Coordinates: 46°29′08″N, 30°44′30″E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...

The Odessa Opera Theater.

The Odessa Opera Theatre (Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, Russian: Одесский Государственный Академический театр Оперы и Балета) - is located in Odessa, Ukraine. After the Potemkin Stairs, it is the most famous edifice in Odessa.^[1] Odessa or Odesa (Ukrainian Одеса, Russian Одесса, Turkish Hacıbey) is a Ukrainian portcity on the Black Sea and the center of countrys Odeska oblast. Population 1,012,500 (2004). ... Potemkin Stairs in Odessa, Ukraine. ...

Odessa residents boast that the Odessa Opera Theater is the second best opera theater in the world, next to the Vienna State Opera in Vienna. Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper), located in Vienna, Austria, is one of the most important opera companies in Europe. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ...

History

The St. Petersburg architect Thomas de Thomon designed the first opera theater, opened on February 10, 1810. This first theater is in almost exactly the same spot as today's theater. The main entrance with its colonnade faced the sea. There was no foyer.^[2][3] Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... ...

Theater after the 1873 fire.

In 1831, Michael Vorontsov, governor-general of New Russia, decided to assign the newly instituted quarantine fees to the Odessa Theater.^[4] Historian Charles King explains that one of the medical inspectors in Odessa was also the owner of the Odessa Theater. When ticket sales were low, he would announce the discovery of an infeciton among newly arrived passengers and ordered them quarantined at their own cost. The expenses of the lazaretto, were the passengers stayed, would be used to hire a major performer for the theater.^[5] A lazaretto or lazaret is a quarantine station for maritime travellers. ...

On the night of January 2, 1873, the building was gutted with fire.^[6]

Immediately a fund raising campaign began. The city announced an international contest for the best theater design. Forty designs were submitted, but none were chosen.^[2][7] In 1875 the Grand Opera Theater was completed, and it was decided that the new Odessa theater should be built in the same style.

Two Viennese architects, Ferdinand Fellner and Herman Helmer began to construct the larger replacement in 1883. These two architects had built seventy theaters throughout Europe, including the La Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera.^[2][1] Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer Ferdinand Fellner (April 19, 1847 - March 22, 1916) was an architect who along with Hermann Helmer (July,13 1849 - April 2, 1919) designed several theaters and palaces across Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, including: // Palais Lanckoronski in Vienna, Austria; Volkstheater... Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer Ferdinand Fellner (April 19, 1847 - March 22, 1916) was an architect who along with Hermann Helmer (July,13 1849 - April 2, 1919) designed several theaters and palaces across Europe in the late 19th century and early 20th century, including: // Austria Palais Lanckoronski in Vienna, Austria... The Teatro alla Scala in Milan, by night. ... Milan (Italian: ; Lombard: Milán (listen)) is one of the biggest cities in Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. ... Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper), located in Vienna, Austria, is one of the most important opera companies in Europe. ...

The foudation stone was laid on September 16th, 1884. On October 1, 1887 the theater was completed, costing 1,300,000 rubles to build and weighed 52,000 tons. It was named the Odessa City Theater. ^{[2][8][9][10]}

The theater was the first building in Odessa to employ the Edison Company with electric illumination.^[11] This company was organized on December 17, 1880, to construct generating stations in New York City. ...

To keep theater patrons comfortable in the summers, workers would lower wagonloads of ice and straw down a 35-foot shaft, then would carry it through a tunnel to a basement beneath the hall, where cool air rose up from vents beneath the seats.^[10]

In 1925 the building was burnt again in a fire.^[11] 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar). ...

There is a story that when the Odessa people learned that the construction cost 1.3 million gold rubles they gasped, but when they saw the new theater they gasped again, this time in admiration.^[2]

During World War 2 Nikita Khrushchev, concerned about the condition of the city, visited Odessa right after it was liberated. Khrushchev reported that only one corner of the building had been damaged by an enemy shell.^[12] Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: , Nikita Sergeevič Chruščëv; IPA: , in English, , or , occasionally ); surname more accurately romanized as Khrushchyov; April 17 [O.S. April 5] 1894[1]–September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ...

The theater was remodeled in the 1960's.^[11]

The theater sits upon shifting ground and is in danger of collapse. The first cracks in the foundation appeared almost as soon as the theater opened. The theater's eastern half sagged almost seven inches in its first three years, and the six walls began to tilt. Gleb Dranov, a former opera singer who sang at the theater for 25 years, and who worked five years as a geologist, is helping repair the building.^[11][10]

Construction

The building's façade is decorated in the Italian baroque style. In the niches are the busts of Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Gogol, Alexandr Griboyedov, and Aleksandr Pushkin. The large hall was modeled after the style of Louis LXI, it is richly decorated with gilded stucco figures and designs. The architects provided the foyer with twenty-four exits, to avoid tragedy in the case of a fire. On the side of the theater is a lawn with fresh flowers and shrubs.^[8] West facade of the Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Cathedral A facade (or façade) (Pronounced fa-sa-de) is generally the exterior of a building — especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. ... Baroque architecture, starting in the early 17th century in Italy, took the humanist Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical, theatrical, sculptural fashion, expressing the triumph of absolutist church and state. ... Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka (Russian: Mihail Ivanovič Glinka) (June 1, 1804 [O.S. May 20] - February 15, 1857 [O.S. February 3]), was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition inside his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music. ... Nikolai Gogol by Alexander Ivanov Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol (Russian: IPA: ) (April 1, 1809 — March 4, 1852) was a Russian-language writer of Ukrainian origin. ... Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (Александр Сергеевич Грибоедов in Russian) (January 15, 1795 - February 11, 1829) was a Russian diplomat, playwright, and composer, whose brilliant comedy in verse, Wit Works Woe, is the most often staged play in Russia. ... Aleksandr Pushkin by Vasily Tropinin Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin (Russian: Алекса́ндр Серге́евич Пу́шкин, Aleksandr Sergeevič PuÅ¡kin,  ) (June 6, 1799 [O.S. May 26] – February 10, 1837 [O.S. January 29]) was a Russian Romantic author who is considered to be the greatest Russian poet[1] [2][3] and the founder of modern Russian...

See also

• Odessa Philharmonic Theater

Philharmonic theater early 1900s Odessas Philharmonic Theatre (Russian: ) is a theater in Odessa, Ukraine. ...

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Odessa#Odessa Opera Theater

• Official Home page Odessa Academical Opera and Ballet Theatre. Retrieved on 2006 August 3.
• Odessa Opera Theater. Retrieved on 2006 August 3.
• (January 18 2006) "Odessa urges political parties to finance theatre restoration". TASS. 
• Wines, Michael (November 1 1999). "An Aged Beauty Gets a Facelift From a Geologist". The New York Times: 4.