In December 2002, a significant event took place in the cultural life of the Russian capital - the Moscow International House of Music was opened. The initiators of the construction of a new cultural center were the capital's mayor Yuri Luzhkov and outstanding music and public figure Vladimir Spivakov.
MMDM - how it all began
The house of music on Paveletskaya was created with funds from the city budget. Towards the end of the last decade of the past century, Moscow was in dire straits with concert venues for classical music. The existing centers (in the Moscow Conservatory and the Tchaikovsky Hall) are morally obsolete and gradually collapsed, requiring large funds for capital restoration.
The city leadership decided to build a new philharmonic hall that meets all the requirements of high-quality performing arts. To build a new center of musical culture, a place was chosen in the business district of the city - on the Red Hills, from where a picturesque view of the ancient Novospassky Monastery opens. Construction work lasted a year and a half.
Architectural Features
The Moscow House of Music on Paveletskaya is part of the Riverside architectural ensemble, built on the Cosmodamian embankment of the Moscow River. The central object of the complex is a spacious ten-story theater and concert building.
The infrastructure of the MMDM includes concert halls, a rehearsal class, as well as a recording studio equipped with the most modern equipment. In addition, there is an exhibition hall, a Bluthner shop selling musical instruments, a summer cafe "Musical Terrace" with an equipped platform for performances, a restaurant.
The house of music on Paveletskaya resembles a crystal cup. The association is due to the glass translucent walls of the building. The height of the building reaches forty-five meters, and the total area of the premises is over four tens of thousands square meters.
The semicircular dome of the House is decorated with a sculptural composition of the architect Zurab Tsereteli. It is a ten-meter steel structure in the form of a treble clef, which symbolizes the triumph of musical ideas and is a hallmark of the cultural center.
For the originality of the project, the team of the Association of Theater Architects was awarded the Crystal Daedalus Prize.
Unique stage design
A considerable number of specialists in acoustics, lighting, as well as designers and engineers worked on the arrangement of concert halls. Thanks to their painstaking work on all the stages, excellent soundtrack, high-quality light and original design are provided.
The House of Music on Paveletskaya presents three concert halls. The most important of them is named after the famous Soviet Russian conductor Evgeny Svetlanov. The room is freely located over a half thousand people. You can enjoy the beauty and power of sound in any part of the auditorium.
To improve the acoustic properties, the interior of the room is decorated with Siberian larch. As decorating elements used light marble.
Svetlanov Hall presents its stage for the main concert performances of classical music genres. It was in this room that a body was established containing eighty-four registers and being the largest instrument in Russia.
You can study the scheme of the audience by visiting the official website. The House of Music on Paveletskaya also has a Chamber Hall, in which six hundred seats are arranged for the audience. According to the name, the stage is provided for chamber performers. In addition, students of metropolitan conservatories and other music educational institutions conduct their reporting performances here.
The theater hall is the smallest; it contains a little more than five hundred seats. His stage is intended for theatrical performances, fashion shows, public events. For the convenience of performers, the hall is equipped with a transforming stage. Due to the high functionality in the Theater Hall, you can hold receptions and even arrange receptions.
Office of the House of Music
MMDM is the permanent residence of the National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and the Moscow Symphony Orchestra. The House of Music is headed by Vladimir Theodorovich Spivakov, People's Artist of the Soviet Union, State Prize Laureate, Professor.
In addition to active concert activity, the House of Music and its president are engaged in charity work. In 1994, the Vladimir Spivakov International Charity Fund was organized here.
MMDM has its own production center, which allows creating large-scale cultural projects of theatrical and concert orientation. Famous artists and groups are regularly invited to participate in major events.
Success of the first season
From the first bottom of the opening, the Music House was announced as a solid theater and concert venue, where serious artists, world-famous stars perform: Zurab Sotkilava, Yuri Bashmet, Denis Matsuev, Luciano Pavarotti, Jesse Normann, Igor Butman. This is just a small list of famous people who performed in the first musical season, which in 2003 opened the House of Music on Paveletskaya.
The poster of the festival “Mozartiana” gathered a huge number of admirers of the immortal work of the famous composer under the roof of the palace. On the eve of the New Year holidays in honor of the hero of the day, over a dozen concerts were held with great success, at which the best Russian and foreign performers performed.
House of music yesterday and today
The second musical season and all subsequent ones were filled with no less vivid and spectacular events. The festival of organ music was especially noted by the public - a unique event that brought together the best European organists in March 2005. Concert venues were provided to showcase excellent theater and ballet performances, opera performances, and choral performances. Fans of original music were very impressed by the performances of the artists in the framework of the festival of authentic music “Anti-Aquarium”.
The House of Music on Paveletskaya devoted the next creative season to the centennial of the greatest composer of the twentieth century, Dmitry Shostakovich. Many concerts were held in his honor, as well as the premiere of the opera Passenger.
Repertoire Features
So year after year, the House of Music on Paveletskaya continues to arrange multi-genre performances, delighting its viewers with high-quality and vibrant world-class performers.
Symphony orchestras, chamber, jazz, folklore, and pop music groups perform every day on the stages of all the halls, as well as on the site of the summer cafe. Russian and foreign ballet, opera, and theater artists demonstrate their art.
International festivals, conferences, forums are not rare. All kinds of presentation events, holiday shows and theme nights are also taking place.
Star staircase in MMDM
In 2007, in honor of the fifth anniversary, a peculiar walk of fame under the name "Star staircase" was created in MMMD. It is a series of sculptural works located along the central steps leading to the main hall. The compositions are open scores with the names and autographs of great artists who honored the concert stages of the House of Music with their art.
Among the first persons who appeared on the memorial pages, there were such famous personalities as Fanny Ardan, Jose Carreras, Denis Matsuev, Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Marcelo Alvarez.
How to buy tickets and get to the concert
Ticket offices of the House of Music on Paveletskaya are open daily, from ten to twenty-one hours. Tickets for performances can be bought not only here, but also through the official website.
It hosts posters of upcoming events with a brief description. Full information on the availability and cost of tickets is also provided. The site has the opportunity to order an electronic document, which at the request of the customer will be delivered by courier. You can also redeem a ticket yourself by contacting the MMDM at the box office.
Almost every Muscovite familiar with the cultural life of the capital will easily tell you where the House of Music on Paveletskaya is located. His address: Kosmodamianskaya embankment, 52, building 8.
To get on foot, you need to go to the Paveletskaya metro station. The house of music is located ten minutes walk from it. For those who come in private cars, a spacious underground parking is equipped.
For preliminary information, you can always ask questions by phone: (495) -730-10-11; (495) -730-18-52.