The Bolshoi Theatre — Ballet, Opera & Russian Cultural Heritage
The Bolshoi Theatre (Bolshoy Akademichesky Teatr — Teatralnaya Square, Moscow, founded 1776, the current neoclassical building completed 1825 and rebuilt 1856 after fire, substantially renovated 2005-2011, seating 2,153) is the most famous opera and ballet theatre in the world and the home of the Bolshoi Ballet (the largest ballet company on Earth, 230 dancers, founded 1776) and the Bolshoi Opera: the theatre that premiered Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake (1877), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and The Nutcracker (1892), and Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet (1945).
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Bolshoi Theatre — Eight Columns and 250 Years of Russian Performance
The Bolshoi Theatre (Teatralnaya Ploshchad, 1825, current building after reconstruction 2011) is Russia's most important cultural institution — the Imperial Ballet (founded 1776) and the Bolshoi Opera company both perform in the 1,768-seat main auditorium; the theatre's gold-and-crimson interior was restored to its 1856 appearance in a 6-year, $680 million renovation; tickets range from ₽1,000 (stalls standing) to ₽25,000+ (loge boxes for celebrated premieres).
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Mayakovsky Theatre — Soviet Avant-Garde Lives
The Mayakovsky Theatre (Bolshaya Nikitskaya, founded 1922 by Vsevolod Meyerhold) is the leading dramatic theatre in Moscow — the company's repertoire combines Soviet-era classics (Mayakovsky's own plays, Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita) with contemporary international drama; the theatre's acting training method (Meyerhold's biomechanics, a physical, anti-Stanislavski approach) is still taught and applied in the company's productions.
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Teatralnaya Metro Station — Porcelain Bas-Reliefs and Marble Columns
Teatralnaya Metro Station (1938, architect Alexey Dushkin) is the most artistically significant station on the Moscow Metro — the platform walls are lined with porcelain bas-relief panels depicting national dances from the USSR's 15 constituent republics (Ukrainian hopak, Georgian lezginka, Uzbek shashmaqam); the white marble columns and warm-toned ceiling create the most elegant station atmosphere in the entire system; the station connects to the Bolshoi and Maly theatres above ground.
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Maly Theatre — Moscow's Oldest Dramatic Theatre (1756)
The Maly Theatre (Teatralnaya Ploshchad, 1756, 'the Little Theatre' in contrast to the Bolshoi/Big Theatre) is Russia's oldest continuously operating theatre — Alexander Ostrovsky (the dramatist who defined the Russian repertoire with 47 plays) is so associated with the Maly that it is called 'Ostrovsky's House'; the front entrance statue of Ostrovsky (1929) and the 19th-century interior are preserved; performances include Russian classics and Shakespeare in Russian translation.
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Chekhov Moscow Art Theatre (MKhAT) — Where Method Acting Was Born
The Moscow Art Theatre (Kamergerskiy Pereulok, 1898, Konstantin Stanislavski and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko founders) is the most historically important theatre in Russia — Stanislavski developed his System (the basis of Method Acting, which later influenced Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in New York) here; Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, and The Cherry Orchard all premiered here 1898–1904; the theatre's emblem is the seagull (from Chekhov's play).
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Moscow Musical Life Beyond the Bolshoi — Tchaikovsky Hall
The Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Triumfalnaya Ploshchad, 1940, 1,505 seats) is the principal venue of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra — the International Tchaikovsky Competition (June, quadrennial) held here and at the Bolshoi is the most prestigious classical music competition in the world (past winners: Van Cliburn, 1958; Ashkenazy, 1962; Gergiev won the conducting competition, 1988); tickets for competition semi-finals are free and open to the public.