The Mariinsky Theatre was founded in 1783 following a decree by Empress Catherine the Great to stage the first Russian comic operas and the best works by foreign composers. The current theatre was built on a site that had been a circus, opposite the Italian Bolshoi Theatre in Carousel Square. Today this area is known as Theatre Square, and the Italian opera house has long ago made way for the famous St. Petersburg Conservatory, named after Rimsky-Korsakov who taught there for nearly 40 years.

Designed by the architect Caves, the theatre, opened in 1860, was named for Maria, wife of the reigning Tsar Alexander II. Known during the Soviet era as the Kirov, after a Russian revolutionary leader, the theatre has regained its original imperial title: the Mariinsky.

The opening of the Mariinsky Theatre heralded a golden period in St Petersburg's operatic history.


There, in 1862, Verdi's La forza del destino received its world premiere, in the presence of the composer. Many Western works, translated into Russian, quickly found their way onto the Mariinsky stage and, at the same time, the flourishing of Russian opera led to the premieres of such national masterpieces as Boris Godunov (1874), Prince lgor (1890), and The Queen of Spades (1890).
In 1869 the Czech-born conductor Eduard Napravnik became chief conductor, a post he held until his death 47 years later. During this period he conducted almost all the premieres in the Mariiinsky and raised it to a position among the world's leading opera houses. Western composers such as Wagner, Mahler amd Berlioz came to the theatre, and sections of The Ring and Tristan were performed by the Mariinsky's orchestra before they were heard in Bayreuth. At this time, the ballet was equally distinguished under its director Marius Petipa.

The Baritone	I. Tartakov

In the 1890s its premieres of Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Raymonda influenced the development of classical dance. At the beginning of this century such legendary artists as Chaliapin, Tartakov, Pavlova and Nijinsky performed at the theatre, and productions were designed by Russia's leading artists, including Korovin, Golovin, Bakst, Benois and Vasnetsov. During the I920s the young Soviet regime was still open to new artistic developments: in 1927 Wozzeck was performed at the State Academic Theatre (as the Mariinsky was then known), 25 years before its British premiere at Covent Garden. In recent years, foreign tours have brought both the Kirov Opera and Ballet to international recognition and acclaim.

In 1988 Valery Gergiev was appointed Artistic Director of the Kirov Opera. In his first season the theatre presented a festival of five Musorgsky operas, including Khovanshchina, which was televised throughout the Soviet Union and Europe. Part of this series was taken to the Edinburgh International Festival in 1991. The theatre celebrated Prokofiev's centenary in 1991 with new productions of The Gambler, War and Peace (broadcast live to Britain by the BBC), Love for Three Oranges, and Fiery Angel. In February 1994 the Kirov Opera commemorated the 150th anniversary of Rimsky-Korsakov s birth with a festival of concerts, the operas Sadko, Maid of Pskov, Kashchei the Immortal, and The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh.