Society and culture in Saint Petersburg

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The Hermitage Museum complex. From left to right: Hermitage Theatre, Old Hermitage, Small Hermitage, Winter Palace (the "New Hermitage" is situated behind the Old Hermitage)

Saint Petersburg has always been known for its high-quality cultural life, and its best known museum is the Hermitage.

Music in Saint Petersburg

Among the city's more than fifty theaters is the world-famous

Rudolph Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Galina Ulanova and Natalia Makarova
, were principal stars of the Mariinsky ballet.

Saint Petersburg Conservatory

Dmitri Shostakovich was born and brought up in St. Petersburg, and dedicated his Seventh Symphony to the city, calling it the "Leningrad Symphony." He wrote the symphony while in Leningrad during the Nazi siege. The 7th symphony was premiered in 1942; its performance in the besieged Leningrad at the Bolshoy Philharmonic Hall under the baton of conductor Karl Eliasberg was heard over the radio and lifted the spirits of the survivors;[1] each musician received 125 grams of bread after the premiere. In 1992 a reunion performance of the 7th Symphony by the (then) 14 survivors was played in the same hall as they done half a century ago.[2] The Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra remained one of the best known symphony orchestras in the world under the leadership of conductors Yevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov.

Choral music has a great tradition here. The Imperial Choral Capella was founded and modeled after the royal courts of other European capitals.

St Petersberg in the 18th century from Moscow. At the end of the 19th century, the choir numbered 90. 40 adults and 50 boys (women were not admitted). Of the 22 basses, 7 were profundi capable of reaching bottom G easily. These unique voices are produced on Russian soil to this day.[3]

St. Petersburg has been home to the newest movements in popular music. The first

Aquarium
, that later grew to huge popularity. Since then the "Piter's rock" music style was formed.

In the 1970s, many bands came out from "underground" and eventually founded the

Leningrad rock club which has been providing stage to such bands as Piknik, DDT, Kino, headed by the legendary Viktor Tsoi, Igry, Mify, Zemlyane, Alisa and many other popular groups. The first Russian-style happening show Pop mekhanika, mixing over 300 people and animals on stage, was directed by the multi-talented Sergey Kuryokhin
in the 1980s.

Today, St. Petersburg boasts many notable musicians of various genres, from popular Leningrad's

Rolling Stones, Scorpions
and other stars.

The White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg is famous for spectacular fireworks and massive show celebrating the end of school year: "Scarlet Sails" celebration in St. Petersburg

Museums and art spaces in Saint Petersburg

Main article: List of museums in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg in the movies

Over 250 international and Russian movies were filmed in St. Peterburg.

The Idiot and a few versions of Anna Karenina
(a Russian and a French film, each of 1911).

The first foreign feature movie filmed entirely in St. Petersburg was the 1997 production of Tolstoy's

The Winter Palace, Yusupov Palace, Catherine Palace, Petergof, Pavlovsk Palace, Mariinsky Theatre
and other famous landmarks and streets of St. Petersburg.

Soviet-made films, such as the trilogy of "Maksim" by director

Der Untergang was also filmed in Petersburg because several buildings on Shkapina Street resembled the center of Berlin of 1945. Leningrad about the Siege of Leningrad was released in 2007, and Giuseppe Tornatore
's film on the same theme was planned for release in 2008.

St. Petersburg is a set for

Master and Margarita was filmed partly in St. Petersburg. Several international film festivals are held annually, such as the International Film Festival in Saint Petersburg, since its inauguration in 1993 during the White Nights.[citation needed
]

St. Petersburg in literature

Memorial Pushkin Apartment Museum on 12 Moyka River Embankment

St. Petersburg has a longstanding and world famous tradition in literature.

Pushkin
and Gogol included ghosts returning to St. Petersburg to haunt other characters as well as other fantastical elements, creating a surreal and abstract image of St. Petersburg.

20th-century writers from St. Petersburg, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Andrey Bely, Yevgeny Zamyatin with his apprentices Serapion Brothers created entire new styles in literature and contributed new insights in the understanding of society through their experience in this city. Anna Akhmatova became important leader for Russian poetry. Her poem Requiem, focuses on the tragedies of living during the time of the Stalinist terror. Another notable 20th-century writer from St. Petersburg is Joseph Brodsky, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987). While living in the United States, his writings in English reflected on life in St. Petersburg from the unique perspective of being both an insider and an outsider to the city in essays such as "A Guide to a Renamed City" and the nostalgic, "In a Room and a Half".[5]

Sport

Main article: Sport in Saint Petersburg
Krestovsky Stadium

St. Petersburg hosted part of the

Summer Olympics. The 1994 Goodwill Games
were held here.

The first competition here was the 1703 rowing event initiated by Peter the Great, after the victory over the Swedish fleet. Yachting events were held by the Russian Navy since the foundation of the city. Equestrianism has been a long tradition, popular among the Tsars and aristocracy, as well as part of the military training. Several historic sports arenas were built for Equestrianism since the 18th century, to maintain training all year round, such as the Zimny Stadion and Konnogvardeisky Manezh among others.

Russian Tsar Nicholas II to five players: Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch and Marshall
, and which the Tsar had partially funded.

Gazprom Arena

Notable people

Main article:
List of People in St. Petersburg
Igor Stravinsky, composer, born in 1882 in a suburb of Saint Petersburg

Many important Russian and international figures, politicians, businessmen, artists, writers and scientists were born and/or have lived in Saint Petersburg. These include many of

Sergey Kirov, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Anatoly Sobchak, and Vladimir Putin
.

Education and science

The building of the Mining Academy (1811) is a Neoclassical masterpiece by Andrey Voronikhin.
The Twelve Collegia building of St. Petersburg State University
The Pulkovo Observatory

Saint Petersburg has long been a leading center of science and education in Russia.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Where a symphony silenced guns". The Guardian. 2005-10-16. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24.
  2. ^ Orchestral manoeuvres (part one)
  3. ^ EMI Classics - The Male Choir of St. Petersburg CD Booklet - Vadim Afanasiev
  4. ^ Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ Joseph Brodsky. Less Than One: Selected Essays, 1986
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