Russia has become one of the top tourist destination countries in recent years. Millions of tourists have visited Russia in recent years, and millions have plans to travel to Russia in the future, and if you are one of those people who would like to take a trip to Russia, you should learn about some facts about it before you begin your journey. Russia has many tourist destination cities, but Moscow and St. Petersburg are the top chosen ones among tourists. However, many people prefer to visit Sochi as it’s one of the top resort cities in eastern Europe, but if you want to learn about Russian history, culture, and art, you should visit Moscow and St. Petersburg.
We have included many features of St. Petersburg in our weblog, which you can read on Star Travel Company website easily, including the top Russia attractive places in St. Petersburg, the best places to visit on the St. Petersburg tour, the top art and cultural museums in St. Petersburg, and many more topics. One of the greatest things about tour to Russia in St. Petersburg is the cultural and artistic sites that you should visit on your Russia tour, including the museums, such as Hermitage and Faberge; the parks and gardens, including the Summer Garden and Peterhof; the theater halls, such as the Alexandrinsky Theatre and Mariinsky Theatre, and many other places that you should visit on your tour to Russia.
Since art is a significant point in Russia, there are lots of theater and art museums in St. Petersburg, and many travel agencies, including us at the Star Travel Company, would suggest our tourists visit some of those places on their Russia tour. You can learn about those places on our weblog, and since Russia, and especially St. Petersburg, has more than enough attractions, we post new content frequently. One of the top theatre halls in St. Petersburg, which has been pushing its way to the forefront of cultural life in St. Petersburg in recent years is the Mikhailovsky Theatre.
In 1831, Alexander Brullov was commissioned to build a theater on the Art Square, which was part of Carlo Rossi’s grand plan for Mikhailovsky Palace. Brullov was ordered to save the face of the square and design its building to match the architecture of the area, and since he didn’t want to shadow the Mikhailovsky Palace, he had designed a simple neoclassical building and saved his vision for the interior of the new theater hall. He had used every luxurious object he could use to design the interior, including velvet, silver, mirrors, majestic chandeliers, etc. Giovanni Busato was also associated with the design as he portrayed “The victory of the powers of enlightenment and science over the dark powers of ignorance” on the ceiling, which made that even more luxurious than before.
Since the theater was near the Mikhailovsky Palace, it acquired the name of Prince Mikhail as well. Though the Mikhailovsky Theatre is as old as the Mariinsky Theatre, it didn’t have a troupe at the beginning, which was one of the reasons that it didn’t succeed as much as the Mariinsky Theatre did throughout these years. When the theater was opened, a group of French and German troupes had performed on the stage of Mihkailovsky Theatre, which was welcomed by the people; however, a group of Italian performers outsings them in 1843, but most of them moved to Moscow, and the rest had switched to dramas. In the following years, some of the Mariinsky stars were shifted to the MIkhailovsky theatre, which showed the true potential of that theater. The stage of the Mikhailovsky Theatre was shared between German, Russian, Italian, and French troupes as well as music concerts and circus performances in the following years until the October Revolution.
When the Bolsheviks government took control, the Mikhailovsky Theatre began to develop its company and recruited troupes, and with the support of the government and the commissar Anatoly Lunacharsky, who was responsible for Ministry and Education in the Soviet government, the Mikhailovsky Theatre began to rise and shine in St. Petersburg. During the golden era of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in the Soviet Union time, many great operas of that time took their premiere on the stage of the MIkhailovsky Theatre, including Sergey Prokofiev's adaptation of War and Peace and Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Dmitry Shostakovich.
Another highlight of that era for the Mikhailovsky Theatre was establishing the ballet company as well as the opera and drama. Russian choreographer Fyodor Lopukhov was the man who had founded the ballet company in the 1930s, and the first ballet performance on the stage of the Mikhailovsky Theatre was Harlequinade or Les Millions d'Arléquin by Lopukhov himself.
Though, as of 2007, the theater got his historical name back, the name of Mikhailovsky Theatre has changed several times throughout history, including State Academic Comic Opera Theatre in 1920, Maly Operny Teatr until 1926, Leningrad State Academic Maly Opera Theatre from 1926 to 1989, and Modest Mussorgsky until 2007. However, if you visit this theater on your tour to Russia, you will see the “Mikhailovsky Theatre” on the building.
In the past decade, Mikhailovsky Theatre doesn’t seek that avant-garde way that it used to pursue, but it still one of the top theaters of the city with opera and ballet productions of the 19th century on its stage, which you can see on your tour to Russia.
There’s also a small museum on the second circle of the theater, which contains sketches, bizarre posters, paintings, costumes, photographs, original models, and set designs, which you can see them on your Russia tour when you visit St. Petersburg.
We at the Star Travel Company recommend a visit to this theatre if you have the desire to see a Russian ballet performance and opera at the most prominent level or if you were visiting the Mikhailovsky Palace and Mikhailovsky Garden. Remember that the exterior look of the theater is simple and modest, while the interior has a rich and luxury design.
You can also visit our weblog to find more about other theater halls that you can visit on your tour to St. Petersburg, including Aurora Ballet Hall, Mariinsky Theatre, Theatre of Musical Comedy, Alexandrinsky Theatre, and the Carnival Concert Hall. We also have lots of tips and pieces of advice on how to travel to Russia.
