Perm Theater of Opera and Ballet

(full name P. I. Tchaikovsky Academic Perm’ Theater of Opera and Ballet), one of the oldest Russian music theaters. A building for theatrical performances was erected in Perm’ in 1878, and various private opera troupes began performing there regularly. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Perm’ Theater of Opera and Ballet opened in 1920. Beginning in the mid-1920’s, it staged the first operas of Soviet composers, such as Bershad-skii’s Sten ‘ka Razin, Pashchenko’s The Eagles’ Revolt, and Dze-rzhinskii’s The Quiet Don and Virgin Soil Upturned. The ballet troupe was founded in 1926 and made its debut with Adam’s Giselle. Between 1941 and 1944 the company performed in Berezniki, Kizel, Krasnokamsk, and other cities, while the Leningrad Theater of Opera and Ballet performed in Perm’. The theater has had great success staging Soviet operas, including The Sevastopolians by Koval’ (1946; State Prize of the USSR, 1947), Stepanov’s Ivan Bolotnikov (1950, State Prize of the USSR, 1951), Spadavekki’s The Gadfly (1957), and Prokofiev’s Semen Kotko (1960).

Among the theater’s best opera productions of the 1960’s and early 1970’s were Verdi’s Il Trovatore (1964), Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (1965), Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans (1969), Khrennikov’s In the Storm (1971), Dvořák’s The Devil and Kate (1970), and Tchaikovsky’s The Oprichnik (1974). Its best ballet productions include Petrov’s The Coast of Hope (1963), Kha-chaturian’s Spartacus (1969), Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet (1972), and the one-act ballets The Miraculous Mandarin by Bartok, Three Cards to music of Prokofiev, and Pulcinella by Stravinsky (all in 1973). In 1965 the theater was named after P. I. Tchaikovsky, and by 1974 all his operas and ballets were in the theater’s repertoire. In 1969 it was designated an academic theater.

The singers of the theater’s troupe include (1974) People’s Artist of the USSR K. K. Kudriashova; People’s Artists of the RSFSR V. Ia. Bogdanov and A. A. Dan’shin; Honored Artists of the RSFSR T. A. Voskresenskaia, T. V. Drozdova, V. V. Elin, L. A. Solianik, and E. M. Shubina; and Honored Artist of the Dagestan ASSR I. L. Kiselev. Principal dancers include People’s Artist of the RSFSR M. B. Podkina and Honored Artists of the RSFSR L. V. Asauliak, N. N. D’iachenko, L. A. Kunakova, I. I. Shapovalov, R. M. Shliamova, and K. A. Shmorgoner. Young ballet soloists include a number of winners at international competitions—M. F. Daukaev, N. V. Pavlova, and O. I. Chenchikova. The principal conductor is People’s Artist of the RSFSR B. I. Afanas’ev; the principal stage director, Honored Worker of the Arts of the RSFSR I. I. Keller; the principal choreographer, N. N. Boiarchikov; the principal chorus master, V. V. Vasil’ev; and the principal artist (set designer), G. S. Arutiunov. The ballet troupe has performed abroad—in Latin America, Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, and Yugoslavia. The Perm’ Theater of Opera and Ballet was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1946.