The National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after T.G. Shevchenko is the oldest musical theatre in Ukraine. It was founded in 1867. Its first season was opened with the opera Askold's Grave by A. Verstovsky. While at that time Ukraine was a part of Russian Empire, mainly the operas of Russian composers were staged, such as Mermaid by A. Dargomyzhsky, Life for Tsar and Ruslan and Lyudmila by М. Glinka, Queen of Spades and Mazepa by P. Tchaikovsky.

At the center of Kyiv, where two large metropolitan highways - Volodymyrska street and Bogdan Khmmelnytsky street are crossed, just in the middle between golden-domed St.Sophia Cathedral and the classical structure of the National University named after Taras Shevchenko, there is a building, which was poetically named as a temple of muses, an architectural pearl of Kyiv. It is the National Opera of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko.

The appearance of this perfect structure was preceded with a sad event: in February 1896, after the morning performance of opera Eugene Onegin by P.Tchaikovsky, one of the making-up rooms caught fire. The fire spread instantly, and within some hours the stately structure of the City theatre constructed 1856 under the architect I.Shtrom's project, was burned to the charred walls. However surprising it is, but then it was not an exclusive case. Only for two years (1889 - 1891) in Europe and America 22 theatrical premises had burned down.

Kyivers sincerely grieved for their though old, but so customary theatre. It was on its stage that M.Yermolova, A.Lensky, M.Savina, C.Yablochkina, G.Fedotova, P.Strepetova performed. Here the spunky voice of A.Allridge, a great Negro tragic and sincere friend of Taras Schevchenko, sounded. It was here that the most famous actresses of the 19th century E.Duse and S.Bernhardt demonstrated their art.

In 1896 the old building of the theatre, designed by architect I. Shtrom, was burnt to ashes and on its place the new one was constructed. Victor Shreter, the talented architect from Saint Petersburg, erected a splendid Neo-Renaissance building, which has preserved till nowadays.

Again the theatre opened its doors to the public in September 1901 and soon attracted many famous names and first class operatic productions. In the first part of the 20th century the repertoire, which boasted the real masterpieces of world opera, was greatly enriched with operas and ballets by Ukrainian composers. The audience of those days enjoyed Taras Bulba, Christmas Night by M. Lysenko, Zaporozhets za Dunayem by S. Hulack-Artemovsky, Karmelyuk by V. Kostenko, Golden Eagles by B. Liatoshynsky, etc.

In the 20th century the opera house stage was graced with such names as Maria Lytvynenko-Volhemut, Zoya Hayday, Ivan Patorzhynsky, Mykhailo Hryshko, Borys Hmyria, Dmytro Hnatiuk, Yevheniya Miroshnichenko, Anatoly Solovianenko, Victoria Lukianets, Halyna Tuftina, Anatoly Mokrenko, Velntyna Kalynovska, Olena Potapova, Valery Kovtun, Veanir Kruhlov and others.

In the 1980s the vast reconstruction works were carried out at the theatre. As the result the exterior and the interior of the ancient building were renovated, and the theatre was supplied with the latest equipment.

The present name of the theatre didn't appear at once. Originally the theatre was called the Russian Opera, in 1919 it was renamed the State Opera House. In 1926 the theatre got the status of Academic. In 1934 it was again given the new name - the Ukrainian Theatre of Opera and Ballet. In 1994 "Ukraine" was replaced with "National". Nowadays the official name of the theatre is the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after T.G. Shevchenko, but very often it is also called the National Opera House of Ukraine. The name of the theatre has been changed many times, but the high artistic level of the troupe has always remained steady.

Nowadays the National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after T.G. Shevchenko is one of the most successful theaters in the country. It can be proved not only by the immense popularity of the theater, but also by the numerous awards at different theatrical festivals. The troupe tours a lot and the theater-goers in Spain, Italy, USA, Poland, Hungary and other countries of the world are well acquainted with the repertoire of the theatre. The names of leading singers - S. Dobronravova, L. Yurchenko, V. Kochur, L. Zabiliasta, V. Stepova, V. Pyvovarova, М. Shopsha, P. Mayboroda, V. Hryshko, М. Didyk, І. Ponomarenko, S. Fitsych, О. Мykytenko, І. Dats, Т. Shtonda, ballet actors - Т. Borovyk, H. Kushnirova, І. Zadayanna, М. Моtkova, D. Matviyenko, N. Lazebnikova, L. Sarafanova and many others are well known not only in Ukraine but abroad as well.

The National Opera Theatre of Ukraine named after Taras Shevchenko is a glorified creative collective known in the whole world. It has the great history hallowed by a lot of significant, important for the national culture events, masters' names, whose creative work has left the bright traces on musical stage. The performers' traditions of the National Opera Theatre of Ukraine have been forming on the solid base of perfect professionalism and the aesthetics of European humanism.

During all its activity, the first theatre of Ukraine professed two important principles - it was both a real musical academy and creative laboratory where, in the crucible of the artistic searches, hundreds opera-ballet performances were born. Many of these have been entering the most valuable possession of Ukraine.

The history of the National Opera Theatre of Ukraine, in comparison with other well-known theatres of the world, is relatively short. In Kyiv, the permanent opera troupe of the theatre was created only in 1867. It was the third (after Moscow and Petersburg) opera theatre of Russian Empire, which Ukraine was a part of.

However, artistic traditions of our ancestry are rooted in the much remoter past. Arabian geographers of 9th-10th centuries in their works mention musical instruments of the Eastern Slavs. According to some Old Rus' sources of the 11th century, professional musicians amused Kyiv Rus' ruler and his guests at banquets. In 1805 (according to other data - in 1803), the first Kyiv City theatre dropped the curtain. It could accommodate 470 (architect Andriy Melensky). One could see dramatic performances in Russian and Polish played here. Moreover, opera and even ballet were frequently performed here too. M.Schepkin, P.Mochalov, A.Allridge, L.Mlotkovska, and K.Zhivokini, the prominent actors, appeared on the stage.

In 1830 - 1850s short-term tours of Italian opera's troupes, which made Kyiv's public familiar with the last European repertoire of that time became traditional.

Showing performances from time to time, which attracted more and more public, did not meet intellectual-aesthetic needs of the big city, especially after the inauguration of the St.Vladimir University. This promoted a formation in the city of a sizeable stratum of scientific and cultural intellectuals who afterwards raised a question about an opera theatre opening. However, the authorities in Petersburg were indifferent to the province requests, regarding opera-ballet art as the prerogative only of the empire theatres, which acted in Moscow and Petersburg at that time. It was the grandiose success of two seasons of the Italian Opera (1866 - 1867) that put a beginning to permanent and regular running musical performances in the city on the Dnieper. These events became the incentive to establishing the permanent musical troupe in Kyiv.