The building of the Imperial Court Theatre was constructed by order of Empress Catherine II in September 1783 "On the erection of a stone theatre at the Hermitage... according to the plans and under the supervision of architect Quarenghi." The location was not found immediately. First, the old theatre located in the Small Hermitage was demolished, which got its name due to Catherine II's habit of holding performances and entertainment evenings there — the "small hermitages." The Empress disliked that the audience had to pass through her private apartments to attend the shows.
During construction, architect Quarenghi used the foundations of previous buildings that had been built on this site earlier during the Winter Palace era. The theatre was opened on November 16, 1785, even before the interior decoration was completed, with the premiere of the comic opera by Ablesimov to music by Sokolovsky, "The Miller, the Sorcerer, the Trickster, and the Matchmaker." The auditorium and stage box rose above the old building of the Leib Company Corps. From 1787 to 1789, the volumes of the building located on the embankment and in the eastern part were completed. The theatre's facade was finally finished only in 1802: a balustrade was erected at the semicircular projection, and six statues and six busts of famous poets of Ancient Greece, made according to Quarenghi's drawings, were installed in the niches.
The Hermitage Theatre played a significant role in the development of Russian theatrical and musical culture at the end of the 18th century. Many opera, ballet, and dramatic productions were staged here, including plays written by the Empress herself. Masquerades and balls were held in this building, and amateur performances were staged.
The history of the Hermitage Theatre is connected with the name of the outstanding Italian artist Pietro di Gottardo Gonzago. In 1789, architect Quarenghi, familiar with Gonzago's work in Italy, intended to invite him to Saint Petersburg to create decorations for the Hermitage Theatre. However, the artist arrived in Russia only at the end of 1791 or the beginning of 1792. Gonzago was invited to Russia by Prince N. B. Yusupov, the future director of the Imperial Theatres. At that time, he was the Russian ambassador at the Turin court. Upon arrival, Gonzago worked extensively from nature, drawing landscapes of Saint Petersburg and its architectural monuments in a quick style using ink, sepia, or bistre, pen, and brush. For the Hermitage Theatre curtain, he decided to replicate his success in Milan. For the La Scala theatre in Milan in 1779, he created a curtain that very accurately depicted the same theatre, but from the outside. The audience was delighted. The Hermitage collection holds a drawing by Gonzago, depicting the Hermitage Theatre from the Neva side in bistre and ink.
From 1808, New Year's masquerades began to be held in the Hermitage Theatre. A "crystal tent," made at the Imperial Glass Factory and brightly lit from inside and outside, was set up in the theatre hall. A table for twenty-five people was set inside the tent. All holiday decorations were overseen by P. Gonzago. Later, from February 1823, the theatre was even used for training soldiers of the Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment, which was quartered nearby. From 1826, the Hermitage Theatre building came under the management of the Imperial Theatres Directorate.
Many famous dramatic actors performed in the theatre, and Chaliapin sang there. The theatre underwent numerous repairs and restorations. Restoration work was supervised by Rossi and Charlemagne. In 1862, the wooden load-bearing structures were replaced. From 1895 to 1898, under the direction of Krasovsky, a major reconstruction was carried out, replacing wooden trusses with iron ones. In 1902, the upper floor of the connecting gallery, serving as the theatre foyer, was redesigned in the "fourth rococo" style according to a project by Leonty Nikolaevich Benois. The reason for the redesign was a huge tapestry gifted to the Imperial Court by the President of France, Faure. It was decided to create a suitable setting for it in the Hermitage Theatre foyer. In 1988, architect Lukin created a new arched gallery-transition in the theatre courtyard on the arch of direct connection with the State Hermitage. In 1992, an exhibition of Peter I's Winter Palace opened on the first floor of the theatre building, with the entrance located from the Palace Embankment side. Currently, the premises of the Hermitage Theatre are managed by the State Hermitage.
Architect Giacomo Quarenghi was a convinced Palladian. As a prototype for the new building, he chose the ancient Greek theatron (not without the Empress's involvement). Quarenghi had previously studied ancient theatres, and for the 1787 engraved edition dedicated to the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg, he specially made a drawing of the Roman theatre and a measured drawing of the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza. The small room with an amphitheatre, orchestra, and skene, made of wood and painted to resemble marble, resembles the ancient Greek theatre in Epidaurus.
In the theatre's interior, Quarenghi used Corinthian order columns clad in artificial marble, niches with statues of Apollo and the nine Muses, round medallions with profile portraits of famous poets and composers. According to Quarenghi himself, he built the Hermitage Theatre based on direct impressions from the ancient theatre in Pompeii. The stage masks on the Corinthian capitals of the theatre's interior were made "following samples seen in Rome and, mainly, found by me in the excavations of the Pompeii theatre."
Quarenghi's assistant during construction was the master stonemason from Tessin, Giuseppe Lukini. The semicircular auditorium impresses with both intimacy and monumentality. The artificial marble columns, balustrades, and red upholstery (initially it was blue) of the seats create a solemn atmosphere. The large curtain from Catherine's time has been restored.
The facade facing the Neva stands out with rustication and a shallow loggia with a large order spanning the second and third floors between the side risalits. Especially striking is the rounded corner part with an arch-transition to the Old Hermitage building across the Winter Canal. The arch was built according to architect Felten's project in 1783. It resembles the famous "Bridge of Sighs" in Venice.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermitage_Theatre
