OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE
OPERA AND BALLET THEATRE, Bashkir state-owned. Opened on December 14th, 1938 in Ufa. The 1st Artistic Managing Dir. and Chief Conductor – P.M.Slavinsky, Dir. and Chief Stage Dir. – B.G.Imashev, ballet master – N.G.Zaytsev, Chief Artist – N.V.Sitnikov, choir master – N.A.Bolotov. Laureate of the RF Government Award named after F.Volkov in the nomination The Best Creative Team (2006), the All-Russia Contest 100 Best Enterprises and Organizations of Russia (Moscow, 2009).
The core of the opera troupe in the initial period was composed of the graduates of the Bashkir Studio at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1941, a ballet troupe was organized at the theatre from the graduates of the Choreographic Department of the Bashkir Technical School of Arts and the Bashkir Department of the Leningrad Choreographic School. The repertoire, mainly consisting of the works of foreign and Russian composers, was enriched by national ballets and operas (Akbuzat, Crane Song, etc).
In the 2nd half of the 50s — early 60s, new musical traditions appeared, the premieres of the following ballets were held: Mountain Eagle by N.G.Sabitov and Kh.F.Akhmetov, Gulnazira and I Love You, Life by Sabitov, operas Shaura by Z.G.Ismagilov, Waves of Agidel, Storm, Salavat Yulayev, etc.
Between 50–80s, the operas and ballets by G.Bizet, G.Verdi, A.K.Glazunov, E.Grieg, A.B.Zhurbin, L.F.Minkus, M.P.Musorgsky, S.S.Prokofyev, G.Puccini, N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov, M.T.Tulebayev, V.I.Fleishman, A.N.Kholminov, P.I.Tchaikovsky, F.Z.Yarullin, etc were staged, as well as the first Bashkir performances for children. The productions included ballets In the Lunar Eclipse Night, Aigul Country, operas Contemporaries by Kh.F.Akhmetov, Ambassadors of the Urals, Black Waters by S.A.Nizametdinov, musical comedies Svoyachenitsa by Z.G.Ismagilov, Hearts are Full of Love by T.M.Sharipov.
Significant events in the creative activities of the theatre were the staged ballets Khodzha Nasreddin (1998) and Arkaim (2005) by L.Z.Ismagilova, Prometheus by R.N.Sabitov (2009), La marionnette (Puppet) to music by I.F.Stravinsky (2010), operas Akmulla (1996) and Kakhymturya by Z.G.Ismagilov (2002; laureate of the Russian National Theatre Award Golden Mask in the nomination The Best Conductor, Moscow, 2004), Memento (2000) and Naki (2009) by S.A.Nizametdinov, La Traviata by Verdi (2001), Knyaz Igor by A.P.Borodin (2010), Tosca by Puccini (2012), Heracles by G.F.Handel (2015), Carmen (2016) and The Pearl Fishers (2017) by G.Bizet, etc.
Since 1991, Bashkir State Opera and Ballet Theatre has held the International Festival of Opera Art Chaliapin’s Evenings in Ufa, since 1993 – the International Festival of Ballet Art named after R. Nureyev. In 1994, the festival Irina Arkhipova Presents was held with the participation of the stars of the world opera stage. Since 2010, The Aksakov House newspaper has been published.
The famous artists of the theater are singers A.A.Abdrazakov, I.A.Abdrazakov, N.Kh.Allayarova, S.A.Askarov, M.A.Akhmetzyanova, B.N.Valeyeva, Kh.L.Galimov, S.K.Galimova, R.A.Gareyev, Kh.I.Kudashev, G.S.Rodionov, M.G.Saligaskarova, G.Z.Suleymanov, A.V.Sutyagin, G.S.Khabibullin, M.Kh.Khismatullin, ballet dancers Z.N.Bakhtiyarova, L.S.Kuvatova, Z.A.Nasretdinova, F.M.Nafikova, R.Kh.Nureyev, R.V.Rykin, F.M.Sattarov, Kh.G.Safiullin, G.G.Suleimanova, Sh.A.Teregulov, T.Sh.Hudayberdina, conductors – G.Kh.Mutalov, ballet masters – F.A.Gaskarov, scenographers – M.N.Arslanov, G.Sh.Imasheva.
