The National Opera and Ballet of Belarus, officially the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, stands in a park in the Trinity Hill district of Minsk. The company grew out of a state opera and ballet studio and opened on 25 May 1933 with Bizet's Carmen, but at first performed in the Belarusian Drama Theatre. From 1933 the new building by architect Iosif Langbard rose in Constructivist style on the site of the demolished Trinity Market, smaller than planned for reasons of cost; it opened on 10 March 1939. Its defining feature is three stacked cylinders, and the reliefs are by Zair Azgur. In 1940 the house received the title Bolshoi. Split into separate opera and ballet theatres in 1996, it was reunited in 2008 and reopened after renovation in 2009. It is the country's only opera house.
The Minsk National Opera, founded in 1933, is the most important opera house in Belarus — the monumental building was constructed in Stalin Classicist style and comprehensively restored in 2009.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- Minsk, Belarus