Year of Historical Memory

There can be no future without the past, including the future of the theatre. The year 2022 declared Year of Historical Memory. But we can say that memory, history and the continuity of generations are the main pillars on which the theatre stands, and the main reasons why the theatre is alive.

Therefore, every year we remember the names that are inscribed in golden letters in the history of our theatre.

Therefore, every year on 25 May, Georges Bizet's music sounds in the Bolshoi. It was opera Carmen that opened the Opera House in 1933. Larisa Alexandrovskaya performed the title role.

Therefore, every season the calendar of the theatre include performances dedicated to outstanding opera and ballet artists, as well as specials of famous performers.

Therefore, we are proud of the productions taken from our history.

Therefore, it is impossible to listen to Smolsky's and Soltan’s music without tears. Their works are so beautiful: operas The Grey Legend and King Stakh’s Wild Hunt, which are based on Uladzimir Karatkevich’s novels.

Therefore, the audience looks with interest at old posters or photographs every time they come to the theatre. It has become a good tradition to organize exhibitions in the foyer of the theatre dedicated to memorable dates, premieres or other events.

Therefore, our concerts in commemoration of the Victory Day always become special for spectators and artists, because among the theatre workers there were those, who fought in 1941-1945… and who did not return to Minsk because they died in battles, in concentration camps, during the bombing.

This year we cannot but talk about the long-lived production: the fabulous Mark Minkov’s story Magic Music, which was staged by director Galina Galkovskaya 25 years ago.

And we cannot help but recall Evgeny Glinsky, the Honoured Artist of the BSSR, one of the first princes on the stage of the theatre in the ballets by Tchaikovsky, Adan, Pugni, Asafyev. He is the one who started writing the history of the Belarusian ballet. On 11 January we marked the 100^th anniversary of his birth.

In February, King Stakh’s Wild Hunt was staged at our theatre. At the end of last year, Soltan's opera directed by Anna Motornaya won the Republican competition for the best cultural project of patriotic themes in the nomination "Best Performance of Musical Theatre".

Of course, the audience is always looking forward to watch our national ballets: Yury Trayan's productions Vitaut (about the Great Duke of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, about the hero of the "Song of the Bison" and the Battle of Grunwald) and Anastasia (about Belarusian Joan of Arc Anastasia Slutskaya).

Every year you can hear Belarusian music during the Evenings of the Bolshoi Theatre in the Radziwill Castle. This one, 2022, will not be an exception.

The theatre is also preparing a new project "Golden Pages of Belarusian Classics", based on the works by Oginsky, Glebov, Bogatyrev, Semenyaka, Smolsky, Kuznetsov, Soltan.

But the new, breakthrough, conceptual music is at the heart of the Tramontana festival. Its ideological inspirer and enthusiast of is musician Mikhail Konstantinov. And maybe it's no coincidence that in the sixth year of its life the project found a new home: the Chamber Hall of the Bolshoi Theatre.

Last year, a new tradition appeared in the theatre. We hold concerts for the Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus. On 3 July, the best opera and ballet soloists will perform on the stage of their native theatre.