About hall

The building which houses the Colonny Zal, Dom Souzov, was built in 1780 for Prince V. M. Dolgoruky-Krimsky. In 1784, it was purchased by the Nobleman’s Assembly and the Colonny Zal or Hall was altered as required (architect M. T. Kazakov).

The Hall, the perimeter of which is decorated with twenty-eight columns of the Corinthian order, was placed on the first floor amongst other ceremonial rooms. Originally, it was intended for balls and state receptions. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Pushkin and Baratinsky visited here and I. A. Iogel held balls. From the 1840s, music concerts were arranged more frequently and from 1860, after the founding of the Moscow Department of the Imperial Russia Music Society, there were annual series of symphonic concerts conducted by P. I. Tchaikovsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, N. G. Rubinstein, A. Dvorak and A. Nikish. Appearances by S. V. Rachmaninov, F. Kreisler, P. Kazals, J. Thibaud, F. I. Chaliapin and A. V. Nezhdanova also took place here.

In 1905, after reconstruction to increase the number of floors (architect A. F. Meisner), the building acquired its present appearance. In 1919, the Colonny Zal was for a while re-equipped for cinematography and soon the building itself was handed over to the trade unions and received the name Dom Souzov or Union House (All-Union Central Trade Union Council). From that moment on, the building was used as a place for conducting major congresses, conventions and conferences of All-Union (All-Russian) and international significance. In 1977-79, major repairs and restoration took place. At present, the building is used for meetings of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, the City Hall, the Government of Moscow, trade union assemblies and international organisations amongst others. Classical concerts regularly take place as well as pop concerts, demonstrations by world famous fashion models, New Year celebrations and others. Furthermore, the stage of the Colonny Zal is used for the International Tchaikovsky Competition.

Also in this hall, there have been performances given by orchestras under the direction of Vladimir Fedoseev, Evgeny Svetlanov, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Paul Mauriat Orchestra, the Orchestra of Yuri Silantev, the Vivaldi Orchestra under the direction of Svetlana Bezrodnaya, the Orchestra of the Helicon Opera Theatre under the direction of Vladimir Ponkin, the pianist Mikhail Pletnev and others.