Cultural Institutions in Perm

Perm is a large cultural centre of the Western Urals. The population of Perm enjoys rich cultural life of the city. A lot of people are theatre - goers. The number and the variety of theaters cater all tastes. There is a country famous Perm Opera house which is the oldest in the city. The repertoire includes the world musical classics as well as modern operas and ballets.

The Perm drama theatre occupying a beautiful modern building was constructed in 1982 after the design of Moscow architects Davidenko and Lutikova. The hall can accommodate 1007 spectators. The Perm Drama theatre started its activity at the beginning of the 30-s. At first it was an amateur theatre of working youth. The repertoire of the theatre is diverse to attract the Perm public of different ages. Among the plays are the masterpieces of drama by Russian and foreign classics as well as modern playwrights. Nowadays some musicals have appeared in its repertoire. The theater’s artistic director is Milgram, who tries to bring some new tendencies in the theatre’s development.

The city has 2 theatres for children: the puppet show for the small ones and the theatre for young spectators for the Perm teenagers. Some new theatres appeared in Perm not long ago. They are the theatre of modern ballet “Experiment” and a young municipal theatre “At the Bridge”. The artistic level of its productions is very high. The theatre company had a lot of tours in our country and abroad.

The Perm Art Gallery has a unique collection of Russian old icon painting as well as of Komy Wooden sculpture of Perm Gods.

The Perm museum of local lore was founded in 1890 by some famous Perm scientists. It shows the exhibits telling about the life of our famous countrymen and the most important periods of life of the Perm lands.

The Perm Philarmonic society has a lot of music groups which give concerts in the Perm region as well as in many cities of our country. A magician Danilin, the Perm chamber choir under the conductor Novik, the Perm “Quantus quartet” folk instruments group “Karavai” give a good variety of genres for Perm spectators.

Perm has a lot of educational institutions to train the specialists for the sphere of culture. Among them are the Perm State Institute of Arts and Culture founded in 1975, a lot of music schools, a professional art college, several art studios and a lot of hobby groups at the palaces of culture. A lot of other cultural institutions: cinemas, libraries, exhibition halls, parks of rest and culture give the Perm citizens a lot of opportunities to rest in different ways and to choose their favourite ones.

III семестр. From the History of the Bolshoi Theatre

More than two hundred years ago (in 1776) a rich Moscow nobleman Prince (князь) Urusov asked the govern­ment for the privilege of founding a Russian theatre in Moscow. He said that he would erect a stone building for it within five years and that the building of the theatre would improve the appearance of the city, would make it more attrac­tive.

The privilege having been given, Prince Urusov organized the first company which consisted of serfs. It was the birth of the Moscow Opera House. But as the building of the theatre was not ready yet the performances for some years took place in different city halls.

In the meantime Prince Urusov and an En­glishman Michael Maddock bought a piece of land in Petrovkastreet in Moscow where the famous Bolshoi Theatre building is still standing today, although its facade has under­gone numerous changes and transformations.

However before the construction started Prince Urusov went bankrupt and the work was done by Maddock alone. Maddock was able to organize the work in such a way and he himself worked so hard that the building was finished in five months instead of five years as it had been first planned.

The official opening ceremony took place in December 1780.

In 1806 the theatre became a state property. But due to the fire which took place the same winter the building was completely destroyed. For nearly twenty years per­formances took place in various city houses and halls, including a specially built wooden building which was also destroyed when Napoleon's troops entered Moscow.

The new building completed in 1824 was more impressive than the old one, its interior being second only to the theatre in Milan.

Another fire in 1853 destroyed the theatre again, leaving nothing but the walls and the front colonnade. Three years later the necessary repairs were completed. Five tiers were added and the acoustics was greatly improved.

Bronze horses decorated the pediment. This is how the building looks today.