05.05.2017
The Evacuation of MALEGOT – exhibition
An exhibition on the evacuation of the Leningrad State Academic Maly Opera Theatre (known as MALEGOT) has opened in the stalls circle. The exhibition includes original drawings of scenery and costumes for performances that were put on during the war. These exhibits are accompanied by extracts from the diary entries of the theatre’s harpist, Ivan Polomarenko (1876–1965).
We are indebted to Polomarenko’s detailed chronicle of theatre life from 1941–1945. In his career as a musician he played for the orchestra of the Lifeguard Preobrazhensky Regiment and for Count Sheremetev’s orchestra, joining the Maly Opera Theatre in 1919. He kept his diary diligently and, almost daily, wrote of everyday and artistic life, and the misfortunes and triumphs of the company. All of the quotations exhibited on the walls have been drawn from Polomarenko’s diary entries.
The compulsory evacuation of the Maly Opera Theatre company was announced on 16 August 1941. On 22 August, the company’s transport, consisting for the most part of heated freight cars, set out for Chkalov — present-day Orenburg. The town did not welcome the Leningraders: „There are no rooms available, and if any are offered they can accommodate only one or two people, and you cannot wash linen or use the kitchen.“ The Musical Comedy Theatre was put at the disposal of the company, and initially the performers both lived and worked there. They were given less than two weeks to settle in. By 16 September 1941 the first rehearsal took place, and on 20 September, MALEGOT held its Chkalov premiere. The new season began with Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki. During the three years of evacuation nearly twenty classical opera productions appeared in the theatre’s repertoire, among them The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Cherevichki, The Tsar’s Bride, Carmen, La traviata, Tosca, Rigoletto, Pagliacci, Cio-Cio-san, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Romeo and Juliet, The Bartered Bride, and The Canary’s Legacy. The people of Chkalov loved the theatre and eagerly attended the performances. The most popular MALEGOT production, just as it had been in Leningrad, was The Gypsy Baron.
The theatre’s orchestra put on symphonies which became firm audience favourites. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 was performed in Chkalov at the same time as it premiered in Leningrad. The audience referred to ballet productions as „silent opera“. As Polomarenko’s wrote in 1941, „There was a performance of the ballet Prisoner of the Caucasus this evening, the first in Orenburg, it seems, as this type of musical and theatrical art is completely unfamiliar to the people of this city. The ballet was not a success. The spectators were perplexed and asked each other, wide-eyed, ‘Why don’t the performers sing or speak? They must suddenly have caught a cold.’ It is an amusing story.“ Nonetheless, most of the ballet repertoire was revived in Chkalov. Apart from the aforementioned Prisoner of the Caucasus, there were also performances of La Petite Fadette, Coppelia, The Tale of the Priest and his Workman Balda and La Fille mal gardée.
The Maly Opera Theatre spent three years in Chkalov. On 4 September 1944, the performers returned home. On 3 November, a production of The Tsar’s Bride marked the end of the evacuation.
We are indebted to Polomarenko’s detailed chronicle of theatre life from 1941–1945. In his career as a musician he played for the orchestra of the Lifeguard Preobrazhensky Regiment and for Count Sheremetev’s orchestra, joining the Maly Opera Theatre in 1919. He kept his diary diligently and, almost daily, wrote of everyday and artistic life, and the misfortunes and triumphs of the company. All of the quotations exhibited on the walls have been drawn from Polomarenko’s diary entries.
The compulsory evacuation of the Maly Opera Theatre company was announced on 16 August 1941. On 22 August, the company’s transport, consisting for the most part of heated freight cars, set out for Chkalov — present-day Orenburg. The town did not welcome the Leningraders: „There are no rooms available, and if any are offered they can accommodate only one or two people, and you cannot wash linen or use the kitchen.“ The Musical Comedy Theatre was put at the disposal of the company, and initially the performers both lived and worked there. They were given less than two weeks to settle in. By 16 September 1941 the first rehearsal took place, and on 20 September, MALEGOT held its Chkalov premiere. The new season began with Tchaikovsky’s Cherevichki. During the three years of evacuation nearly twenty classical opera productions appeared in the theatre’s repertoire, among them The Queen of Spades, Eugene Onegin, Cherevichki, The Tsar’s Bride, Carmen, La traviata, Tosca, Rigoletto, Pagliacci, Cio-Cio-san, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Romeo and Juliet, The Bartered Bride, and The Canary’s Legacy. The people of Chkalov loved the theatre and eagerly attended the performances. The most popular MALEGOT production, just as it had been in Leningrad, was The Gypsy Baron.
The theatre’s orchestra put on symphonies which became firm audience favourites. Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 was performed in Chkalov at the same time as it premiered in Leningrad. The audience referred to ballet productions as „silent opera“. As Polomarenko’s wrote in 1941, „There was a performance of the ballet Prisoner of the Caucasus this evening, the first in Orenburg, it seems, as this type of musical and theatrical art is completely unfamiliar to the people of this city. The ballet was not a success. The spectators were perplexed and asked each other, wide-eyed, ‘Why don’t the performers sing or speak? They must suddenly have caught a cold.’ It is an amusing story.“ Nonetheless, most of the ballet repertoire was revived in Chkalov. Apart from the aforementioned Prisoner of the Caucasus, there were also performances of La Petite Fadette, Coppelia, The Tale of the Priest and his Workman Balda and La Fille mal gardée.
The Maly Opera Theatre spent three years in Chkalov. On 4 September 1944, the performers returned home. On 3 November, a production of The Tsar’s Bride marked the end of the evacuation.
