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St.Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music is located in the historical centre of the city, in the building, which belongs to one of the most splendid architectural ensembles of the city - the ensemble of Alexandrinsky Theatre. This architectural masterpiece, as well as the street, bearing nowadays the name of its creator, was built by the great Carlo Rossi.
In 1840 in one of the buildings, surrounding the Theatre, the office of the Imperial Theatres Management settled. It was here that the fate of Russian Theatre was decided. Here the contracts with famous actors were signed. Modest Mussorgsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Ostrovsky, Anton Chekhov and other great men of Russian theatre brought here their works to be produced on the stage.
In 1918 the Management was reorganized and it was decided to organize the first Theatre museum in St.Petersburg. The decree about the museum was confirmed by the People's Commissar of Enlightenment Anatoly Lunacharsky. But in fact, the Theatre Museum was founded in 1908 when in Saint-Petersburg "First Russian Theatre exhibition" was opened in the premises of Panaev Theatre. There for the first time different exhibits, later on made up the base of the present collection of the Museum, were presented to the public.
The basis of the museum archives was formed by the private collections of the celebrated Alexandrinsky Theatre actors Ivan Gorbunov, Maria Savina, Vladimir Davydov, and the people who were close to the Theatre - Anatoly Molchanov, Vladimir Protopopov, Levky Zheverzheyev, Sergey Svetlov, as well as the archives of the Imperial Theatres Management.
The first exhibition opened for the visitors on 16 May 1921. The year 1971 was marked by the creation of the museum's first branch - the N.A.Rimsky-Korsakov Museum (Zagorodny Prospekt, 28), where, in the apartment # 39, the last 15 years of the great composer's life had passed. In 1975 the F.I.Chaliapin Museum in the celebrated singer's former house (Ul.Graftio, 2b) opened. In 1985 the museum received the State Collection of Musical Instruments. In 1989 the museum was given one more building - the palace of Counts Sheremetev, the famous Fountain House, built in the 18 century. (Nab.Fontanki, 34). When the State Collection of Musical Instruments moved to the Palace, the branch became known as the Museum of Music in the Sheremetev Palace. In 1994 the other branch - the Actors Samoilov Family Museum opened in the house # 8 on Ul.Stremyannaya.
The first two years of the museum's existence were the period of intensive collecting. As early as in 1923 the following departments opened for the visitors: drama, ballet, opera, set modelling, set design, theatrical books, posters and placards. It was planned to open the departments of circus, cinema, foreign theatre and foreign actors in Russia. However, subsequently the museum's mission became to collect and display the materials, mainly connected with the history of Russian drama theatre. When the new musical branches (the Rimsky-Korsakov and Chaliapin Museums) opened and the museum received the State Collection of Musical Instruments, the history of music and musical theatre became an important direction of the museum's activities.
The museum and its branches offer various tours and lectures on the history of theatre, audio and video-concerts, meetings with outstanding actors, artists, musicians, small-scale productions, one-man shows, chamber concerts. As a cultural and educational centre, the museum receives more than 100 000 people annually.
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