|
|
The theatre's stone, three-story building with a board roof was erected within a marvelously short period, as it seemed to the people at that time - in five months. Its architect was Christian Roseberg. It looked by no means remarkable, however its size was quite impressive. Its facade overlooked Petrovka Street, and that was the reason behind its name - the Petrovski Theatre.
"There are events in Russia which stun their contemporaries by their rapidity and magnificence and are viewed as miracles by distant generations", Moscow Bulletin wrote on January 17, 1825." Such an idea naturally occurs to a Russian person whenever something happens bringing our motherland in the midst of European powers, and this comes to mind at the sight of the Bolshoi Petrovski Theatre which has risen like a phoenix from the ashes, with its walls shining in their new magnificence."
The project of the theatre designed by Professor A. Mikhailov was approved by Alexander the First in 1821, and its construction was entrusted to Osip Bovais. One of Europe's largest theatres, it was built at the site of the old building, but now its facade overlooked Teatralnaya Square. Albert Cavos won the contest for the restoration of the theatre building.
Having preserved the layout and size of the Bovais building,
Cavos changed its proportions and revised the architectural decor.
In particular, cast iron passageways with lamps were erected on
the building's sides. The contemporaries admired the way that
colonnade looked, especially in the evening if viewed from afar,
when the lamp row reminded a diamond thread running along the
theatre. The gypsum Apollo group that had adorned Bovais' theatre
had been gutted by the fire. Cavos invited the Russian sculptor
Petr Klodt (1805-1867) to create a new group. Klodt is the author
of the four equestrian groups on the Anichkov Bridge across the
Fontanka in St. Petersburg. It was Klodt who created the world-famous
Apollo group. It was cast at the plants on Duke of Lichtenberg
from a metal alloy, covered with red copper by the galvanic method.
The group is 6.5 metre high now, a metre-and-a-half higher than
the former one. It was moved farther ahead and placed on a pedestal
along the ridge of the portico roof.
The row of four horses forging ahead, draws a quadriga, an ancient
two-wheeled chariot, driven by God Apollo whose head is crowned
with a wreath and who holds a lyra in his left hand. In the process
of reconstruction of the auditorium, Cavos changed its form making
it narrower at the stage and deepened the orchestra pit. He arranged
amphitheatre behind the stalls in place of the former gallery.
The auditorium became almost equally deep and wide - about 30
metres, and 20 metres high, with the seating capacity of 2000.
The Bolshoi Theatre looks exactly the same in our days, except
for small internal and external changes. This is what Cavos wrote
about the architecture of the Bolshoi auditorium: "I did
my best to make the auditorium as magnificent as possible and
also to produce a light effect, if possible, in the Renaissance
style in combination with the Byzantian style. White colour, the
bright crimson drapings, overstrewm with the golden interior decoration
of the boxes, different on each storey, the plaster arabesques
and the main effect of the auditorium - its grand chandelier with
three rows of lights and candelabrums, adorned with cut-glass
- all that has won universal praise."
In 1920, on the day of Beethoven's 150th jubilee, a concert hall was opened in the former imperial foyer named after the great composer. For two decades the most prominent performers appeared at the musical evenings there (at present the Beethoven Hall is used for the Bolshoi collective's creative events).
In the 1920s Academician Zholtovsky made a draft project of an annex to the Bolshoi Theatre and of the reconstruction of its stage. In 1921 a special commission was formed which inspected the Bolshoi building and revealed the disastrous condition of the semicircular wall of the auditorium which served as a support to the arches of the tier passageways and to the main constructions of the auditorium. In building the foundation in 1894 and 1899, the reliability of the semicircular wall of the auditorium was not questioned, since it was built after the 1856 fire, so it was not examined. Actually resting on a weak foundation, it could not withstand the weight of the constructions of the auditorium and passageways and cracked in various places through the entire height of the six tiers. The constructions of the arches were destroyed to such an extent that bricks started dropping from them. The deformations of the constructions skewed the barriers of the boxes and the floors there became inclined. The threat of a complete destruction of the audience was so obvious that emergency works had to be started at once.
On April 15, 1941 performances were stopped in the Bolshoi due the urgent need of repair works. The hostilities which broke out two months later, did not put an end to them but their succession had to be changed. After most of the company was evacuated to Kuibyshev, those who had remained in Moscow continued their work in its branch.
At 04:00 a.m. of October 28 a demolition bomb was dropped on the Bolshoi Theatre by a fascist bomber. The bomb fell through the facade wall and exploded in the entrance hall. The explosion wave destroyed all stucco decorative elements of the main facade. The capitals and bases of the portico columns were destroyed almost completely. The sculptures of Muses in the niches were turned into heaps of splinters. The ceiling of the entrance hall fell through and damaged the floor, the oaken entrance doors and all windows of the main facade and partially on the side facades were torn off. The interior decoration not only of the central foyer of the dress circle but also of the auditorium was damaged.
In spite of the complicated situation in the autumn of 1941 due to the fierce fighting at the close approaches to the capital, restoration work went on incessantly in the camouflaged building of the Bolshoi Theatre.
The architect A.P. Velikanov worked hard making his contribution to the building's restoration in war years, including the contrast painting of the circular passageways of the stalls. The external passageway was done in a light ochre tone and that adjoining the stall wall, in a red tone which produced the effect of a gentle transition from the laconic architecture of the passageways to the magnificent decor of the auditorium. In spite of the lack of many materials, required for restoration, the ornamental decor of the auditorium was gilded.
The theatre's facades were restored completely. The sculptors M. Rukavishnikov and S. Koltsov were invited for the restoration of the Muses. The theatre managed to heal its war wounds, and in September 1943 it opened the season by the opera "Ivan Susanin" whose patriotic theme was met with enthusiasm by the spectators who filled the auditorium to capacity.
In 1950 the Bolshoi Theatre was idle for four months for construction of the sprinkler and drenching systems and the replacement of the wooden trusses above the decoration hall by metal ones. A considerable amount of works was performed in the theatre to arrange an air-conditioning system. Although the theatre's ventilation system underwent several reconstruction's, the actors and the technical shop workers suffered due to the insufficient air supply. The spectators, especially those in the upper tiers, could hardly stand the stuffy heat, especially in warm seasons. In 1955 architect I. E. Rozhin's designed a project of air-conditioning system to ensure an optimal temperature and humidity in the auditorium, on the stage and behind the scenes. Air cooling was to be provided by a powerful refrigerating station with artesian holes and compressors in the underground premises outside the theatre. It was a difficult task to set up air conditioning in a building constructed more than a hundred years ago that had undergone several technical reconstruction's. The most difficult problem was to meet the requirement and arrange the channels and install numerous ventilation registers without disturbing the excellent acoustics of the auditorium and of its decor. Special concern was caused by the need, provided for by the design, to cut a semicircular cleft between the deck and the cornice (along the auditorium curve) from which the conditioned air would flow through the register. However, the measurements made upon completion of the works showed that all apprehensions were superfluous - the acoustics remained unchanged. As a result of the instalment of the air-conditioning system certain constructions and decorative elements were destroyed, and therefore restoration works were launched. The stage pointers, headed by S.S. Churakov and under the general supervision of P.D. Korin, carried out the restoration of the decorated ceiling of the auditorium. The draping in the boxes was completely replaced. The material - flax warped silk waved at the Sverdlov Factory in Pavlov-Posad, reproduced exactly the design and the texture of the original fabric that had been hand-woven. The masters from Dmitrov made the drapery drill and tassels. The stall chairs were made with a view to the existing old sample at the First Moscow Furniture Factory, only the chair construction was modernised, with the seats stuffed with soft foam plastic. The furniture in the boxes and in the circle was also replaced. Restorers from St. Petersburg gilded the ornamental decor of the tier barriers. New bronze lamp brackets were installed in the central bar, the stall passageway and in other lobbies. In 1955 a new curtain was made to replace the old one produced in 1935. The decorative workshop above the auditorium which was unique for its size and importance was replaced in 1965 by a rehearsal hall, built according to architect V.V. Turchinovich's design with the stage of the same size as the main Bolshoi stage and the orchestra pit accommodating the entire orchestra. The rehearsal hall acoustics was made as close as possible to that of the auditorium. The theatre's exterior was systematically repaired and restored. The white stone portico columns, which once adorned the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre, are being constantly restored in our days. In 1975 the grand chandelier was restored. Restoration works were also carried out in the Beethoven Hall (the former imperial foyer): the stucco decor was cleaned and the unique silk panels regained their original lustre. By May 1976 the Beethoven Hall had been completely renovated.
