The National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus is located in a park in the Trinity Banlieu of the city of Minsk. Local people call it the "Opierny Teatr" (Belarusian) or the "Opera and Ballet Theatre". It opened on May 15, 1933 but it first didn't have its own building and performed at the Belarusian Drama Theatre building until 1938.
The present theatre building was opened in 1939. It was designed by Belarus architect Joseph Langbard whose original design was only partially implemented and some design details were omitted yielding to financial and other problems. The theatre building has reliefs by Zair Azgur.
In 1996 the State Theater was divided into two independent theatres: the National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus and the National Academic Opera Theatre of Belarus. The building was renovated and it reopened in 2009. Many sculptures were added around the theatre, its stage was slightly moved and audience space expanded. The latest lighting and motion equipment was added while adhering to the original design.
The first permanent theatre was founded in Belarus in 1933 on the basis of the Belarusian opera and ballet school. Bizet's Carmen opended the theatre. Several professional soloists and dancers were added to the troupe in the first few years at this location. Swan Lake, performed by K. Muller, was the first show on the stage of the new theatre. Theater's performances at the "Decade of Belarusian Art" in Moscow was a great success, and performances continued during the war in Nizhny Novgorod until the liberation of Minsk in 1944; after that performances took place in Kovrov).
During this time the repertoire was greatly enriched. The most famous operas staged in this theatre include Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky, Otello and Don Carlo by Giuseppe Verdi, Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, Sadko and The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Lohengrin by Richard Wagner.
The theater tours a lot and is welcomed in many countries all over the world. In Spain, Russia, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Israel, Portugal, China opera admirers are well acquainted with the repertoire of this Belarus theater. The theater's participation in the well-known annual festival in Germany called Classic Open Air has already become traditional.
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