Sheremetev Palace — Museum of Music

St.Petersburg
34 Fontanka river emb., St. Petersburg
Phones: +7 (812) 272–44–41
Web site: https://theatremuseum.ru/

In 1990, after the years of restoration works, the Sheremetev Palace has become one of the branches of St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.

The permanent exhibition is arranged in three directions: 1) The history of the Sheremetev family and life of the Russian nobility in the 18th – 20th centuries; 2) Exposition of unique musical instruments collection; 3) The exhibition of private collections.

The permanent exhibition "The Sheremetev family and the Musical Life of the 18th –20th centuries" was organized in 1995 in collaboration with the State Hermitage, the Russian National Library, Pushkin House, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Ostankino Memorial Palace, the Russian Porcelain Museum in Kuskovo, as well as the owners of private collections.

The museum’s impressive collection of musical instruments contains over 3,000 items made by famous Russian and foreign instrument makers of the 16th-20th centuries. Stradivari’s violin, Shostakovich’s grand piano, Nicholas II’s horn orchestra are among the most remarkable items of the collection. Besides, the museum visitors have a unique chance to play some of the instruments within the interactive tours.

A private collection of A. Sarayeva-Bondar (wife of V. Strekalov-Obolensky, a Petersburg art collector) amounting to more than 700 works of fine and applied arts of the 18th – 20th centuries, is one of the most precious acquisitions of the museum.

A magnificent museum’s concert hall hosts frequent concerts and other musical and cultural events.

The former mansion of Counts Sheremetevs is one of the city’s oldest architectural ensembles, featuring magnificent ceremonial halls interiors, rare paintings, works of decorative and applied arts of the 18th – 19th centuries. Sheremetev Palace was built in 1750 for a noble and highly influential Sheremetev family, and it took almost two centuries for the mansion to be completed. Many great Russian and foreign architects took part in the decoration of this magnificent 18th century palace: Fyodor Argunov, Andrey Voronikhin, Giacomo Quarenghi, Nicholas Benois and others. While Counts Sheremetevs lived here, the Palace had been one of the main city’s cultural hubs, attended by many outstanding artists of the day.

Up to 1917 the Palace and the land had belonged to five generations of the Sheremetevs. After the Revolution, the Palace was turned into a museum and had existed as the Museum of Russian Nobility up to 1931. The private art collection of the Sheremetevs, which they had been gathering throughout two centuries, served as the basis for the museum's collection.

Later and up to 1984 The Sheremetev Palace premises had been used for the needs of a research institute. The interiors had perished, and the collections had been given over to the major museums of Leningrad and Moscow, except for a few items of interior decoration left in the building.

In 1990, after the years of restoration works, the Sheremetev Palace has become one of the branches of St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music.