 Performances were given either by a French company, hired by the Russian Imperial Theatres, or at the end of the century by the Mariinsky Theatre and Alexandrinsky Theatre companies.Most of the great French actors of the period performed at the theatre, including Jeanne Sylvanie Arnould-Plessy, Rachel Félix, Lucien Guitry and Sarah Bernhardt, as well as singers such as Hortense Schneider.Both classical and contemporary authors and composers had their works produced to great acclaim in French.