Taganrog Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Taganrog Drama Theater named after Anton Chekhov and decorated with Order of Honor
was established in 1827 by governor Alexander Dunaev
. The theater was subsidized by the Taganrog
's City Council since 1828, and its first director was Alexander Gor. The first group of Russian drama artists was directed by Perovsky and toured around the region, giving performances in Rostov on Don, Novocherkassk
, Bahmut
. The repertoire consisted mainly of dramas, melodramas and vaudevilles.
regularly performed in Taganrog
. In 1865 was created a stock company to finance the construction of the new theater building. Forty-five thousand silver rubles of stocks were issued, for the total budget of 55,000 rubles. In 1866, Taganrog established its very own Italian opera in a new opera theater building by the project of the architect Londeron from Odessa
. The interiors of the theater were designed after the image of the Milano opera theater La Scala
. The repertoire of that time included Giuseppe Verdi
, Gioachino Rossini, Jacques Offenbach
, Vincenzo Bellini
, Mikhail Glinka
, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and others.
In 1874, the Taganrog Municipality acquired the theater building by the purchase of its stocks. The newly established theater commission decided to dissolve the Italian opera in 1875 for commercial reasons. One of the Taganrog Italian opera's directors and choirmasters - Gaetano Molla
- stayed in Taganrog after the opera theater was closed and contributed to promotion and development of music culture in the city of Taganrog.
who was born in Taganrog
in 1860 was in love with theater and literature from his childhood. The first performance that he attended was Offenbach's
operette Elena the Beautiful onstage Taganrog City Theater on October 4, 1873. Anton was a 13-years old Gymnasium student, and from that moment on, Chekhov became a great theater lover and spent there virtually all his savings.
His favorite seat in the theater was at the back gallery for it was cheap (40 silver kopeeks), and because Gymnasium students needed a special authorisation to go to the theater. The permission was given not often and mostly for the weekends. Sometimes, Anton Chekhov and other fellow students disguised themselves and even wore some makeup, spectacles or a fake beard, trying to fool the regular school staff who checked for unauthorized presence of students.
In 1935, during the 75th Anniversary Celebrations of Anton Chekhov
's birthday, the famous artists of the Moscow Art Theater performed onstage of Taganrog Theater: Olga Knipper
, Tarasova, Galina Vishnevskaya
, Moskvin and others.
In 1944, the Soviet of People's Commissars of USSR named the Taganrog City Theater after Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
In 1960, the artists of Taganrog Chekhov Drama Theater performed onstage of the Kremlin Palace of Congress in Moscow
within the framework of the centennial celebrations of Anton Chekhov's birthday.
In 1965, the Chekhov Drama Theater was praised in the Moscow THEATRE magazine for outstanding production of the Chekhov`s play Ivanov
, starring Petr Shelokhonov
is the leading role.
In 1977, the theater was decorated with the Order of Honor (Russian Federation)
.
Since 1980, the theater festival In the Birthplace of Anton Chekhov has been held with participation of theaters from Russia
, Ukraine
, Georgia
, Italy
, Croatia
, Spain
, Australia
, Belarus
, Germany
and Japan
.
In 2002 and in 2010, the theater performed at the International Literary & Musical Forum in Badenweiler
, Germany
, staging Anton Chekhov
's Proposal and The Wood Demon.
In October 2006, the theater participated at the 1st International Blacksea Theater Festival in Nikolaev, Ukraine
.
In April 2009, the theater won 3 awards at the International Theater Festival "Golden Key" in Donetsk
, Ukraine
.
On January 29, 2010 within the framework of Anton Chekhov's 150th birth anniversary celebrations in Taganrog
, the President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev visited the Taganrog theater, where he watched a rehearsal of the performance "Everything Starts in the Childhood", dedicated to Anton Chekhov.
Order of Honor (Russian Federation)
The Order of Honour is a state order which was founded by the President's Decree of the Russian Federation of №442 of 2 March 1994. The Order of Honour is awarded to citizens for high achievements in government, economic production, scientific research, sociocultural, public and charitable...
was established in 1827 by governor Alexander Dunaev
Alexander Dunaev
Alexander Ivanovich Dunaev was a Full Councillor of State and the 5th governor of Taganrog.-Governor of Taganrog:During Dunaev's governorship Alexander I of Russia and his spouse Yelizaveta Alexeevna stayed in Taganrog. Russian tsar renewed his decree granting the city 10% of all customs duties...
. The theater was subsidized by the Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
's City Council since 1828, and its first director was Alexander Gor. The first group of Russian drama artists was directed by Perovsky and toured around the region, giving performances in Rostov on Don, Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. Population: 169,039 ; 170,822 ; 178,000 ; 123,000 ; 81,000 ; 52,000 ....
, Bahmut
Bahmut
Bahmut is a commune in Călăraşi district, Moldova. It is composed of two villages, Bahmut and Bahmut station....
. The repertoire consisted mainly of dramas, melodramas and vaudevilles.
Italian opera
Since 1861, Italian operaItalian opera
Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was born in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous operas in Italian were written by foreign composers,...
regularly performed in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
. In 1865 was created a stock company to finance the construction of the new theater building. Forty-five thousand silver rubles of stocks were issued, for the total budget of 55,000 rubles. In 1866, Taganrog established its very own Italian opera in a new opera theater building by the project of the architect Londeron from Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
. The interiors of the theater were designed after the image of the Milano opera theater La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
. The repertoire of that time included Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
, Gioachino Rossini, Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
, Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...
, Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka , was the first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the father of Russian classical music...
, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and others.
In 1874, the Taganrog Municipality acquired the theater building by the purchase of its stocks. The newly established theater commission decided to dissolve the Italian opera in 1875 for commercial reasons. One of the Taganrog Italian opera's directors and choirmasters - Gaetano Molla
Gaetano Molla
Giuseppe Cesare Gaetano Molla was an Italian impresario, conductor, pianist, and opera director. Born in Milan, he first came to prominence as the chorus-master at La Scala. After touring with the opera company to Russia in 1863, he settled in Taganrog where he became director of the Taganrog...
- stayed in Taganrog after the opera theater was closed and contributed to promotion and development of music culture in the city of Taganrog.
Young Anton Chekhov in the theater
Anton ChekhovAnton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
who was born in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
in 1860 was in love with theater and literature from his childhood. The first performance that he attended was Offenbach's
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
operette Elena the Beautiful onstage Taganrog City Theater on October 4, 1873. Anton was a 13-years old Gymnasium student, and from that moment on, Chekhov became a great theater lover and spent there virtually all his savings.
His favorite seat in the theater was at the back gallery for it was cheap (40 silver kopeeks), and because Gymnasium students needed a special authorisation to go to the theater. The permission was given not often and mostly for the weekends. Sometimes, Anton Chekhov and other fellow students disguised themselves and even wore some makeup, spectacles or a fake beard, trying to fool the regular school staff who checked for unauthorized presence of students.
Later years
In 1901, the first movie was shown onstage Taganrog City Theater.In 1935, during the 75th Anniversary Celebrations of Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's birthday, the famous artists of the Moscow Art Theater performed onstage of Taganrog Theater: Olga Knipper
Olga Knipper
Olga Leonardovna Knipper-Chekhova was a Russian stage actress. She was married to Anton Chekhov.Knipper was among the 39 original members of the Moscow Art Theatre when it was formed by Constantin Stanislavski in 1898...
, Tarasova, Galina Vishnevskaya
Galina Vishnevskaya
Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.-Biography:...
, Moskvin and others.
In 1944, the Soviet of People's Commissars of USSR named the Taganrog City Theater after Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.
In 1960, the artists of Taganrog Chekhov Drama Theater performed onstage of the Kremlin Palace of Congress in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
within the framework of the centennial celebrations of Anton Chekhov's birthday.
In 1965, the Chekhov Drama Theater was praised in the Moscow THEATRE magazine for outstanding production of the Chekhov`s play Ivanov
Ivanov
Ivanov may refer to one of the following:*Ivanov , list of real people with this last nameFictional characters*D. D. Ivanov, a fictional character in the Macross universe...
, starring Petr Shelokhonov
Petr Shelokhonov
Petr Illarionovich Shelokhonov, was a Russian actor and director, designated Honorable Actor of Russia .-Childhood:Petr Shelokhonov was born in 1929, in Belarus, then a part of the Soviet Union; Peter Larionovich Shelokhonov...
is the leading role.
In 1977, the theater was decorated with the Order of Honor (Russian Federation)
Order of Honor (Russian Federation)
The Order of Honour is a state order which was founded by the President's Decree of the Russian Federation of №442 of 2 March 1994. The Order of Honour is awarded to citizens for high achievements in government, economic production, scientific research, sociocultural, public and charitable...
.
Since 1980, the theater festival In the Birthplace of Anton Chekhov has been held with participation of theaters from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
In 2002 and in 2010, the theater performed at the International Literary & Musical Forum in Badenweiler
Badenweiler
Badenweiler, a health resort and spa of the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometers from the French border, and 20 kilometers away from Mulhouse...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, staging Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Proposal and The Wood Demon.
In October 2006, the theater participated at the 1st International Blacksea Theater Festival in Nikolaev, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
In April 2009, the theater won 3 awards at the International Theater Festival "Golden Key" in Donetsk
Donetsk
Donetsk , is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the economic and cultural Donets Basin region...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
.
On January 29, 2010 within the framework of Anton Chekhov's 150th birth anniversary celebrations in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
, the President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev visited the Taganrog theater, where he watched a rehearsal of the performance "Everything Starts in the Childhood", dedicated to Anton Chekhov.
Notable people throughout the history of the theater
- Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
- Ivan PerestianiIvan PerestianiIvan Nikolaevich Perestiani was a film director, script-writer and actor, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR . He was an ethnic Greek, his original name being Giannis Nikolas Perestianis.-Biography:...
- Sergei BondarchukSergei BondarchukSergei Fedorovich Bondarchuk was a Soviet film director, screenwriter, and actor.- Biography :Born in Belozerka, in the Kherson Governorate, Sergei Bondarchuk spent his childhood in the cities of Yeysk and Taganrog, graduating from the Taganrog School Number 4 in 1938. His first performance as an...
- Elena ObraztsovaElena ObraztsovaElena Vasiliyevna Obraztsova is a Russian mezzo-soprano, widely recognised as one of the greatest opera singers of all time, thanks to her outstanding stage presence and the vocal abilities....
- Gaetano MollaGaetano MollaGiuseppe Cesare Gaetano Molla was an Italian impresario, conductor, pianist, and opera director. Born in Milan, he first came to prominence as the chorus-master at La Scala. After touring with the opera company to Russia in 1863, he settled in Taganrog where he became director of the Taganrog...
- Nestor KukolnikNestor KukolnikNestor Vasilievich Kukolnik was a Russian playwright and prose writer of Carpatho-Rusyn origin. Immensely popular during the early part of his career, his works were subsequently dismissed as sententious and sentimental. Today, he is best remembered for having contributed to the libretto of the...
- Samuel MaykaparSamuel MaykaparSamuil Moiseevich Maykapar was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of outstanding piano practice pieces that became international grand classics....
- Petr ShelokhonovPetr ShelokhonovPetr Illarionovich Shelokhonov, was a Russian actor and director, designated Honorable Actor of Russia .-Childhood:Petr Shelokhonov was born in 1929, in Belarus, then a part of the Soviet Union; Peter Larionovich Shelokhonov...