The Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre, officially the Odesa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, is the oldest theatre in the city. Its predecessor, the first City Theatre to plans by Jean-François Thomas de Thomon, burned down on 2 January 1873. The Viennese architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer built the replacement from 1883 in the neo-Baroque style; it opened in the autumn of 1887 at a cost of 1.3 million roubles. The horseshoe-shaped auditorium in late French Rococo style is known for its acoustics, and the ceiling paintings show scenes from Shakespeare's plays. The opera house was the first building in the city to have electric lighting. Busts of Glinka, Gogol, Griboyedov and Pushkin stand in niches on the façade. In 1925 a fire destroyed the stage and orchestra pit; the most recent renovation was completed in 2007.
The Odessa Opera House, opened in 1887, is considered one of the most beautiful opera houses in Eastern Europe — the magnificent Neo-Renaissance architecture and the famous acoustics make it a cultural landmark of Ukraine.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- Odessa, Ukraine