Opera and Revolution: The Bolshoi Theatre at the End of 1917

Primarily based on archival materials from the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the Russian State Archive of Economics, the Russian State Historical Archive, the Central State Archive of St. Petersburg and the A. A. Bakhrushin State Central Theatre Museum, the article provides the first detailed examination of a period representing a turning point in the history of the Bolshoi Theatre. During the two months between the end of October and the last days of December 1917, the Bolshoi Theatre experienced severe upheavals. The defeat of the Provisional Government during the October battles in Moscow was a shock for the troupe. The Bolsheviks’ cancellation of state financing in response to the failure on the part of the intelligentsia to recognise the legitimacy of their power created an atmosphere of complete uncertainty and lack of confidence in the future. However, even under these conditions, directors Leonid Sobinov and Feofan Pavlovsky strove to maintain the theatre’s artistic output. As well as maintaining contact with the chief commissioner for state theatres, Fyodor Batyushkov, they sought support from the troupe itself, and began to use the proceeds from performances as a means of ensuring the continued functioning of the theatre. However, a split was brewing in the troupe: the ambitious conductor Emil Cooper, who effectively ran the orchestra, informally led the “opposition” to Sobinov within the theatre. The contradictions that had accumulated by the turn of 1917–1918 prevented the Bolshoi Theatre from continuing its activities without significant changes, including a recognition of Bolshevik power and consequent restructuring of the management system within the theatre itself. Keywords: Bolshoi Theatre, Revolution of 1917, October Revolution, People’s Commissariat of Education, Leonid Sobinov, Emil Cooper, Elena Malinovskaya For citation: Gordeev, P. N. (2025). Opera and Revolution: The Bolshoi Theatre at the End of 1917. Contemporary Musicology, 9(1), 130―153. https://doi.org/10.56620/2587-9731-2025-1-130-153