Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after N. Lysenko is the first Ukrainian steady-state opera house, where performances are put on the Ukrainian, Russian, French and Italian.

The organization of the theater dates back to 1925 as the Ukrainian State Opera. Until 1934 there were put 11 ballets and 32 operas, including "Golden Hoop" by B. Liatoshynsky, "Taras Bulba" by N. Lysenko, "Mermaid" by Dargomyzhsky etc. Operas by Russian and world repertoire include: "Turandot" by G. Puccini, "The Madonna’s Necklace” by E. Wolf-Ferrari, etc. Now, the theater's repertoire includes about 50 operas and ballets, most of them belonging to the Ukrainian and Russian classics. Children's repertoire includes musical performances based on stories of famous fairy tales. Concert programs are held in the performance of opera and ballet scenes, and in May-June the annual theater festival of operatic bass is held.

The building of the Kharkov Opera and Ballet Theater was built in 1829 by the project of the unknown architect. In 1855 the building was purchased by entrepreneur Zarudnyy, who rebuilt it specifically for presentations. After the building was given to the property of the commercial club in 1884-1885 years, it has been completely renovated for the opera house.

In 1991, the Kharkov Opera and Ballet Theater moved into another building, located on the Sumskaya Street, and is a prominent representative of postmodern architecture and style. In 2007 there was carried out the complete reconstruction of fountains in front of the theater, and the area in front of the building was called "Fountain Square".

The Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre named after M.Lysenko is the first academic theatre in Ukraine. It presents operas in Ukrainian, Russian, French and Italian. This one of the leading Ukrainian theatres was opened in 1925 by putting on the stage opera "Sorochynska yarmarka" ("Sorochyntsy Fair") of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.

From 1991 the theatre works in the new building which is built in postmodern style and is located at Sumskaya Str. 25/27. The Theatre has two halls: big hall can seat 1500 people and small one 400 people. The sculpture "Music of L.Lysenko" decorates the entrance of the theatre. The building is tiled with artic tufa, and under the theatre there is a parking.

In 2007 in front of the theatre were constructed beautiful fountains which quickly became very popular.

The repertoire includes around 50 operas and ballets, the majority of which are Ukrainian and Russian but there are also Italian ones.

Kharkiv State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre name N. Lysenko is one of the oldest domestic musical theaters. The beginning of stationary opera seasons, it is considered to be in 1874. In those days, in the performances of the theater is constantly attended by such artists as Chaliapin F., A. Nezhdanova, L. Sobinov, MA Battistini, whose work served as a model for the vocal-dramatic art of a new era.

In October 1925 on the basis of opera theatrical enterprise in Kharkiv was the first in Ukraine, the State Opera.

The current repertoire is about 50 operas and ballets. The basis of today's repertoire are Ukrainian and Russian classics. Artworks Lysenko, Mussorgsky, S.Gulaka-Artemovsky, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Stravinsky coexist on posters with the opera and ballet to music by Verdi, Puccini, Rossini D. , Gounod, Leoncavallo R., A. Adam, F. Amirov C.Saint-Saens. The repertoire for children - music performances on subjects known tales: "Little Red Riding Hood," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," The Nutcracker".

The first Ukrainian opera theater with a resident company. It was founded in 1925 as the Ukrainian Capital Opera, and received its current name in 1944. The first permanent opera company in Kharkiv arose in 1880, and it became the first company to stage Mykola Lysenko's Ukrainian operas Christmas Night (1883) and The Drowned Maiden (1885). In 1918 the company became known as the People's Opera, and in 1920 as the Russian State Opera. By 1934 the theater had produced 32 operas and 11 ballets, including Borys Liatoshynsky's The Golden Ring, Valentyn Kostenko's Karmeliuk, Anatol Vakhnianyn's Kupalo, Lysenko's Taras Bulba, Oles Chyshko's Apple Blossom Captivity, and the Ukrainized versions of A. Dargomyzhsky's The Water Nymph and A. Borodin's Prince Igor. The ballets produced there included Borys Yanovsky's Ferenji and Mykhailo Verykivsky's The Nobleman Kanovsky, in which the choreographer Vasyl Lytvynenko combined for the first time elements of classical ballet and Ukrainian folk dances. Many masterpieces of Russian and world opera were produced; eg, E. Wolf-Ferrari's The Jewels of the Madonna and G. Puccini's Turandot.

In 1934–41 new productions of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky's Zaporozhian Cossack beyond the Danube and Lysenko's Natalka from Poltava were staged. During this period G. Meyerbeer's The Huguenots was one of the more successful productions of a classical opera. In 1941–5, the company worked in Chita and, later, collaborated with the Kyiv Theater of Opera and Ballet in Irkutsk. After 1945 the company's opera repertoire included M. Verykivsky's The Servant Girl and Kostiantyn Dankevych's Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Nazar Stodolia; its ballet repertoire consisted of such productions as Volodymyr Nakhabin's Danko, Tavriia, The Burgher from Tuscany, and Spring Tale, and K. Dankevych's The Lily.

In the 1970s the number of Ukrainian operas and ballets in the theater's repertoire was minimal: a new production of Taras Bulba (sets by Anatol Petrytsky) was directed by Volodymyr Skliarenko, and Mykhailo Skorulsky's ballet The Forest Song (1970, 1980) and Vitalii Hubarenko's The Stone Master (1972, 1974) were performed. The opera's stage directors have included Serhii Karhalsky, Dmytro Smolych, Mykola Foregger, Mykhailo Stefanovych, and V. Skliarenko. Among its stage designers have been A. Petrytsky, Oleksander Khvostenko-Khvostov, Dmytro Ovcharenko, and Leonid Bratchenko. A. Pazovsky, Veniamin Tolba, Yevhen Dushchenko, I. Zak, and Ya. Skybynsky worked at the opera as conductors, and K. Holeizovsky, Pavlo Virsky, M. Moiseiev, P. Yorkyn, Vasyl Lytvynenko, and V. Shkilko as choreographers. Among its better-known opera soloists have been Viktor Budnevych, Mykhailo Hryshko, Borys Hmyria, Ivan Patorzhynsky, Yurii Kyporenko-Domansky, Mykhailo Donets, I. Kuchenko, Mykhailo Mykysha, Vira Huzhova, Y. Chervoniuk, and M. Lytvynenko-Volhemut. Its ballet soloists have included V. Dulenko, Antonina Yaryhina, Svitlana Kolyvanova, Oleksander Sobol, and T. Popesku. Visit Kharkiv and enjoy its sights and offers. The best way to get there is by flight to Kharkiv.