The Hermitage Theatre

The Hermitage Theatre is the oldest building of the Winter Palace complex in St. Petersburg, and built on the site of the former Winter Palace of Peter I on the corner of Palace Embankment and the Winter Canal Embankment. The theatre was built by order of Catherine the Great in 1782 – 1785 to a design by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi, in the Neo-classical style. The building is functionally independent of the main Winter Palace / Hermitage, but is connected by an arch over the canal.

The theatre auditorium is unique piece of classical palace architecture of the 17th century. It was designed a small court theatre with a seating capacity of 250 people, which was for the Emperor’s family and important members of the Imperial Court. The auditorium was designed to resemble an amphitheatre, with a small stalls area with three rows of seven seats for important guests. The walls and columns are decorated with marble and classical sculptures of Apollo and nine muses are placed in niches, with bas-relief portraits of famous poets and musicians above them.

In front of the stage there is an orchestra pit separated from the auditorium by a balustrade. The geometrical proportions of the theatre are unique, as the stage is small in width, but deep enough to allow the staging of ballet performances with a full ballet troupe and also set changes. The auditorium is intimate and does not require the use of opera glasses, with every seat being able to view the stage. The brilliant natural acoustics of the auditorium permit sound to be transmitted clearly without distortion.

The first season at the Hermitage Theatre opened on the 16th November 1875 with a comic opera. Performances were held here two to three times a week with all of the Italian, Russian, French and German ballet troupes in St. Petersburg participating in court performances. At the time a great number of celebrated artists, writer and musicians were employed by the Hermitage Theatre.

The theatre was gradually transformed into a lecture theatre for the State Hermitage, following an unsuccessful attempt by Soviet director Vsvolod Meyerhold to revive its fortunes after the Revolution in 1917. In the early 1980’s it was decide to renovate the entire building and include modern equipment to allow academic lectures, seminars and conferences, but also function once more as a true theatre performing plays and concerts for the general public.

These days musical festivals are organised and conducted in the Hermitage Theatre, with an important date in the calendar being the traditional performances by the graduationg students of the famous Vaganova School of Ballet. Almost every evening the theatre is home to beautiful ballet performances accompanied by the symphonic orchestra. The ballet repertoire includes performances of “Giselle”, “Swan Lake” and “Chopiniana”, with some of the leading soloists and ballet artist of the Hermitage Theatre of Russia and other ballet theatres of St. Petersburg.