An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera . Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage , an orchestra pit , audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institution's administration.
91-526: The Latvian National Opera and Ballet ( LNOB ) is an opera house and opera company at Aspazijas boulevard 3 in Riga . Its repertoire includes performances of opera and ballet presented during the season which lasts from mid-September to the end of May. During a typical season, LNOB presents almost 200 performances, including, on average, 6 new productions. The largest is the Great Hall which houses 946 seats, while
182-580: A peace treaty with Ukraine during the night of 8–9 February even though the Russians had retaken Kiev . German and Austro-Hungarian troops entered Ukraine to prop up the Rada. Finally, Hoffmann broke the impasse with the Russians by focusing the discussion on maps of the future boundaries. Trotsky summarised their situation "Germany and Austria-Hungary are cutting off from the domains of the former Russian Empire territories more than 150,000 square kilometers in size". He
273-616: A Berlin railway station; it was filled with insurrectionary documents. Joffe and his staff were ejected from Germany in a sealed train on 5 November 1918. In the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended World War I, one clause abrogated the Brest-Litovsk treaty. Next, the Bolshevik legislature ( VTsIK ) annulled the treaty on 13 November 1918, and the text of the VTsIK Decision was printed in
364-503: A German offensive although with moral dissent. Lenin was for signing rather than having an even more ruinous treaty forced on them after a few more weeks of military humiliation. The " Left Communists ", led by Nikolai Bukharin and Karl Radek , were sure that Germany, Austria, Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria were all on the verge of revolution. They wanted to continue the war with a newly raised revolutionary force while awaiting these upheavals. Consequently, Lenin agreed to Trotsky's formula –
455-510: A blow on the head". Pokrovsky wept as he asked how they could speak of "peace without annexations when Germany was tearing eighteen provinces away from the Russian state". The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians planned to annex slices of Polish territory and to set up a rump Polish state with what remained. The Baltic governorates were to become client states ruled by German princes . Czernin
546-442: A choir and a ballet group, the latter of which was initially closely tied to Russian Ballet traditions since the first ballet dancers and teachers were hired from Russia. 56°57′19″N 24°06′17″E / 56.95528°N 24.10472°E / 56.95528; 24.10472 Opera house While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other opera houses are part of larger performing arts centers. Indeed,
637-651: A concert on 22 December 2009, and its centenary with two gala concerts on 16 and 17 November 2018. Since 1998 the Riga Opera Festival is held at the opera house. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the Opera Theatre was closed and reopened multiple times in 2020 whilst making some productions available for online streaming. The well known Richard Wagner was working at the Riga City Theatre from 1837 to 1839. It
728-576: A document accepting the Finnish independence, the loss of Ukraine and the Baltics created, from the Bolshevik perspective, dangerous bases of anti-Bolshevik military activity in the subsequent Russian Civil War (1917–1923). However, Bolshevik control of Ukraine and Transcaucasia was at the time fragile or non-existent. Many Russian nationalists and some revolutionaries were furious at the Bolsheviks' acceptance of
819-632: A more popular and intimate aspect (see, for example, Adam de la Halle 's Jeu de Robin et Marion ("Play of Robin and Marion"), in the 13th century). At the beginning of the 17th century, in Italy, singing underwent yet another renewal, with the emergence of Baroque art at the height of the Renaissance . Italy continues to have many working opera houses, such as the Teatro Massimo in Palermo (the biggest in
910-491: A position summed up as "no war – no peace" – which was announced when the negotiators reconvened on 10 February 1918. The Soviets thought that their stalling was succeeding until 16 February when Hoffmann notified them that the war would resume in two days, when fifty-three divisions advanced against the near-empty Soviet trenches. On the night of 18 February, the Central Committee supported Lenin's resolution that they sign
1001-451: A publicly supported system. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, and vaudeville shows as well as operas and other musical events. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies are supported by funds from a combination of government and institutional grants , ticket sales, and private donations. In the 19th-century United States, many theaters were given
SECTION 10
#17328773096221092-561: A symphony orchestra of 24 musicians. Conrad Feige who staged productions not only in Riga but also in St. Petersburg , Reval (Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu) , was invited to fill the posts of concert master and conductor. When in 1788 von Vietinghoff moved to St. Petersburg an actor by the name of Meierer took over the position. In 1815 the Musse Society ( die Gesellschaft der Musse ) bought the building from
1183-646: Is Mārtiņš Ozoliņš who is also an associate professor at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music . The artistic director since 1993 is Aivars Leimanis . The origins of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet stem back to 1782 when the Riga City Theatre ( Rigaer Stadttheater ) a.k.a. the Musse Building was opened. It was designed by Christoph Haberland and housed a total of 500 seats. Its director Otto Hermann von Vietinghoff personally funded
1274-481: Is the period when he was starting to compose his third opera Rienzi . More recently Andris Nelsons was appointed to the post of chief conductor from 2003 to 2007. Nelsons is a regular conductor of the world's top orchestras. Additionally, multiple world famous opera singers have started their careers at this opera house. A prime example is the mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as well as the soprano Kristine Opolais . The opera house has undertaken guest performances at
1365-803: The Central Powers ( Germany , Austria-Hungary , the Ottoman Empire , and Bulgaria ), by which Russia withdrew from World War I . The treaty, which followed months of negotiations after the armistice on the Eastern Front in December 1917, was signed at Brest-Litovsk (now Brest , Belarus ). The Soviet delegation was initially headed by Adolph Joffe , and key figures from the Central Powers included Max Hoffmann and Richard von Kühlmann of Germany, Ottokar Czernin of Austria-Hungary, and Talaat Pasha of
1456-670: The Council of People's Commissars after its signing and later rebelled in the Left SR Uprising . The treaty was annulled by the Armistice of 11 November 1918 , in which Germany surrendered to the western Allied Powers . Subsequent attempts by the Soviets to restore power in the lost territories during the Russian Civil War (1917–1922) had mixed results, with the Red Army being defeated in
1547-710: The February Revolution , that forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. The Russian Provisional Government that replaced the Tsar in early 1917 continued the war. Foreign Minister Pavel Milyukov sent the Entente Powers a telegram, known as the Milyukov note , affirming to them that the Provisional Government would continue the war with the same war aims that the former Russian Empire had. The pro-war Provisional Government
1638-674: The Hongkong festival , Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux in France, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Italy, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Luxembourg Opera Theatre etc. The orchestra consists of more than 100 players. Many of them have been recognized as soloists or together as a chamber music ensemble. More than 250 performances are conducted during a typical season. The repertoire consists of more than 50 operas and ballets ranging from Baroque to contemporary classical music styles. The opera house, since 1918, employs
1729-711: The October Revolution . A top priority of the newly established Soviet government was to end the war. On 8 November 1917 (26 October 1917 O.S) Vladimir Lenin signed the Decree on Peace , which was approved by the Second Congress of the Soviet of Workers', Soldiers', and Peasants' Deputies . The Decree called "upon all the belligerent nations and their governments to start immediate negotiations for peace" and proposed an immediate withdrawal of Russia from World War I . Leon Trotsky
1820-790: The Ukrainian People's Republic , which the Central Powers had recognized under the prior Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (9 February 1918). A supplementary protocol signed in August 1918 required Russia to pay Germany war reparations of six billion marks. The treaty was controversial in Russia, giving a unifying cause to the White movement and opening a rift between the Bolsheviks and the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries , whose representatives withdrew from
1911-566: The biblical Book of Daniel , deals with Israel's captivity in Babylon . The play was written and performed by students of the Episcopal School of Beauvais , located in northern France. In the 15th century, sung theater of a religious nature found a special place in the mystery plays performed on cathedral squares. As before, they dealt with sacred subjects, but they were not about worship per se. Secular musical theater also existed, but had
SECTION 20
#17328773096222002-491: The 1930s, 2 December was celebrated as the anniversary of the Latvian National Opera (LNO), but under the Soviet occupation, the date was 23 January. In the years 1920–1940, the Latvian National Opera played a central role in Riga's musical life. Every year, 8 new productions premiered and, starting with a production of a ballet by Peter Ludwig Hertel , ballets were also staged. In 20 years, more than 300 performances took place, with
2093-503: The 1939–1940 Winter War , and by invading and occupying Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania , and parts of Romania (Bessarabia and northern Bukovina) in 1940. During World War II the Soviet leadership was thus able to overturn the majority of the territorial losses incurred at Brest-Litovsk, except for the larger part of Finland, western Congress Poland , and Western Armenia . Emil Orlik , the Viennese Secessionist artist, attended
2184-589: The Allied Powers but ultimately failed. Some Germans later blamed the occupation for significantly weakening the Spring Offensive. The Germans began slowly but steadily withdrawing personnel from the occupied territories from east to west as the troop transfers to the Western Front continued throughout 1918. Local independence movements, particularly those based in what is now Belarus and Ukraine, moved in to fill
2275-859: The Baltic states re-emerged as independent nations. In the Treaty of Rapallo , concluded in April 1922, Germany accepted the Treaty's nullification, and the two powers agreed to abandon all war-related territorial and financial claims against each other. This state of affairs lasted until 1939, when after signing the secret protocol to the Nazi-Soviet pact , the Soviet Union was able to advance its borders westward by invading Poland in September 1939, by conquering parts of eastern Finland in
2366-622: The City of Riga under German occupation – received the following letter of gratitude: " Under [his] aegis, the Latvian theatre received the second theatre building with the same rights as pertain to the German theatre in the first building. [..] Not only drama performances took place, there were also some rehearsals of the Latvian Opera ". The Latvian Opera conducted performances during the first half of 1918 in
2457-482: The Education Commissariat's Art Department – gave an order for Latvju opera to move to the former Stadttheater and the company did so on 23 January 1919. On this day a performance of the 15 October 1918, production of The Flying Dutchman took place in the new location. An important role in the move was played by Teodors Reiters, chief conductor of Latvju opera since September 1918. In January 1919, he became
2548-537: The First World War. Jāzeps Vītols was a seminal figure in the development of Latvian opera and the first director of Latvju opera , holding the post until the end of December 1918. In his memoir, Vītols gives a detailed description of the formation of Latvju opera in the summer of 1918. After the Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty was signed in 1918 many evacuees could return to Riga. On 15 September 1918,
2639-469: The German company in the theatre took place on 1 January 1919. The next afternoon, the building's annex burnt down, which was fully restored only in 1922. On 27 December 1912, the Latvian Opera ( Latviešu opera ), directed by Pāvuls Jurjāns (1866–1948), began performing in the auditorium of the Latvian Society House with a production of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin . Some of the company spent
2730-496: The German government and the high command began to favour offering more lenient terms to the Allied Powers in exchange for their recognition of German gains in the east. The treaty marked a significant contraction of the territory controlled by the Bolsheviks or that they could lay claim to as effective successors of the Russian Empire. While the independence of Poland was already accepted by them in principle, and Lenin had signed
2821-449: The Germans refused to recognize the existence of any Polish representatives, which in turn led to Polish protests. The treaty stated that "Germany and Austria-Hungary intend to determine the future fate of these territories in agreement with their populations." Most of the territories were in effect ceded to Germany, which intended to have them become economic and political dependencies, where
Latvian National Opera - Misplaced Pages Continue
2912-518: The Ottoman Empire. In January 1918, the Central Powers demanded secession of all occupied territories of the former Russian Empire . The Soviets sent a new peace delegation led by Leon Trotsky , which aimed to stall the negotiations while awaiting revolutions in Central Europe. A renewed Central Powers offensive launched on February 18 forced the Soviet side to sue for peace. Under the terms of
3003-471: The Ottoman grand vizier Talaat Pasha and Foreign Minister Nassimy Bey. The Bulgarians were headed by Minister of Justice Popoff, who was later joined by Prime Minister Vasil Radoslavov . The Soviet delegation was led by Adolph Joffe , who had already led their armistice negotiators, but his group was made more cohesive by eliminating most of the representatives of social groups, like peasants and sailors, and
3094-555: The Republic of Latvia . Just as under the Bolsheviks, the company was lawfully guaranteed a building, status of the national opera, and state financing. On 2 December, a performance of Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser took place. It had premiered in Latvia already on 10 May 1919, under the direction of Dmitry Arbenin and conductor Teodors Reiters, when it was the Opera of Soviet Latvia. Until the end of
3185-502: The Russian conditions for peace. He made six points, all variations of the Bolshevik slogan of peace with "no annexations or indemnities". The Central Powers accepted the principles "but only in case all belligerents [including the nations of the Entente] without exception pledge themselves to do the same". They did not intend to annex territories occupied by force. Joffe telegraphed the marvelous news to Petrograd. Thanks to informal chatting in
3276-418: The abandonment of ancient theaters, which were transformed into gigantic stone quarries , like many other ancient buildings, both public or private. Music still had its place in worship. It continued to bring audiences together, but its content was completely renewed. The Jeu de Daniel ("Play of Daniel") was a sung play, characteristic of the medieval Renaissance of the 12th century . The subject, taken from
3367-424: The addition of tsarist general Aleksandr Samoilo and the noted Marxist historian Mikhail Pokrovsky . It still included Anastasia Bitsenko , a former assassin, representing the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries who were at odds with the Bolsheviks. Again, the negotiators met in the fortress in Brest-Litovsk, and the delegates were housed in temporary wooden structures in its courtyards because the city had been burnt to
3458-661: The average annual audience of 220,000. In 1940 when the Soviet Union occupied Latvia the name of the theatre was changed to the "Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Latvian SSR". Under the Nazi German occupation (1941–1944), it became the Riga Opera Theatre, only to revert to the name given in 1940 when Soviet troops re-occupied Latvia in 1945. On 24 April 1989, the Opera celebrated its 70th anniversary and changed its name back to
3549-572: The bourgeoisie, the social revolutionaries, Tsarist diplomats, Tsarist bureaucrats, "the Kerenskys, Tseretelis and Chernovs", the Tsarist regime, and the "petty-bourgeois compromisers". The treaty opened a permanent rift between the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist Revolutionaries . In July 1918 the Left SRs assassinated German Ambassador Wilhelm von Mirbach in the hopes that it would induce Germany to annul
3640-466: The chain of command and wanted him to be dismissed and sent to command a division. The Kaiser refused, but Ludendorff no longer spoke with Hoffmann on the telephone since the communication was now through an intermediary. The German Supreme Commanders were also furious at ruling out of annexations, contending that the peace "must increase Germany's material power". They denigrated Kühlmann and pressed for additional territorial acquisitions. When Hindenburg
3731-598: The country), the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan . The Teatro San Cassiano in Venice was the world's first public opera house, inaugurated as such in 1637. In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambition and social position. There
Latvian National Opera - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-619: The director of the Opera. On 9 February 1919, the Bolshevik government issued a decree whereby the Opera was nationalized to become the Opera of Soviet Latvia and to be financed from the state budget. After the Stučka government was overthrown, the company returned to its original name Latvju opera .. On 23 September 1919, the Regulation "On the National Opera" was adopted by the Cabinet of Ministers of
3913-431: The expulsion of British troops from Baku. The treaty freed up a million German soldiers for the Western Front and allowed Germany to use "much of Russia's food supply, industrial base, fuel supplies, and communications with Western Europe" According to historian Spencer Tucker, the Allied Powers felt that The treaty was the ultimate betrayal of the Allied cause and sowed the seeds for the Cold War. With Brest-Litovsk,
4004-450: The ground in 1915 by the retreating Russian army. They were cordially welcomed by the German commander of the Eastern Front, Prince Leopold of Bavaria , who sat with Joffe on the head table at the opening banquet with one hundred guests. As they had during the armistice negotiations, both sides continued to eat dinner and supper together amicably intermingled in the officers' mess. When the conference convened Kühlmann asked Joffe to present
4095-462: The independence wars of the three Baltic countries and in the Polish–Soviet War , but achieving victory in its invasions of Azerbaijan , Armenia , and Georgia and in the Ukrainian–Soviet War . The border with Turkey established by the treaty was largely affirmed by the Treaty of Kars (1921). Under the Treaty of Rapallo (1922), Russia and Germany renounced all territorial and financial claims against each other. The Russian borders established by
4186-403: The influence of Bolshevik agitation, and set up soldiers' committees to take control of their units after deposing the officers. The defeat and ongoing hardships of war led to anti-government riots in Petrograd, the " July Days " of 1917. Several months later, on 7 November (25 October old style ), Red Guards seized the Winter Palace and arrested the Provisional Government in what is known as
4277-492: The local German-speaking minority would be the ruling elite. New monarchies were to be created in Lithuania and the proposed " United Baltic Duchy " (which was planned to comprise Latvia and Estonia). Later in 1918, German aristocrats Wilhelm Karl, Duke of Urach (for Lithuania), and Adolf Friedrich, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (for the planned United Baltic Duchy), were nominally appointed, but in reality never became, rulers of these envisaged new pro-German countries. This plan
4368-406: The local population became increasingly hostile to the occupation. Revolts and guerrilla warfare began breaking out all over the occupied territory, many of them inspired by Bolshevik agents. German troops also had to intervene in the Finnish Civil War , and Ludendorff became increasingly concerned that his troops were being affected by propaganda emanating from Moscow, which was one of the reasons he
4459-455: The mess, one of Hoffmann's aides, Colonel Friedrich Brinckmann, realized that the Russians had optimistically misinterpreted the Central Powers' meaning. It fell to Hoffmann to set matters straight at dinner on 27 December: Poland, Lithuania and Courland , already occupied by the Central Powers, were determined to separate from Russia on the principle of self-determination that the Bolsheviks themselves espoused. Joffe "looked as if he had received
4550-461: The name "opera house", even ones where opera was seldom if ever performed. Opera was viewed as a more respectable art form than theater ; calling a local theater an "opera house" therefore served to elevate it and overcome objections from those who found the theater morally objectionable. Notes Sources Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and
4641-404: The newspaper Pravda the next day. In the year after the armistice following a timetable set by the victors, the German Army withdrew its occupying forces from the lands gained in Brest-Litovsk. However, relations between Russia and the Allied Powers were also bad due to the Allied Powers' intervention in the Russian Civil War against the Soviet government of Russia and its allies. The fate of
SECTION 50
#17328773096224732-492: The one from the interwar period. After the season finale with Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera in 1990 reconstruction work was started on the building with a reopening in 1995. The opera company returned to its home stage with a production of the opera Uguns un Nakts by Jānis Mediņš . In 2001, construction work on a complex of annexes was completed, providing audiences with the New Hall that can seat 300 people. The Latvian National Opera celebrated its 90th anniversary with
4823-504: The opening concert took place and on 15 October 1918, Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman was performed, with Teodors Reiters as the conductor. On 19 November, The Flying Dutchman was performed without changing the decorations from the previous night, when the Declaration of Sovereignty of the Republic of Latvia was adopted under solemn circumstances. After the Bolsheviks led by Pyotr Ivanovich Stuchka took power in early 1919 establishing Soviet rule in Latvia, Andrejs Upīts – Head of
4914-504: The opposition Communist Party ( Bolsheviks ), who were proponents of Russia's withdrawal from the war. Therefore, in April 1917, Germany transported Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin and thirty-one supporters in a sealed train from exile in Switzerland to Finland Station, Petrograd. Upon his arrival in Petrograd, Lenin proclaimed his April Theses , which included a call for turning all political power over to workers' and soldiers' soviets (councils) and an immediate withdrawal of Russia from
5005-425: The region, and the location of the eventual western border of the Soviet Union , was settled in violent and chaotic struggles over the course of the next three and a half years. The Polish–Soviet War was particularly bitter; it ended with the Treaty of Riga in 1921. Although most of Ukraine and Belarus fell under Bolshevik control and eventually became two of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, Poland and
5096-404: The relationship of consonance that it will have with one of these vases." The odeon built by Pericles near the Theater of Dionysus in Athens was, according to the Suda , intended for the rehearsal of music that was to be sung in the grand theater or, according to Plutarch , for the jury to audition musicians competing for a prize. Ancient theaters provided the ideal conditions, but it
5187-420: The reorganization of the national and international relations of these districts, but leave it to the population of these districts to carry out this reorganization in agreement with the neighbouring states, especially with the Ottoman Empire. Armenia , Azerbaijan and Georgia rejected the treaty and instead declared independence. They formed the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic . In
5278-412: The same premises which now house the Latvian National Theatre where another opera company with a slightly different name ( Latvju opera ) began its activities in autumn of that year. The initiative of the Latvju opera originated in Dorpat in the society named Apgāda organized by lawyer Andrejs Frīdenbergs. Organizational work continued in St Petersburg to where many Latvian artists had evacuated during
5369-449: The same time corresponding claims on Russia's part are taken into account, and the value of supplies confiscated in Russia by German military forces after the conclusion of peace is taken into account. The amount was equal to 300 million rubles. The Soviets additionally agreed to sell Germany 25% of the output of the Baku oil fields . Three secret clauses provided for German military action against Entente forces on Russian soil, as well as
5460-408: The smaller ones – the New Hall, the Dress Circle Hall (Beletāžas zāle ) and the Red Hall – have a maximum seating capacity of 338, 170 and 100 respectively. LNOB employs a total of approximately 600 people. The building is located on the bank of the Riga Canal, near the Freedom Monument . As of 5 November 2019, the chairman of the board is Egils Siliņš , an opera singer. The chief conductor since 2013
5551-433: The spectre of German domination in Eastern Europe threatened to become reality, and the Allies now began to think seriously about military intervention [in Russia]. For the Western Allied Powers, the terms that Germany had imposed on Russia were interpreted as a warning of what to expect if the Central Powers won the war. Between Brest-Litovsk and the point when the situation in the Western Front became dire, some officials in
SECTION 60
#17328773096225642-409: The term opera house is often used as a term of prestige for any large performing arts center. Based on Aristoxenus 's musical system, and paying homage to the architects of ancient Greek theater , Vitruvius described, in the 1st century BC, in his treatise De architectura , the ideal acoustics of theaters. He explained the use of brazen vases that Mummius had brought to Rome after having had
5733-446: The theater of Corinth demolished, and as they were probably used in the Theater of Pompey . As wooden theaters were naturally sonorous, these vases, placed between the seats on the stands, served as resonators in the stone buildings: "By means of this arrangement, the voice, which will come from the stage as from a center, will extend in circles, will strike in the cavities of the vases, and will be made stronger and clearer, according to
5824-409: The treaty and joined forces to fight them. Non-Russians who inhabited the lands lost by Bolshevik Russia in the treaty saw the changes as an opportunity to set up independent states. Immediately after the signing of the treaty, Lenin moved the Soviet government from Petrograd to Moscow to prevent Germany from capturing the Russian capital in the event of an invasion. Trotsky blamed the peace treaty on
5915-423: The treaty bear an almost exact similarity to the post-1991 borders established after the fall of the Soviet Union . By 1917, Germany and Russia were stuck in a stalemate on the Eastern Front of World War I and the Russian economy had nearly collapsed under the strain of the war effort. The large numbers of war casualties and persistent food shortages in the major urban centers brought about civil unrest, known as
6006-448: The treaty by a margin of seven to five. Hoffmann kept advancing until 23 February when he presented new terms that included the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Ukraine and Finland. The Soviets were given 48 hours to open negotiations with the Germans, and another 72 to conclude them. Lenin told the Central Committee that "you must sign this shameful peace in order to save the world revolution". If they did not agree, he would resign. He
6097-478: The treaty declared that the territory Russia took from the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) , specifically Ardahan , Kars , and Batumi , were to be returned. At the time of the treaty, this territory was under the effective control of Armenian and Georgian forces. Paragraph 3 of Article IV of the treaty stated that: The districts of Ardahan, Kars, and Batum will likewise and without delay be cleared of Russian troops. Russia will not interfere in
6188-511: The treaty presented to us as an ultimatum but at the same time refuse to enter into any discussion of its terms". The treaty was signed at 17:50 on 3 March 1918. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on 3 March 1918. The signatories were Soviet Russia signed by Grigori Sokolnikov on the one side and the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire on the other. The treaty marked Russia's final withdrawal from World War I as an enemy of her co-signatories, on severe terms. In all,
6279-410: The treaty took away territory that included a quarter of the population and the industry of the former Russian Empire and nine tenths of its coal mines . Russia renounced all territorial claims in Finland (whose independence it had already recognized), Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , most of Belarus , and Ukraine . The territory of the Kingdom of Poland was not mentioned in the treaty, as
6370-420: The treaty, Russia lost control of Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, and its Caucasus provinces of Kars and Batum . The lands comprised 34% of the former empire's population, 54% of its industrial land, 89% of its coalfields, and 26% of its railways. The Soviet government also confirmed the independence of Finland , which it had recognized in January 1918, and pledged to end its war with
6461-434: The treaty, leading to the Left SR Uprising . Relations between Russia and the Central Powers did not go smoothly. The Ottoman Empire broke the treaty by invading the newly created First Republic of Armenia in May 1918. Joffe became the Russian ambassador to Germany. His priority was distributing propaganda to trigger the German revolution. On 4 November 1918, "the Soviet courier's packing-case had 'come to pieces ' " in
6552-415: The void the Germans left behind and established themselves in the newly freed territories. Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , Belarus , and Ukraine became independent, while Bessarabia united with Romania. Russia lost 34% of its population, 54% of its industrial land, 89% of its coalfields, and 26% of its railways. Russia was also fined 6 billion marks. At the insistence of Talaat Pasha ,
6643-473: The von Vietinghoff family. Richard Wagner was the Kapellmeister of the theatre from 1837 to 1839. In the period of 1860–1863 a new Riga City Theatre building was constructed with almost 3000 seats. The first productions were Friedrich Schiller 's Wallenstein's Camp and Ludwig van Beethoven 's Fidelio . On 14 June 1882, the theatre burnt down after which only the outer walls had remained. The building
6734-468: The wake of Soviet repudiation of Tsarist bonds, the nationalisation of foreign-owned property and confiscation of foreign assets, and Entente forces landing on Russian territory , the Soviets and Germany signed an additional agreement on 27 August 1918. The Soviets agreed to pay six billion marks in compensation for German losses. ARTICLE 2 Russia shall pay Germany six billion marks as compensation for losses sustained by Germans through Russian measures; at
6825-513: The war. At around the same time, the United States entered the war, potentially shifting the balance of the war against the Central Powers. Throughout 1917, Bolsheviks called for the overthrow of the Provisional Government and an end to the war. Following the disastrous failure of the Kerensky offensive , discipline in the Russian army deteriorated completely. Soldiers would disobey orders, often under
6916-501: The years of the First World War in Riga, but some evacuated to Russia. Under Jurjāns, the Latvian Opera resumed its activities in Riga in January 1918, with a production of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata and several operettas: Johann Strauss Jr's Die Fledermaus , Franz Lehár 's The Merry Widow , Rudolf Dellinger 's Don Cesar and Johann Strauss II 's The Gypsy Baron ( Der Zigeunerbaron ). In August 1918, Hauptmann Paul Hopf – Head of
7007-398: Was appointed Commissar of Foreign Affairs in the new Bolshevik government. In preparation for peace talks with the representatives of the German government and the representatives of the other Central Powers, Leon Trotsky appointed his good friend Adolph Joffe to represent the Bolsheviks at the peace conference. On 15 December 1917, an armistice between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers
7098-544: Was asked why they needed the Baltic provinces he replied, "To secure my left flank for when the next war happens." However, the most profound transformation was that a delegation from the Ukrainian Rada , which had declared independence from Russia, had arrived at Brest-Litovsk. They would make peace if they were given the Polish city of Cholm and its surroundings, and they would provide desperately needed grain. Czernin no longer
7189-535: Was beside himself that this hitch that was slowing the negotiations; self-determination was anathema to his government and they urgently needed grain from the east because Vienna was on the verge of starvation. He proposed to make a separate peace. Kühlmann warned that if they negotiated separately, Germany would immediately withdraw all its divisions from the Austrian front; Czernin dropped that threat. The food crisis in Vienna
7280-501: Was concluded. On 22 December , peace negotiations began in Brest-Litovsk. Arrangements for the conference were the responsibility of General Max Hoffmann , the chief of staff of the Central Powers' forces on the Eastern Front ( Oberkommando-Ostfront, Ober Ost ). The delegations that had negotiated the armistice were made stronger. Prominent additions on the Central Powers' side were the foreign ministers of Germany, Richard von Kühlmann , and Austria-Hungary, Count Ottokar Czernin , both
7371-445: Was desperate for a prompt settlement with the Russians. When they reconvened, Trotsky declined the invitation to meet Prince Leopold and terminated shared meals and other sociable interactions with the representatives of the Central Powers. Day after day, Trotsky "engaged Kühlmann in debate, rising to subtle discussion of first principles that ranged far beyond the concrete territorial issues that divided them". The Central Powers signed
7462-594: Was detailed by German Colonel General Erich Ludendorff , who wrote, "German prestige demands that we should hold a strong protecting hand, not only over German citizens, but over all Germans." The occupation of the western part of the former Russian Empire ultimately proved a costly blunder for Berlin, as over one million German troops lay sprawled out from Poland nearly to the Caspian Sea , all idle and depriving Germany of badly needed manpower in France. The hopes of using Ukraine's grain and coal proved abortive; in addition,
7553-405: Was eventually eased by "forced drafts of grain from Hungary, Poland, and Romania and by a last moment contribution from Germany of 450 truck-loads of flour". At Russian request, they agreed to recess the talks for twelve days. The Soviets' only hopes were that time would make their allies agree to join the negotiations or that the western European proletariat would revolt and so their best strategy
7644-402: Was granted a nine-day recess for the Russians to decide whether to sign. In Petrograd, Trotsky argued passionately against signing and proposed that instead, "they should announce the termination of the war and demobilization without signing any peace." Privately, in correspondence with Count Otto von Czernin , Trotsky had expressed his willigness to relent to peace terms upon the resumption of
7735-752: Was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany, the Oper am Gänsemarkt , was built in Hamburg in 1678, followed by the Oper am Brühl in Leipzig in 1693, and the Opernhaus vorm Salztor in Naumburg in 1701. With the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to
7826-570: Was not yet time for opera: the aim was to worship the deities, not to venerate the muses . The subject was religious, it was accompanied by singing and instrumental music. Worship was public, and the audience was made up of citizens as well as other categories of the population. Four centuries later, the Church abandoned spectacles as practiced in Antiquity. Histrions , representative of Greco-Roman civilization , gradually disappeared. The Middle Ages saw
7917-567: Was opposed by the self-proclaimed Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , dominated by leftist parties. Its Order No. 1 called for an overriding mandate to soldier committees rather than army officers. The Soviet started to form its own paramilitary power, the Red Guards , in March 1917. The continuing war led the German Government to agree to a suggestion that they should favour
8008-484: Was reluctant to transfer divisions to the Western Front . The attempt at establishing an independent Ukrainian state under German guidance was unsuccessful as well. However, Ludendorff completely ruled out the idea of marching on Moscow and Petrograd to remove the Bolshevik government from power. Germany transferred hundreds of thousands of veteran troops to the Western Front for the 1918 Spring Offensive , which shocked
8099-611: Was renovated from 1882 to 1887 following a design by the city's chief architect Reinhold Schmaeling . The theatre was closed for the German company during World War I . Until 1915 the Riga Imperial Music School used the building for its concerts. During the 1916–1917 season, Angarov and Rudin's Russian drama company performed there, with the theatre being renamed as the German City Theater in Riga ( Deutsches Stadt-Theater in Riga ) on 29 September. The last performance of
8190-502: Was supported by six Central Committee members, opposed by three, with Trotsky and three others abstaining. Debate in the All-Russian Central Executive Committee was intense, with Left SRs jeering Lenin as a traitor. The measure passed 116 to 85. Trotsky resigned as foreign minister and was replaced by Georgy Chicherin . When Sokolnikov arrived at Brest-Litovsk, he declared "we are going to sign immediately
8281-601: Was to prolong the negotiations. As Foreign Minister Leon Trotsky wrote, "To delay negotiations, there must be someone to do the delaying". Therefore, Trotsky replaced Joffe as the leader. On the other side were significant political realignments. On New Year's Day in Berlin, the Kaiser insisted that Hoffmann reveal his views on the future German-Polish border. He advocated taking a small slice of Poland; Hindenburg and Ludendorff wanted much more. They were furious with Hoffmann for breaching
#621378