The Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre was opened in January, 1825 with a performance of "Triumph of Muses" set to music by A. Verstovsky and A.Alyabiev, and a "Sandrilliona" ballet.

We are standing now in Teatralnaya Square. In its time it was called Petrovskaya and Tsvetochnaya Square. The current name emerged in the 1920s when architect O.Bovet erected the buildings of the Bolshoi and the Maly Theatres in the square. The edifice of the Bolshoi Theatre ("bolshoi" means "big" in Russian) was rebuilt and enlarged several times but world-class stars of opera and ballet have always performed brilliantly on its stage, including F.Shalyapin, L.Sobinov, I.Kozlovsky.

Music created by great composers - Musorgsky, Chaikovsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov - was performed here.

In September 1842, the first night of the opera "Life for the Tsar" by M. Glinka was performed in the theatre. This music was once used for the national anthem of Russia. Concerts of Richard Wagner were also performed here, and it was the first time here on a Moscow stage that he turned to face the orchestra and not the audience. Before that it was usually done the other way round. Today, the Bolshoi Theatre is still the best opera and ballet theatre in Russia. The main building of Bolshoi theatre was closed for restoration on July 2, 2005. The restoration will last till May 2008. The company plans to spend this period for a large-scale tour over Russia and CIS. The new stage of the theatre will work on as usual.

Russian State Youth Theatre (188) is also located on the Teatralnaya Square. It is a unique monument of architecture built according to a design of F.Shestakov with the participation of O. Bovai. The theatre keeps experimenting with new forms without neglecting the traditions of Stanislavsky school.