Location: Svobody Sq. 1, Kazan, Jalil Opera and Ballet Tatar State Academic Theatre
The history of the Opera and Ballet Theatre originates from December 1938. The troop of the theatre relates to one of the best operatic and choreographic collectives in Russia. Each year two international festivals are held at the theatre: Shalyapin International Festival of Opera Art and Rudolf Nuriyev International Festival of Classical Ballet.
“The Tatar Academic State Opera and Ballet Theater named after Musa Jalil is one of the largest musical theatres of Russia, the bearer of the traditions of Russian, world and Tatar national musical culture. The theatre building was built in 1956 (architects Skvortsov and Gaynutdinov).
The facades and interiors of the theatre are designed in the style of modern neoclassicism and combine classical forms with Tatar national ornaments and elements of arts and crafts. In 2005, the theatre underwent a major reconstruction. The technical equipment at the level of European standards, which was the result of the reconstruction, allows the theatre to create innovative performances with complex scenography and lighting effects.
The theatre repertoire is formed according to the anthology principle. It is based on masterpieces of world musical theatre, Russian classics, as well as outstanding works by Tatarstan composers. A number of international projects carried out in recent years, allow the theatre to be in line with the latest trends in modern world musical theatre. A feature of the administrative and artistic structure of the theatre is the rejection of the institution of the “main” (director, choreographer, artist), thanks to which the theatre has been able to avoid clashes of creative ambitions for many years, including the monopoly of the “main” who do not allow competitors to enter their territory. The theatre, one of the first in the country, introduced the positions of directors of opera and ballet troupes, who are not directors but carry out the artistic and administrative policy of the theatre. Due to the existing form of organization of work in the theatre, its artistic boundaries are significantly expanded, from which, first of all, the viewer benefits, because he gets the opportunity to see and hear the best that has been selected by time, namely opera and ballet masterpieces.
Thanks to the introduction of a contract system with its fierce competition and the ability to widely use the practice of inviting guest performers, the theatre not only managed to avoid a mediocre level of performance and, accordingly, empty auditoriums (the average occupancy of the theatre hall is 96%), but also reached a level at which no one performance today, not excluding the national repertoire, does not take place without the participation of guest performers. In addition, not a single performance takes place twice in the same cast, thanks to which it is possible to maintain the premiere level of all theatre productions and avoid dividing them into events and ordinary ones.
Since 1994, the Opera and Ballet Theatre has been annually conducting international tours in European countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Denmark, France, Great Britain, and so on), during which it presents to foreign audiences up to 120 performances a year”.
Based on the theatre’s informational sources
