Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater

The laying of the first stone of the unique building of the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater took place on May 22, 1931. According to the initial project, the building was supposed to become the House of Science and Culture on a grand scale. It was supposed to be a monumental structure, where mass actions, demonstrations, and festive celebrations of a huge scale were to take place. The large stage of the theater was also intended for holding revolutionary holidays: columns of demonstrators - the working people of the country of the Soviets, passing through the square, with banners in their hands, had to enter one of the theater's many entrances and appear right on the stage. On this gigantic stage, equipment could also be placed - cars, tractors. According to this project, the auditorium was supposed to have 3000 seats. But later the project was changed and from 1936 the building was built as a theater. The final project of the theater was developed under the direction of V.S. Birkenberg and design engineer L.M. Gokhman. The building project was awarded the Gold Medal of the World Exhibition in Paris (1937).

By 1941, the building was almost ready, but with the start of the war, construction had to be mothballed. During the war, the building housed priceless exhibits of the Tretyakov Gallery, Pavlovsky Palace and many other museums in Moscow and Leningrad. In 1942, it was decided to urgently complete the construction of the theater, and in 1944 the building was put into operation.

The most unique and remarkable part of the building is the dome. For his time, he was an engineering marvel. The dome, 60 meters in diameter and 35 meters high, consisting of thousands of silvery iron scales, was built without the use of buttresses and trusses in its construction. This design was used for the first time in Europe.

In addition to the dome, the theater also stands out for its size. The Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater is the largest theater in Russia. When the famous production of the opera Aida from Novosibirsk was brought to Moscow for the Golden Mask festival, it did not fit into any of the theaters of the capital and had to be shown in the Grand Kremlin Palace.