is one of the largest Russian musical theaters. The opening of the theater took place on June 1, 1931 with Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. At its origins were outstanding Russian musicians- a student of Taneyev and Rimsky-Korsakov, conductor and composer Anton Eikhenvald, conductor of the Bolshoi Theater Ariy Pazovsky, famous Russian conductor Isidor Zak, director of the Bolshoi Theater Iosif Lapitsky. Such masters as conductors Saveliy Bergolts, Lev Ossovsky, director Boris Ryabikin, singers Alexander Dolsky, People's Artist of the Ukrainian SSR Nikolay Poludyonny, People's Artist of Russia Viktor Chernomortsev, People's Artist of the RSFSR, future soloist of the Bolshoi Theater Natalia Shpiller, Larisa Boreyko entered their names in the history of the theater and many others. The ballet troupe was headed by Evgenia Lopukhova, a soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, a participant in the legendary Diaghilev seasons in Paris. She opened a series of brilliant St. Petersburg choreographers who in different years headed the Samara ballet. The ballet masters of the Samara Theater were the talented choreographer, student of Agrippina Vaganova Natalya Danilova, the legendary St. Petersburg ballerina Alla Shelest, soloist of the Mariinsky Theater Igor Chernyshev, People's Artist of the USSR Nikita Dolgushin. The theater is rapidly gaining repertoire. The productions of the 1930s featured opera and ballet classics: operas by Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Dargomyzhsky, Rossini, Verdi, Puccini, ballets by Tchaikovsky, Minkus, Adana. The theater also pays great attention to the modern repertoire, in accordance with the requirements of the time. In the pre-war period, the operas The Steppe by A. Eikhenwald, Tanya by Kreitner, The Taming of the Shrew by Shebalin and others were staged for the first time in the country. In its posters there are dozens of titles, from the classics of the 18th century. (“Medea” by Cherubini, “The Secret Marriage” by Cimarosa) and little-performed works by Russian composers of the 19th century. ("Servilia" by Rimsky-Korsakov, "The Enchantress" by Tchaikovsky, "The Elka" by Rebikov) to the European avant-garde of the 20th century. (“The Dwarf” by von Zemlinsky, “The Wedding” by Stravinsky, “Arlekino” by Busoni). A special page in the life of the theater is co-creation with modern domestic authors. Outstanding artists have entrusted their works to our stage Russian composers Sergey Slonimsky and Andrey Eshpay, Tikhon Khrennikov and Andrey Petrov. The world premiere of Slonimsky's opera Visions of Ivan the Terrible, performed by the great 20th-century musician Mstislav Rostropovich in collaboration with outstanding stage masters director Robert Sturua and artist Georgy Aleksi-Meskhishvili, was a significant event far beyond Samara cultural life. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the cultural situation in the city was changing dramatically. In October 1941, the State Bolshoi Theater of the USSR was evacuated to Kuibyshev/Samara (“reserve capital”). The artistic initiative passes to the greatest masters of the Soviet opera and ballet scene. For 1941 - 1943 The Bolshoi Theater showed 14 operas and ballets in Samara. World-famous singers Ivan Kozlovsky, Maxim Mikhailov, Mark Reizen, Valeria Barsova, Natalya Shpiller, ballerina Olga Lepeshinskaya performed on the Samara stage, Samosud, Fire, Melik-Pashayev conducted. Until the summer of 1943, the collective of the Bolshoi Theater lived and worked in Kuibyshev. In gratitude for the help of local residents in this difficult time, its artists came to the Volga more than once after the war with their new works, as well as with the historical wartime repertoire. In 2005, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the staff of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia gave the Samara audience a new meeting with your art. Tour performances and concerts (Shostakovich's ballet "The Bright Stream", Mussorgsky's opera "Boris Godunov", the great Victory Symphony - Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, a concert of a brass band and opera soloists) were a triumphant success. As General Director of the Bolshoi Theater of Russia A. Iksanov noted, “For the entire staff of the Bolshoi Theater, these tours are another opportunity to express their deep gratitude to the people of Samara for the fact that the Bolshoi Theater found a second home here in the most difficult wartime.” The pinnacle of the musical life of Samara in the 20th century, a truly historic event, was the performance of Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh ("Leningrad") Symphony on the stage of the Samara Opera House. The great work, reflecting the tragic events of wartime, conveying all the greatness of the feat of Soviet soldiers, was completed by the composer in December 1941 in the evacuation in Samara and performed by the Bolshoi Theater Orchestra under the direction of Samuil Samosud on March 5, 1942. The theater lives an intense life. The reconstruction is being completed, new names appear on the poster, singers and dancers win prestigious international and all-Russian competitions, new creative forces are pouring into the troupe. The theater team can be proud of the concentration of talented, bright creative individuals. Honored Artists of Russia Mikhail Gubsky and Vasily Svyatkin are soloists not only at the Samara Theatre, but also at the Bolshoi Theater of Russia and the Moscow Novaya Opera Theatre. Anatoly Nevdakh takes part in the performances of the Bolshoi Theater, Andrey Antonov successfully performs on the stages of Russian and foreign theaters. The level of the opera troupe is also proved by the presence of a large number of "titled" singers in it: 5 folk artists, 8 honored artists, 10 laureates of international and all-Russian competitions. There are many talented young people in the troupe, with whom they willingly share the secrets of mastery older generation artists. Since 2008, the ballet troupe of the theater has significantly raised the bar. The theater team was headed by the Honored Artist of Russia Kirill Shmorgoner, who had graced the ballet troupe of the Perm Theater for a long time. K. Shmorgoner invited to the theater a large group of his students, graduates of one of the best educational institutions in the country - the Perm Choreographic School. Young ballet dancers Ekaterina Pervushina and Viktor Malygin became laureates of the prestigious international competition "Arabesque", a whole group of Samara dancers successfully performed at the All-Russian festival "Delphic Games". In recent years, the theater has hosted several premieres that have received a great response from the audience: the operas Mozart and Salieri by Rimsky-Korsakov, The Moor by Stravinsky, Pergolesi's The Maid, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Verdi's Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly" by Puccini, choreographic cantata "The Wedding" by Stravinsky, Hertel's ballet " Vain Precaution". The theater actively cooperates in these productions with Moscow masters from the Bolshoi Theater, new opera, with other theaters in Russia. Much attention is paid to staging musical fairy tales for children. Opera and ballet artists also perform on the concert stage. Among the theatre's tour routes are Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Russian cities. The intensive touring practice of the theater made it possible to get acquainted with the latest works and the residents of the Samara region. A bright page in the life of the theater is festivals. Among them are the Alla Shelest Classical Ballet Festival, the international festival Basses of the 21st Century, Five Evenings in Tolyatti, and the Samara Spring Opera Festival. Thanks to the theater's festival initiatives, Samara audiences could get acquainted with the art of dozens of major masters domestic and foreign opera and ballet art. The theater's creative plans include productions of the opera "Prince Igor", the ballets "Don Quixote", "The Sleeping Beauty". By the 80th anniversary, the theater plans to show Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov, thus returning to the roots at a new stage in its historical development. A massive gray building rises on the central square of the city - according to art critics, "a grandiose monument of the late" pilonade style "to which brutal classics is added", "a vivid example of the architecture of the 30s". The authors of the project are Leningrad architects N.A. Trotsky and N.D. Katseleneggbogen, who won the competition for the creation of the Palace of Culture in 1935. The theater was located in the central part of the building. In the left wing for some time there was a regional library, in the right wing - sport school and an art museum. In 2006, the reconstruction of the building began, which required the eviction of the sports school and the museum. By 2010, the anniversary season of the theater, the reconstruction was completed.