Moscow Theater of Operetta

a theater established in 1927 by a group of operetta artists that had existed since 1922. Actively working to create a Soviet repertoire, the theater staged such works as Dunaevskii’s Betrothed (1927), Strel’nikov’s Bondwoman (1932), and B. A. Aleksandrov’s Wedding in Malinovka (1937). During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, part of the company remained in Moscow, while the rest performed in the Kuznetsk Basin.

Among the better works by Soviet composers performed by the theater were Dunaevskii’s Free Wind (1947) and White Acacia (1955); Miliutin’s Trembita (1949), The Kiss of Chanita (1957), and Commotion Among the Girls (1950, 1971); Solov’ev-Sedov’s Most Cherished (1952); Kabalevskii’s Spring Sings (1957); Shostakovich’s Moscow, Cheremushki (1959); Listov’s Sevastopol’ Waltz (1961); Tulikov’s Barankin, Be a Good Guy! (1965); Khrennikov’s A Hundred Devils and One Girl (1963) and White Night (1967); Dolukhanian’s Beauty Contest (1967); Eshpai’s There Is No One More Fortunate Than I (1970); and Muradel’s Moscow-Paris-Moscow (1970). Foreign classical and contemporary operettas are also staged. These works include Strauss’ Die Fledermaus (1947), Kálmán’s The Czardas Princess (1955) and The Violet of Montmartre (1969), Lehár’s The Merry Widow (1956), and Loewe’s My Fair Lady (1965).

The theater’s success was the result of the work of the following members of the company: N. M. Bravin, V. S. Volodin, G. M. Iaron, V. I. Alchevskii, S. M. Anikeev, T. Ia. Bakh, M. I. Dneprov, M. A. Kachalov, E. Ia. Lebedeva, R. F. Lazareva, K. M. Novikova, N. O. Ruban, and A. A. Feona. Also important were the conductor G. A. Stoliarov, the choreographer G. A. Shakhovskaia, and the set designer G. L. Kigel’. I. M. Tumanov was the principal stage director from 1947 to 1953, and V. A. Kandelaki from 1954 to 1964.

In 1974 the company of the Moscow Theater of Operetta included People’s Artists of the RSFSR O. N. Vlasova and T. I. Shmyga and Honored Artists of the RSFSR A. Z. Gorelik, A. G. Kotova, K. A. Kuz’mina, N. V. Kuralesina, and T. L. Sanina. People’s Artist of the RSFSR and Honored Art Worker of the Kazakh SSR G. P. Ansimov has been artistic director since 1965.