Знаете ли вы лучшие музыкальные сцены нашей countries designed to perform chamber music? Fans of this type of art will certainly list many halls. But one of the first to be named is the Small Hall of the Philharmonic in St. Petersburg, where unique acoustics allow listeners to catch every sound according to the composer’s plan and allows any instrument and voice to demonstrate its versatility.
Spring 1949 gave the city a new scene.It was the Small Philharmonic Hall, the “younger brother” of the Leningrad Academic Philharmonic. He received the name of the composer MI. Glinka, in whose work chamber music occupied a special place.
The atmosphere of a small hall, where the performancemusical works intended for a small circle of people, sets up a special perception of music - intimate and trusting. In scale and magnificence of interior decoration, this concert hall is much inferior to the Great Hall of the Philharmonic, which nevertheless does not detract from its uniqueness. This especially applies to acoustics. The hall, designed for only 480 seats, allows the performer to be next to the listener, at a distance of sight and voice. The chamber situation mentally transfers all the participants of the concert - both musicians and the public - to the distant times, when art gathered a narrow circle of connoisseurs in salons and music rooms.
Beautiful mansion, which appeared in the middle of the XVIIIcentury at the intersection of Nevsky Prospect and the Catherine Canal (today Griboedov Canal), was built for General A.N. Vilboa, and later became owned by Prince A.M. Golitsyn.
Именно с этого времени дом начал привлекать St. Petersburg nobility held musical concerts and masquerades, and from the XIX century, it will become a real musical center of the capital. By the beginning of the XIX century MS became the owner of the mansion. Kusovnikov, a millionaire merchant, lover of entertainment with a natural acting talent. Before the reconstruction in the 30s, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Society was located in Kusovnikov’s house, regularly organizing concerts of famous and young musicians.
His famous name - House Engelhardt - mansionreceived by the middle of the XIX century. His owner OM Engelhardt, the daughter of the merchant Kusovnikov, with her husband, a rich philanthropist and connoisseur of art, continued to traditionally arrange magnificent masquerades, balls and musical evenings for high society. Having become the main concert hall of the capital, the Engelgardt couple invites many outstanding musicians of their time to perform on their stage: R. Wagner, F. Liszt, I. Strauss, P. Viardo and M.I. Glinka.
Music Salon on Nevsky was collecting allelite of the capital. Poets A. Pushkin, V. Zhukovsky and M. Lermontov, writers I. Turgenev and K. Ryleev, musician A. Rubinstein and fabulist I. Krylov were here. By the way, the popularity of the masquerades of Mrs. Engelhardt was so great that, under the vivid impression of what he saw, M. Lermontov unfolded the action of his drama “Masquerade” precisely within the walls of this mansion.
With the arrival of new owners the status of musiccenter of the capital, the house gradually lost. New shops and shops appeared here, banks worked for almost 40 years, but the reconstruction of the building by new owners did not affect the concert hall. It held noble evenings and meetings.
In 1941, at the very beginning of the war, the centralpart of the mansion was destroyed by a bomb attack. Restoration of the house began one of the first before the end of the war. From 1944 to 1948 construction work was carried out, and in May 1949, the first audience of the small philharmonic hall was received. His address: Nevsky Prospect, 30.
In the premiere season Philharmonic (St. Petersburg),the small hall of which was opened by the first of the restored concert venues of the country, launched its program in a versatile and wide-ranging. There were not only scheduled performances, but also various musical events dedicated to memorable dates, author evenings and solo performances of musicians.
Among the first performers of this chamber scenewere the composer of the besieged city D. Shostakovich and his pupil G. Sviridov. Here music of V. Solovyov-Sedoy and A. Petrov, S. Slonimsky and V. Gavrilin sounded. The Small Philharmonic Hall heard the charming voice of the debutant E. Obraztsova, the future famous Russian bass E. Nesterenko, the sound of the connection of the young M. Vaiman and M. Maisky and the virtuoso passages of the beginner pianists G. Sokolov and A. Ugorsky.
All concert events held on stageThe Small (Chamber) Hall of the Philharmonic in 2014, were devoted to two significant dates - the 65th anniversary of the opening of the Small Hall of the Academic Philharmonic and the 210th anniversary of M.I. Glinka. A special place among the planned musical evenings was given to chamber music, the progenitor of many musical genres, performances of symphonic orchestras, holding competitions for young musical talents.
