At the Conservatory, restorers found a painting in the premises of the Adjoining Church, no one has seen it for more than a hundred years

When carrying out repair and restoration work at the Conservatory. Rimsky-Korsakov, in the room where the Adjoining Church was once located, murals were discovered. This was announced to journalists by the head of a separate division in St. Petersburg of the PPK “Single Customer” Ruslan Sagitov.

Today, journalists were shown this interior for the first time, in which work is underway to clear and fix the painting. According to Maria Romanchikova, a restorer of the contracting organization JSC “Politekhstroy”, the painting was hidden under 14 layers of paint. At the bottom of the hall, an ornamental painting on a stucco base was opened, on the vaults – a pictorial painting on canvas, glued to the walls. This is the work of the workshop of the Russian painter Andrei Ryabushkin, reminiscent of the murals of the Yaroslavl churches and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg. After restoration in the conservatory, this room will house a church singing class, so the interiors will be suitable for teaching

The journalists were also shown the Great Hall named after Rubinstein, where the largest amount of work is to be done. According to Maria Romanchikova, the hall will be one of the best in Europe in terms of acoustic solutions, its interior will generally repeat the historical appearance of adjacent rooms. The hall will acquire a horseshoe shape so that the sound can be heard everywhere and as well as possible. The interiors of the hall Rubinshtein were not objects of protection and were remade in the Soviet period.

Anton Andreev, head of the restoration work of JSC “Politekhstroy”, showed the journalists the heart of the conservatory – the historic Glazunov Hall. This hall was unique in terms of acoustics – a kind of “case in a case” – brick walls, inside of which there is a special wooden frame and stucco decoration on it. The pearl of the hall was the organ, which is now placed in a special sarcophagus and is monitored around the clock. After the restoration of the hall, the organ will be examined by foreign experts in order to improve its work. The hall itself was damaged during the war – a shell hit here, so the war wounds make themselves felt with cracks, although after 1945 the hall was restored. According to Anton Andreev, the stucco molding of the hall has been preserved, the losses are no more than 10%, but the restorers carefully, adhering to the principles of the Venice Charter, are trying to conserve the entire decor, carefully filling in the losses. On the whole, as Alexandra Chernogortseva, the architect of Politekhstroy, said, the stucco losses of the facade reach 40% and are carefully replenished.

The restorers put in order not only the halls and the facade, but also old musical instruments, including the celesta bought by Pyotr Tchaikovsky in Paris, on which the composer composed the dance of the Dragee Fairy from the Nutcracker ballet and a number of other instruments.

Recall that the reconstruction of the conservatory was started in 2014. In December 2020, a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation was issued, which determined the timing and amount of financing for the project. At the beginning of 2021, a single customer in the construction industry was determined by the customer. JSC “Politekhstroy” was chosen as the general contractor. The work is scheduled to be completed in 2024

The conservatory was founded in 1862 and completed in 1896. The building is an object of cultural heritage.