The new Mariinsky II Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, opens Tuesday evening with a week of celebrations, including an evening of one-act ballets tonight and a gala concert conducted by artistic director Valery Gergiev on Thursday.
It's a moment that was hotly anticipated by Russian ballet, music and opera fans and by Canadian architecture firm Diamond & Schmitt, designers of the ambitious project.
Toronto architect Jack Diamond won the commission to design a new home to Russia's premiere opera, orchestra and ballet companies against international competition, in part because Gergiev was impressed by his Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre in Toronto. Diamond + Schmitt also designed Montreal's Maison Symphonique.
Jack Diamond, the Canadian architect who masterminded the massive project. (Anton Belov/Diamond & Schmitt) The new theatre takes up one full block — 567,700 square feet — and allows views of the original neoclassical Mariinsky theatre, dating from 1860, right across the river.
The main auditorium has a horseshoe configuration in the tradition of 18th- and 19th-century opera houses, and seats 2,000 people. There are also multi-tiered lobbies enclosed in glass and a rooftop amphitheatre for performances during the Mariinsky's White Nights summer festival.
"Mariinsky II embraces the themes and forms of St. Petersburg and contains a jewel of an auditorium that is based upon the successful configuration of past houses, and one in which the social aspects of attending opera or ballet performances have been enhanced for every member of the audience," Jack Diamond said of his design.
The grand staircase in the entrance lobby of the Mariinsky II. (Diamond & Schmitt) Like the Four Seasons, the Mariinsky is constructed of natural materials, including Jura limestone, an illuminated onyx wall around the auditorium and performance areas lined with wood shaped for the best acoustic experience.
Gergiev said he believes the new theatre will become a St. Petersburg landmark and will help continue the rich Russian heritage of the arts, which includes premieres of works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov and a rich ballet tradition.
The original Mariinsky Theatre, which is suffering the effects of age, will soon be closed for renovations.
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