State Academic Maly Theater of Russia. Main stage. State Academic Maly Theater of Russia On the Wings of Romance

Russian culture famous for its actors, directors, authors. The pride of theatrical art is the Maly Theater on Ordynka, which, moreover, has a rich history.

The birth of the theater

Empress Ekaterina Petrovna, who loved theatrical art so much, issued a decree in 1756, thanks to which a Russian theater was established in St. Petersburg. At the same time, a theater was opened in Moscow, the actors of which were students. Already in 1759, the public Russian theater created in Moscow was transferred to the jurisdiction of Moscow University. It was run by the university director, playwright, poet Kheraskov. The existence of the institution was short-lived, but it was on its basis that a permanent Moscow acting troupe was later formed.

Theater of the late 18th and early 19th centuries

For several decades, the Moscow troupe, which included actors, singers, dancers, musicians, existed thanks to the support of private entrepreneurs. M.E.Medox was the longest running entrepreneur. In 1780, he built a large theater called Petrovsky, which was located on Petrovskaya Square. Since 1806, the entire troupe began to exist at public expense, it was included in the system of the imperial theaters. Shortly before this moment, a fire broke out in the Petrovsky Theater, the troupe began to work either in Pashkov's house, which was adapted for a theater, then at the Arbat Gate, then on Znamenka in the Apraksin house. Only in the 1824-1825 season, the imperial troupe found its permanent home - the name of which is the Maly Theater. The house of the merchant Vargin was rebuilt, and the first performance took place here on October 14.

History

In 1914, the architect Spirin created a project, according to which the Kino-Palace was not rebuilt into the Struisky Theater. mostly visited by the population of Zamoskvorechye. Soon it was transformed into the Theater of Miniatures. After the 1917 revolution, the Bolsheviks nationalized the theater. A variety of troupes performed on the stage, presenting performances of many styles. In 1922, the theater of the Zamoskvoretsky Council was formed here. Three years later, it was named Lensovet. Only in 1943, during the war, a branch of the Maly Theater on Ordynka was formed here. The first performance took place on January 1, 1944, based on Ostrovsky's play "In a Busy Place". The first premiere took place on January 25, 1944, it was the play "Engineer Sergeev".

Theater name

From history it is clear that the Maly Theater on Ordynka became so called solely because of its size. The building was small in comparison with the neighboring Bolshoi Theater, which was intended for opera and ballet performances. Soon the name "Maly", like "Bolshoi", turned into a proper name. Now these names all over the world sound in Russian. The repertoire of the Maly Theater on Ordynka consisted of performances based on the works of the great Russian classics: Pushkin, Gogol, Griboyedov, Turgenev, Ostrovsky. Also, the viewer was presented with performances based on Shakespeare and Schiller. Of all foreign authors, they were given the greatest preference. Along with serious performances, the stage of the Maly Theater on Ordynka lured the audience with an easy repertoire, these were melodramas, vaudeville.

Theater during the war

During World War II, the Maly Theater on Ordynka took an active part in the struggle against the fascist invaders. The theater troupe contributed to the great victory. Artists were part of the front brigades, performed in front of soldiers in hospitals, in 1943, even a front branch was formed. The team was given one task - artistic service for the fighters Soviet army... In total, the Maly Theater and its Front Branch gave more than 2,700 concerts and performances. All the funds accumulated by the team were used to build a squadron of aircraft, which was transferred to the active army. In 1944-1945, this squadron successfully smashed the Nazis in the sky.

Small theater of our time

Someone will find it mystical that the theater staff believes that a modest, austere building retains the aura of old, long gone great artists. Spirits protect and preserve the theater in the most difficult times. They preserved it in the days of the post-revolutionary lawlessness at the beginning of the 20th century, helped not to disappear in the dashing war years. Despite the rapid life changes, crises, instability, the theater has always existed.

In 1995, the Maly Theater on Ordynka opened the stage after renovation. The performances continue to this day on both stages. Today the troupe's repertoire is still rich classical works... The basis is made up of Ostrovsky's plays. The Maly troupe includes famous folk artists Bystritskaya, Kayurov, Korshunov, Martsevich, Muravyova, Klyuev, Nevzorov, Bochkarev, Klyukvin, Potapov and many others. More than a hundred artists are involved in the troupe. In general, the Maly Theater has over 700 people. The theater has its own orchestra, where musicians of the highest class work. The troupe often gives performances in other countries and cities. The touring geography includes such countries as Finland, Italy, France, Germany, Israel, Japan, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Hungary, Mongolia and many others. By the decree of the President of Russia, the Maly Theater received the status of a national treasure.

One of the oldest drama theaters in Russia is the State Academic Maly Theater. It was he who at one time played a decisive role in the development national culture country and the formation of stage performance as a separate art form. Thanks to the Maly Theater, the expressiveness, imagery and power of genre mastery have been brought to perfection.

I started my creative way the Moscow monastery of Melpomene back in 1756, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth Petrovna, who ordered the establishment of a Russian theater for the presentation of tragedies and comedies. Initially, it looked like a university-based acting studio, in which only university students could participate. But in 1776 the theater became independent and acquired the official status of the Imperial Stage with a permanent troupe consisting only of professional artists.

Theatrical and dramatic art reached its greatest flowering during the reign of Alexander I. At the same time, in 1803, the theater was divided into two completely different genres of creativity - opera and drama. As a result of such a radical transformation of the performing arts, in 1824 the Maly Theater appeared with its own building and repertoire. It is located in the very center of Moscow on Petrovskaya (today Teatralnaya) square.

Even during the Second World War, the academic theater did not stop its work, trying to actively support the national army. Thanks to his financial assistance, an air squadron "Maly Theater to the Front" was built, known for its victorious air assault in 1944-1945 in East Prussia. The building of the Maly Theater was restored only in 1946. Today the building is ranked among the most valuable objects of national heritage and declared the property of the peoples of Russia.

The Maly Theater in its work has always relied on the rich traditions of the Russian stage school. Despite the great variety modern trends v theater arts, it is still traditional classical theater... His extensive repertoire includes best works authors of Russian and world drama - Fonvizin, Krylov, Gogol, Chekhov, Beaumarchais, Moliere, Shakespeare, Schiller, etc. Ostrovsky.

Modern life of the Maly Theater

Today, as before, the theater is actively functioning, giving performances not only in the vastness of Russia, but also abroad. Thanks to this, the Moscow Academic Maly Theater is well known in many countries of the world. Wherein tour schedule troupes are so dense that artists go abroad even more often than at home.

The modern repertoire of the Maly Theater is constantly being updated, presenting to the audience's judgment except well famous works, new, but no less interesting, dramatic material. In addition, the life of the theater is always full of creative events, the brightest of which is the forum “ International festival national theaters ”and the annual festival“ Ostrovsky in Ostrovsky's house ”.

• Despite the demand for Chekhov's plays in Maly, initially the relationship between the writer and the theater was not easy. For many years in a row, the playwright was denied staging his works, giving preference to the work of Ostrovsky. Today, the repertoire of the Maly Theater includes several Chekhov's performances - "Three Sisters", " The Cherry Orchard"," Proposal "," Bear "and" Seagull ".
• On the stage of the Maly Theater, 48 plays by A.N. Ostrovsky, and the playwright himself actively participated not only in rehearsals of performances, but also in the entire theatrical bohemian life. Because of this, Malyi had its unofficial name as "Ostrovsky's House".
• The play "Woe from Wit" by A.S. Griboyedov was first shown in full in 1831. Prior to this, censorship allowed only individual episodes of this work to be staged.

“Maly Theater! ... This is the Russian Academie des Sciences!

This is the college of immortals! "

Alexander Amfitheatrov

In 1756, after the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the establishment of a Russian theater in St. Petersburg followed, and soon a theater was opened at Moscow University, the actors of which were its students. In 1759, a Russian public theater was created in Moscow, transferred to the jurisdiction of Moscow University, under the direction of the director of the university, poet and playwright M.M. Kheraskov. The theater did not last long, but on its basis the first permanent troupe was subsequently formed in Moscow.

For several decades the Moscow troupe, which included dramatic actors, singers, dancers and musicians, was headed by private entrepreneurs, including the most successful and most successful entrepreneur M.E. Medoks, who in 1780 built a new Bolshoi Theater, which was named Petrovsky (after the name the area on which it was located). Since 1806, the troupe of the Petrovsky Theater passed to the state account, to the system of imperial theaters, and became known as the Imperial Moscow Theater. But since shortly before this event the building of the Petrovsky Theater burned down, the troupe gave their performances either in Pashkov's house on Mokhovaya, adapted for a theater, then in a wooden theater near the Arbat Gate, which burned down in 1812, then in Apraksin's house on Znamenka. And only in the season of 1824/25, when on October 14, the first performance took place in the rebuilt by the architect V.O. Beauvais, the house of the merchant Vargin, the dramatic part of the Moscow Imperial troupe found its permanent home - the Maly Theater.

Moskovskie vedomosti published an announcement about the first performance in the Maly Theater: “The Directorate of the Imperial Moscow Theater announces through this that next Tuesday, October 14 of this year, will be given at the new Maly Theater, in the Vargin's house, on Petrovskaya Square, for the opening of this performance 1- th, namely: a new overture of works. AN Verstovsky, later for the second time: Lilia of Narbonne, or The Vow of a Knight, a new dramatic knightly performance-ballet ... "

As you can see, the word "small" was not even written with a capital letter at first - after all, it is simply explained by the size of the building, which was small compared to the neighboring Bolshoi Theater, intended for ballet and opera performances. But soon the words "Big" and "Small" became proper names, and now in all countries of the world they sound in Russian. For some time, the ballet and opera and drama troupes of the Imperial Moscow Theater were one and the same: one and the same artist could participate in performances of various kinds, the theaters were connected by an underground passage.

And since then, within the walls of this classic building of strict lines and perfect proportions, the voices of outstanding artists have not ceased. And in a cozy, one of the most beautiful in Moscow, the audience cries and laughs, rejoices and is horrified, freezes with delight and explodes with applause, shaking the tragic insights of the restless romantic Mochalov, admiring the living, natural intonations of the great Shchepkin, submitting to the soulful game and the power of the tragic the talents of Provo Sadovsky, empathizing with the heroic pathos and inspirational impulses of the genius Yermolova ... What magnificent, unique artists worked on this stage! How many were there ?! Rykalova, Nikulina, Medvedeva, Fedotova, the artistic family of the Sadovskys, the Borozdin dynasty - Muzili - Ryzhovs, Lensky, Yuzhin, Leshkovskaya, Yablochkina, Ostuzhev, Pashennaya, Turchaninova, Ilyinsky, Zharov, Babochkin, Tsarev ... can you name them all? And each name is a golden page in the history of Russian theater.

And what wonderful authors the theater opened to a wide democratic audience! Even during the life of A.S. Pushkin, Maly created stage versions of three works of the poet: "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1825), " Bakhchisarai fountain"(1827) and" Gypsy "(1832). From foreign drama, the theater gave preference to the works of Shakespeare and Schiller. However, along with serious plays, there was also a "light" repertoire at the Maly Theater: melodramas and vaudeville. An important event in the life of Maly was staging the comedy by A.S. Griboyedov "Woe from Wit". In 1830, the censorship allowed only certain scenes from the play to be performed, and in 1831 theatrical Moscow saw all four acts for the first time. immortal work... Two great masters of the Moscow stage took part in the play - Shchepkin as Famusov and Mochalov as Chatsky. An equally important stage in creative life The Maly Theater was staged by plays by N.V. Gogol. Myself great writer, hoping for an accurate reading of his play "The Inspector General" at the Maly Theater, wrote a letter to MS Shchepkin, where he gave him advice for the production. The theater also created a staging “ Dead souls", And later staged" The Marriage "and" The Players ". I.S. Turgenev highly appreciated the art of the Maly Theater. Especially for Maly and his luminary - MS Shchepkin - he created his plays "The Bachelor" and "The Freeloader". The famous comedy "The Wedding of Krechinsky" by A.V. Sukhovo-Kobylin was presented for the first time at the Maly Theater.

A. N. Ostrovsky, portrait by V.G. Perov

I.A.Goncharov, referring to A.N. Ostrovsky, wrote: “Only after you, we, Russians, can proudly say:“ We have our own Russian, national theater... It, in all fairness, should be called "Ostrovsky Theater". Today Ostrovsky and Maly Theater are names that are inseparable from each other. The great playwright wrote 48 plays, and all of them were staged at Maly. Ostrovsky created plays especially for Maly, and he always read them to the actors himself. In addition, he conducted rehearsals, determining the interpretation and nature of the performance of the pieces. Many works were written by Ostrovsky for benefit performances, at the request of one or another actor of the Maly Theater.

Even during the playwright's lifetime, Maly began to be called “Ostrovsky's House”. The monument to the great playwright was erected at the entrance to the theater in 1929. And no matter what changes took place in the theater and in society, Ostrovsky's plays retained and retain their leading position in the Maly. More than 150 years ago, an alliance was concluded, indissoluble to this day: Ostrovsky found his theater, the Maly Theater - his playwright.

Today, as always, the theater's repertoire is based on the plays by A.N. Ostrovsky: “Enough simplicity for every wise man”, “Truth is good, but happiness is better”, “ The last sacrifice"," Wolves and Sheep "," There was not a penny, but suddenly altyn "," Forest "," Mad money "," Day after day "," Our people - we will be numbered! "," Poverty is not a vice ", "Dowry".

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, works of Russian and foreign classics continued to form the basis of the Maly Theater's repertoire.

At the same time, the public's interest in the art of the Maly Theater remained extremely high - for example, the play "The Maid of Orleans" by F. Schiller with the great Yermolova in starring walked on stage for many years, and 9 years after the premiere, he was moved to the stage The Bolshoi Theater, since Maly did not accommodate everyone who wanted to see it. It also happened that, on the contrary, opera and ballet performances were staged in Maly. It was here, at the request of PI Tchaikovsky, that the premiere of the opera "Eugene Onegin" took place.

It may seem like mysticism, but even today the artists and staff of the Maly Theater believe that the austere, modest building on Teatralnaya Square preserves the aura of the great artists of the past within its walls. The spirits of the past protect the theater in its most difficult moments. They supported him in the days of post-revolutionary lawlessness, when radical representatives of the theater commissariat wanted to close the imperial theater as allegedly not needed by the new viewer. They helped to withstand the hard times of war and not to retreat from their main road during the protracted "perestroika". They still help to overcome the period of instability, continuous, rapid changes in the life of society and the state.

Years passed, epochs changed, new generations came, but while maintaining a continuity, the artists who performed on this famous stage zealously guarded and creatively developed the best realistic traditions of the oldest Russian theater. The creative method of the Maly Theater was improved, its stage school was created. And the art of the masters of the Moscow stage acquired those unique features that allow us to talk about the special significance of the Maly Theater in history. drama theater... And the Maly Theater remains a fundamentally traditional theater. A theater whose repertoire is based primarily on Russian and world classics. A theater, the basis of the stage practice of which was and remains the cult of acting.

During the life of A.P. Chekhov, the Maly Theater did not have a good relationship with his drama. Despite the fact that it was to the Maly Theater that Chekhov, who was friends with its actors, brought his first dramatic compositions of large forms, only the vaudeville Proposal, The Bear and Jubilee were staged on the Moscow imperial stage. However, today performances based on the great plays of Chekhov occupy a significant place in the life of the theater: "The Cherry Orchard", "The Seagull", "Three Sisters".

Tolstoy's dramatic trilogy, which tells about the history of the Russian State: Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich, Tsar Boris, has become a kind of "visiting card" of the Maly Theater. In performances based on A.K. Tolstoy sounds music by G.V. Sviridov, which great composer wrote specifically for the Maly Theater. The theater does not deprive its attention of foreign classics - in its repertoire there are plays by W. Shakespeare, C. Goldoni, J.-B. Moliere, E. Scribe.

In October 1995, the stage of the Maly Theater on Bolshaya Ordynka Street was opened after renovation. Every day, except Monday, performances are performed on both stages.

The theater is headed by the artistic director, People's Artist of the USSR YM Solomin. In the troupe of the theater there are many famous artists, beloved by the people - People's Artist USSR E.A. Bystritskaya, People's Artists of Russia Yu.I. Kayurov, I.V. Muravyova, L.P. Polyakova, V.I. Bochkarev, B.V. Klyuev, E.K. Glushenko, A.V. Korshunov, S.G. Amanova, B.G. Nevzorov, A.V. Klyukvin, Vl.B. Nosik and many others - the list goes on. The troupe of the theater numbers more than 100 people, and the total number of the theater employees is more than 700. The Maly Theater has retained its own orchestra. The orchestra includes musicians of the highest professional level, laureates of international competitions.

In each season, Maly produces several new performances and removes some of the old titles of his repertoire. The touring geography of the theater is also extensive - for last years he visited Finland, Italy, Germany, France, Japan, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Mongolia, South Korea and other countries. The Maly Theater is the initiator and regularly conducts the All-Russian Festival "Ostrovsky in the House of Ostrovsky". This festival carries out a noble mission of supporting the Russian theater province always rich in talents. Theaters from different cities and regions of Russia present their performances based on the plays of the great playwright on the stage of the Maly Theater. In 2010, the Maly Theater was admitted to the Union of Theaters of Europe (CTE), and in 2012 it held the International CTE Festival on its stage, in which groups from Israel, Greece, Romania and Italy took part.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Maly Theater did not stand aside from the general struggle for Victory. Theater artists were among the first to take part in the work of front-line brigades that performed in military units and hospitals. In 1943, the Front Branch of the Maly Theater was created, whose task was to provide artistic services to the active units of the army. Over 2,700 front-line performances and concerts by the brigades of the Maly Theater and its front-line branch were given during the war years.

With funds raised by the theater staff, in 1944 a squadron of aircraft was built and handed over to the army, which was named "Maly Theater to the Front". From October 1944 to May 1945, the squadron smashed the enemy in the skies over East Prussia.

In the summer of 2010, the Maly Theater conducted a charity tour of 8 cities of the Volga region "Maly Theater - Great Victory!", Dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 150th anniversary of the birth of A.P. Chekhov.

In 1991, by the Decree of the President of Russia, the Maly Theater, as a particularly valuable object of national heritage, was declared the property of the peoples of Russia.

The construction of the Maly Theater building was started in 1821 by the merchant V.V. Vargin. In 1824, forming the ensemble of Petrovskaya Square, O. Bove rebuilt the building for the theater. In October 1824, the Moscow drama troupe gave its first performance here. In 1838-1840. architect K. Ton, rebuilding the theater (mainly interior), almost completely preserved it appearance.

In 1929, a monument to A.N. Ostrovsky.

SCENE ON BOLSHOI ORDYNKA
(branch of the Maly Theater)

In 1914, a building on Bolshaya Ordynka, 69, designed by architect. ON. Spirina was rebuilt from the Kino-Palace cinema into the P.P. Struisky. First of all, the building was intended to serve the population of the Zamoskvorechye region. Later, the Struysky Theater was transformed into the Theater of Miniatures. After 1917, the Struisky Theater was nationalized. On the stage of the theater, various opera and drama groups performed with visiting performances, and variety concerts were held. In 1922, the regional theater of the Zamoskvoretsky Council (Zamoskvoretsky Theater) was opened here, P.P. Struisky. Three years later, the theater was renamed the Moscow Lensovet Theater. Even during the war, in 1943, the building on Bolshaya Ordynka 69 was transferred to the Maly Theater and turned into its branch. The first performance was given on January 1, 1944 ("In a busy place" by AN Ostrovsky, with the participation of VN Pashennaya), and the first premiere was the play "Engineer Sergeev" by Vsevolod Rokka (January 25, 1944).

On August 30, 1756, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree on the creation of a Russian state professional theater. And at about the same time an amateur theater troupe was formed at Moscow University under the leadership of M.M. Kheraskova. In 1759, as a result of the unification of the Italian comic opera under the direction of J. B. Locatelli, the first Moscow professional troupe appeared with the university theater - the public ("free") " Russian theater"(1759 - 1761). Moscow Public Theater II half of XVIII century was associated with the era of private entrepreneurs who constantly replaced each other (N.S. Titov, P.V. Urusov, M.E. Medox, etc.).

And only in 1806 the Imperial, state-owned theater troupe appeared in Moscow. Dramatic actors have worked alongside opera and ballet actors. After the fire of the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theater in 1805, the troupe did not have its own building. The performances were staged at Prince Volkonsky's Theater on Samoteka, Pashkov's House on Mokhovaya, Arbat Theater near Arbatsky Gate, Count Apraksin's Theater on Znamenka, and again in Pashkov's House on Mokhovaya.

In 1821, Emperor Alexander I approved the project of O.I. Bove on the development of Petrovskaya, the future Teatralnaya Square. Three plots on the square in 1818 were acquired by the Serpukhov merchant V.V. Vargin.

Vargin's house was built in 1821 by the architect A.F. Elkinsky according to the project of O. Bove. The house had a number of shops on the first floor with open gallery... The residential building had a number of shops on the first floor with an open gallery.

In July 1824, Vargin signed a contract with the office of the imperial theaters to rent part of his building on Petrovskaya Square. Part of Vargin's house was rebuilt and adapted by Beauvais as a theater. In 1837, the management of the Imperial Moscow Theater bought the building from Vargin along with the empty land.

Moskovskie vedomosti published an announcement about the first performance in the theater: “The Directorate of the Imperial Moscow Theater announces through this that next Tuesday, October 14 of this year, it will be given at the new small theater, in the Vargin's house, on Petrovskaya Square, for the opening of this performance 1- th, namely: a new overture of works. AN Verstovsky, later for the second time: Lilia of Narbonne, or The Vow of a Knight, a new dramatic knightly performance-ballet ... ".

The Bolshoi and Maly theaters had a single troupe, staged drama, opera and ballet.

At first, the word "small" was a simple designation of the size of the building compared to the adjacent "large" theater. But to mid XIX centuries the words "Bolshoy" and "Maly" became proper names, and nowadays in all countries of the world they sound in Russian.

In 1838–40, the building was rebuilt inside according to the project of K.A. Tones. He created a new auditorium and stage.

In 1840, the Maly Theater troupe began performing on the new stage. PS played here. Mochalov, M.S. Shchepkin, M.N. Ermolova, A.P. Lensky, A.I. Yuzhin, V.N. Pashennaya, A.A. Ostuzhev, A.A. Yablochkina, M.I. Zharov, I.V. Ilyinsky, E.N. Gogolev, B.A. Babochkin, M.I. Tsarev and many other famous artists.

On stage there were performances based on the plays of Fonvizin, Griboyedov, Gogol, A.K. Tolstoy, L.N. Tolstoy, Sukhovo-Kobylin, Shakespeare, Schiller, Lope de Vega, Beaumarchais, Goethe, Hugo, Ibsen, but the name of A.N. Ostrovsky. Small is called "Ostrovsky's House".

In 1929, a monument was erected in front of the theater building, the work of the sculptor N. Andreev.

In 1991, the Maly Theater was especially valuable cultural site the country was included in the list of the national treasure of Russia together with the Bolshoi Theater, Tretyakov Gallery and the State Hermitage Museum.

At the end of 2010, the Maly Theater became a member of the Union of European Theaters.

In 1939, a project for the complete reconstruction of the Maly Theater was adopted and approved, developed by a design group headed by engineer A.N. Popov. Since 1940, the country's oldest theater has been closed to the public. The restoration works of the building were carried out in 1945-1948. under the direction of the architect-artist A.P. Velikanova.
The last large-scale reconstruction of the Maly Theater building was carried out in two stages: from autumn 2011 to March 2014 and from March 2014 to December 2016. Comprehensive scientific restoration included the entire range of restoration work on the historical facades and interiors of the spectator section, the director's area, some artistic premises. Introduced new concept work of engineering systems. In 2018, the Maly Theater won the Moscow Restoration competition of the Moscow Government in the category "Best Organization of Repair and Restoration Work".