Odessa Philharmonic Theater
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Odessa's Philharmonic Theatre (Russian: филармония) is a theater in Odessa, Ukraine. The design resembles the Doge Palace in Venice.[1]
Contents |
[edit] History
The foundation stone for the theater was laid September 3rd, 1894, a day after Odessa's one-hundred-year birthday. The building was intended as the new stock exchange, or "New Exchange" to replace the old stock exchange. This is why the the vast hall was decorated with six panels by the artist Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin (1842-1908) which depict commerce through out various stages of history.[2][3]
Like the Odessa Opera Theater before it, a world competition was announced for a conceptual design of a new Odessa stock exchange. The design of Viennese architect V.J. Prohaska was considered the best. But this design did not meet all of the requirements, therefore it was modified and improved by Alexander Osipovich Bernardacci.
Bernardacci also designed three other buildings in Odessa, including the bank at Pushkinskaya 10; the hotel Krasnaya, across the street from the Philharmonic Theater; and the Odessa railway station. In addition, Bernardacci designed a monument to Alexander II in Alexander Park. The statue was replaced and today only the base remains, used to honor Taras Shevchenko. Alexander Park was renamed Shevchenko Park.[4][5]
Construction was completed in 1898.
Since 1924 the building has housed the Odessa Philharmonic.
[edit] Construction
The theater can seat 1,000 people and is 15 meters high and 910 square meters. The large hall has no supporting columns, and because of this, it was one of the most expensive buildings in Odessa to build.[6] [7]
The main entrance is by a large open-sided, roofed gallery, called a loggia. The ceiling of this open entry is painted with the twelve symbols of the Zodiac.[6][7]
The interior is paneled with dark Lebanese cedar, and the windows are set in white Carrara marble.[8]
[edit] Hobart Earle
Since 1991, American Hobart Earle has conducted the philharmonic orchestra.[9][10]
[edit] Trivia
[edit] Prostitution
Today every night outside of the Philharmonic Theater is a large, well organized group of about fifty prostitutes. A UN study found that these Philharmonic prostitutes were part of the top rung of the prostitution rings in Odessa.[11]
[edit] Quotes
| “ | ...a handsome building of oriental architecture [it] is a center of activity. The trading takes place in a splendid hall on lines similar to those of the board of trade at Chicago.[12] | ” |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 107
- ^ Kononova p. 106-107
- ^ Herlihy, Patricia (1987, 1991). Odessa: A History, 1794-1914. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-916458-15-6, hardcover; ISBN 0-916458-43-1, paperback reprint. p. 267
- ^ Kononova, p.105-106
- ^ Herlihy, p. 268, 269.
- ^ a b Kononova, p.107, 108
- ^ a b Herlihy, p. 267, states the main hall is 60 meters by 120 meters
- ^ Herlihy, p. 267
- ^ Hobart Earle. odessaphilharmonic.org. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.
- ^ Kening, Dan (November 21 2004). "Surprising Odessa--and those 192 steps". Chicago Tribune: 1.
*Liss, Dana (July 19 2002). "Odessa Philharmonic, Earle Go "National"". Kyiv Post.
*Anstead, Alicia (March 27 1998). "Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra American conductor tirelessly works to resurrect talented Ukrainian musical organization". Bangor Daily News.
*Huisking, Charlie (March 6 1998). "An American in Ukraine". Sarasota Herald-Tribune: 3. - ^ Garrett, Laurie (2001). Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health. ISBN 0-7868-8440-1. p. 234, citing a UNAIDS progam conducted from Odessa State University by psychologist Valeri Kiunov.
- ^ Herlihy, p. 267, quoting Curtain, William Eleroy (1911). Around the Black Sea: Asia Minor, Armenia, Caucasus, Circassia, Daghestan, the Crimea, Roumania. New York: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 329.
[edit] External links
- Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. odessaphilharmonic.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-09.
- Odessa Philharmonic Theater. Retrieved on 2006-08-09. 20 photos of the theater
Arcadia Beach • Childrens Palace • Botanical Gardens • Catacombs • City council building • Deribasovskaya Street • Film Studio • Londonskaya Hotel • Monument to Potemkin sailors • Mother-in-Law's Bridge • Opera Theater • Odessa Passazh • Pushkin Museum • Sea Port •Train Station • Park Pobedeh • Philharmonic theater • Potemkin Stairs • Primorsky Boulevard • Privoz Market • Seventh-Kilometer Market • Shevchenko Park • Tsentralnyi-Chornomorets Stadium • Vorontsov Lighthouse
