On November 3, 1978, the Organ Hall (Irkutsk) was opened to the general public. The story of his appearance is quite long and interethnic. The church, which is currently hosting concerts, was built by Polish exiles and the Catholic community. After the revolution, he served as the premises for the newsreel studio, and much later became the place where musical masterpieces sound.
History
In the historical part of the city of Irkutsk, there is a building with a non-local architecture, far from Russian traditions - this is a Roman Catholic church, which now houses the organ hall (Irkutsk). He alone can tell the whole story of the appearance and stay of the Polish community in Siberia.
In 1820, the number of Poles in Irkutsk was 1,400, the ranks were gradually replenished, and the backbone was made up of exiles who came to Siberia after the Polish riot. At the head of the Catholic community were the Bernardines, who managed to get permission to build a church. It was a small matter - to find land for the temple, most of all the community liked the place near the Epiphany Orthodox Cathedral of Irkutsk. I put it on and had to buy it from a merchant Zubov and supplement it with a rifle sold by the bourgeois Sukhanov.
The Polish church was financed exclusively through donations, the opening took place in 1825. The building was one-story, made of wood. Residences for priests were made on both sides. The area of the temple occupied 64 square fathoms; it is noteworthy that the foundation of the building was immediately laid stone. The temple died in a fire in 1879, which forced Priest Krzysztof Svermitsky not only to think about the stone building, but also to take up the matter energetically. His personal donations amounted to 24,000 rubles, the rest was donated by parishioners as construction progressed.
Stone church
The Organ Hall (Irkutsk), in the form that is known to contemporaries, is the fruit of the work of architect Yu. Tamulevich. The ideas of interior design belong to the talented artist V. Kopersky. The main construction work was completed in 1884, the interior decoration was still to come, but divine services were already held in the church.
Consecration in honor of Our Lady Mary took place in December 1884. In general, the church was completely ready only by the end of the 1890s. Services in Catholic churches are accompanied by musical organ, but in those years it was not there, services were held under the harmonium received from Warsaw in 1896.
Soviet power and community property
Soviet power in Siberia was not immediately established; large-scale nationalization of religious sites began in 1921, and the church also entered the list. But then a political and legal incident happened. In fact, Poland became a state independent of Russia, and the settled Siberian Poles turned out to be foreigners, and taking their property from them was not so easy and painless for the image of a new country. Moreover, when the law spells out the rights of foreign citizens, according to which they had the right to acquire real estate for religious purposes.
This did not save the church from becoming state property, but the process dragged on until 1938, when it was closed as a temple. Subsequently, it housed the East Siberian newsreel studios, which helped to keep all the interior decoration intact. Orthodox churches were subjected to much more sophisticated destruction - they housed warehouses, houses of the insane, colonies for criminals, etc.
New church appointment
The first restoration work was carried out in the church from 1974 to 1978, it was planned to open a museum of the life history of Poles in Siberia on the premises, but later the acoustics and architecture of the building were evaluated differently. Local authorities decided to equip an organ hall (Irkutsk), making it part of the regional philharmonic society.
After another change of course in the Russian state that happened in the 90s, the revived Polish community made demands for the return of the church. The process was lengthy, but in 1998 the final verdict was rejected. The Roman Catholic community built a new church, but religious services are also held in the church with the permission of the authorities.
Organ music in Siberia
The Organ Hall (Irkutsk) was opened in 1978 as part of the Irkutsk Regional Philharmonic. The heart and voice of the audience is the organ of the German company Alexander Schuke, it is included in the list of ten best bodies in Russia. The decoration of the musical instrument is made in the Baroque style and is a visual continuation of most of the musical works that are performed here. The instrument has a voice in 28 registers.
The repertoire of the organ hall (Irkutsk) includes works by classics of world musical art - I. S. Bach, J. Bizet, P. Tchaikovsky, J. Karissimi and many others. Musicians and vocalists, known both in Russia and abroad, perform on the stage. The poster of the organ hall includes not only music, but also literary and musical evenings, where poetic masterpieces are combined with “music of angels”, giving the audience an unforgettable experience, opening up new facets of art.
Helpful information
The Organ Hall (Irkutsk) conducts an active concert activity. The poster with the repertoire is fully formed, it announced concerts for January and February, plans for concert activities for the whole year are drawn up. The organ will be played to the public many times during the first months of the new year, giving concerts for children and adults.
One of the centers of culture and the island of music is for residents and visitors of the city Philharmonic. The Organ Hall (Irkutsk) invites you to concerts familiarizing the public with little-known works of Western authors and with their already beloved compositions created from a string of famous and popular tunes. So, the concert “Golden Organ Collection” consists of music written by classics - Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Bach, Brooks and others. An unexpected reading of organ works awaits the audience at the concert “Organ in ethno style”, where classical pieces in the style of Decebal Grigorutz will be performed folk music of Georgia, Russia, Pribaikalye, etc.
The City Philharmonic is a building with an interesting history, the cultural heritage of Russia and Poland. The architecture of the center of musical arts leaves no one indifferent. A photo of the organ hall (Irkutsk) adorns many family albums. The building is one of the symbols of the city.
The organ hall of the Irkutsk Regional Philharmonic is located on Suhe-Bator Street, Building 1, the contact phone number can be found on the official website. You can get to the concert hall by public transport, buses of routes No. 408, 6, 3, 16, 16k and others.