Tatar Theater of Opera and Ballet

(full name, M. Dzhalil’ Tatar Theater of Opera and Ballet), a musical theater in the Tatar ASSR.

The theater opened in Kazan in 1939 with Zhiganov’s opera Kachkyn (The Fugitive). Its opera company consisted mainly of graduates of the Moscow Conservatory and the affiliated Tatar Opera Studio. Among its best early productions were Zhiganov’s operas Irek (Freedom, 1940) and Altynchach (The Golden-haired Girl, 1941), Muzafarov’s opera Galiiabanu (1940), Iarullin’s Shurale, the first Tatar ballet (1945), and Faizi’s musical comedy Bashmachki (1942). The theater’s leading performers were the singers Z. G. Bairasheva, L. S. Vernikovskii, Sh. Iu. Kuddusova, O. A. Loginova, L. S. Maev, P. A. Markov, M. P. Pantiushin, Z. G. Khismatullina, M. M. Rakhmankulova, and V. G. Sharipova and the ballet soloists S. Z. Khairullin and N. D. Iultyeva.

In addition to staging world classics and works by Soviet composers from other republics, the theater has given memorable performances of Tatar national operas, including Kh. Valiullin’s Samat (1957) and On the Banks of the Dema (1961), Zhiganov’s Dzhalil (1957), and Khairutdinova’s The Crafty Cat (1974), a children’s opera. The theater’s outstanding ballet productions have included Bakirov’s The Golden Comb (1957) and The Water Sprite (1970), Gubaidullin’s Kisekbash (The Severed Head, 1958), Zhiganov’s Two Legends (1971), and Khabibullin’s The Enchanted Boy (1974).

In 1975 the theater’s leading singers were People’s Artists of the RSFSR A. Z. Abbasov, M. Z. Bulatova, and F. Kh. Nasretdinov, Honored Artist of the RSFSR V. N. Zharkov, People’s Artists of the Tatar ASSR R. G. Bilialova and I. D. Ishbuliakov, and Honored Artists of the Tatar ASSR L. G. Bashkirova, Kh. D. Giniatova, and N. I. Iakusheva. Its ballet soloists included Honored Artist of the RSFSR R. F. Sadykov, People’s Artist of the Tatar ASSR G. S. Kalashnikova, and Honored Artist of the Tatar ASSR I. Sh. Khakimova. The principal conductor is I. A. Lapin’, the chief stage director is People’s Artist of the RSFSR N. K. Dautov, the principal choreographer is D. M. Aripova, the main choral director is T. G. Gudkova, and the principal stage designer is People’s Artist of the Tatar ASSR E. Kh. Nagaev. In 1956 the theater moved into a new building with a 1,029-seat hall.