Odesa Philharmonic Theatre
Venetian Gothic former stock exchange of 1899, home of the David Oistrakh Philharmonic.
The hall was built in 1899 as Odesa's New Stock Exchange, to a design by the architect Viktor Prokhaska with Alexander Bernardazzi supervising the work. Its striped masonry, pointed arcades and loggia follow Italian and especially Venetian Gothic models with Renaissance detail, and the great hall keeps a coffered ceiling of Lebanese cedar, gilded and painted, together with panels by Nikolai Karazin showing trade through the ages. The building stands within the Odesa city centre inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Odesa Regional Philharmonic was founded in 1931 and is named after the violinist David Oistrakh, who was born in the city. It has occupied the former exchange since the 1940s and its resident symphony orchestra, chamber orchestra and soloists give an annual season of symphonic, chamber and popular programmes. Since 2023 the building has been under the enhanced protection of the 1954 Hague Convention, and its 2026 season marks the institution's ninety-fifth anniversary.
Highlights
- Venetian Gothic front of the 1899 New Stock Exchange
- Cedar coffered ceiling and Karazin's panels in the great hall
- Resident symphony and chamber orchestras named after David Oistrakh
- Inside the UNESCO-listed historic centre of Odesa
