Grand Theatre - the largest in Russia and one of the most significant in the world of opera and ballet theaters .  The history of the theater decided to conduct from March 1776 . When the provincial prosecutor, Prince Peter V. Urusov received the highest permission of Empress Catherine II «... contain all kinds theatrical performances, as well as concerts, the casino and masquerades" .  Prince began the construction of the theater, which - at the location on Petrovka Street (on the right side Neglinka) - was named Petrovsky .  However, the theater burned Urusova before its opening, and the prince handed the case to his companion, the English entrepreneur Michael Maddox .  It Maddox built Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre .  Petrovsky Theatre Medox stood for 25 years - in 1805, the building burned down .  In 1821, construction began on another theater building project About .  Beauvais and the rector of the St. Petersburg Academy A .  Mikhailov .  March 11, 1853 the theater burned down; Fire kept only the stone exterior walls and the colonnade of the main entrance .  In three years, the theater has been restored by the architect A .  TO .  Kavos .  Instead, who died in a fire alabaster sculpture of Apollo over the entrance portico put a bronze quadriga by Pyotr Klodt .  The theater reopened August 20, 1856 .

Five-tier Hall of the Bolshoi Theatre is famous for its excellent acoustics and can accommodate up to 2150 people. The hall is decorated with gilded stucco and red velvet, which gives it a special splendor and solemnity.

An important role in the history of the Bolshoi Theater played the opera and ballet performances to the music of Tchaikovsky, among them - "Eugene Onegin," "Queen of Spades", "Iolanta", "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty". With the Bolshoi Theatre associated with the names of famous artists - Anton Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Feodor Chaliapin, Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya and others.

Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra is one of the best symphony orchestras of the world. Today, his repertoire - ballet and opera performances by the brilliant masters of art.