The Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet () or Lviv Opera (, ) is an

opera house An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

located in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine's largest western city and one of its cultural centres. Originally built on former

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

land of the submerged

Poltva River The Poltva (; ) is a river in the western Ukrainian Oblast of Lviv and a tributary of the Bug. The Poltva valley cuts between the Podilian Plateau and Roztichia. The capital of the Lviv Oblast, Lviv, is located on the river, with the river fl ...

, the Lviv Opera now located on (), the tree-lined centrepiece of Lviv's historic Old City, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

located in the city's Halych district. According to the inscription in the theatre lobby, the building was constructed between 1897 and 1900. Originally built when Lviv was the capital of the autonomous province of Galicia in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

, the Lviv Opera () first stood at the end of

Archduke Karl Ludwig Archduke Karl Ludwig Josef Maria of Austria (30 July 1833 – 19 May 1896) was the younger brother of both Franz Joseph I of Austria and Maximilian I of Mexico, and the father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (1863–1914), whose assassinat ...

Avenue, was later known as the Grand Theatre () of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

, and during the time of Soviet rule, entering patrons would pass by a towering statue of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

. For four decades, the theatre was known as the ''

Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (, ; 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, translator, economist, political activist, doctor of philosophy, ethnographer, and the author of the first d ...

Lviv State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet'', having been renamed in 1956 after the city's famous poet and political activist on the centenary of his birth. In 2000, marking its

centennial A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

the Lviv Opera was renamed after

Solomiya Krushelnytska Solomiya KrushelnytskaHer name is sometimes spelt as Solomiya Ambrosiyivna Krushelnytska, Salomea Krusceniski, Krushel'nytska or Kruszelnicka. (; – November 16, 1952) was a Ukrainian lyric-dramatic soprano, considered to be one of the bright ...

, a renowned

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

of the early 20th century.

History

At the end of the 19th century, the civic leaders of

felt the need for a large city theatre to be situated in the capital of Galicia. In 1895, the city announced an

architectural design competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

, which attracted a large number of submissions. Among the participants were the

Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...

architects

Fellner & Helmer Fellner & Helmer was an architecture studio founded in 1873 by Austrian architects Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Helmer. They designed over 200 buildings (mainly opera houses and apartment buildings) across Europe in the late 19th and early 20th c ...

, whose entry was rejected as too international and

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

. An independent jury chose the design by Zygmunt Gorgolewski, a graduate of the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Building Academy and the director of city's Engineering Academy. Gorgolewski pleasantly surprised the jury by planning to locate the building in the centre of the city, despite the area having been already densely built-up. In order to solve the space problem, he boldly proposed to enclose the

underground, and instead of using a traditional foundation, utilized—for the first time in Europe—a reinforced concrete base. In June 1897, the

cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

was placed. Gorgolewski oversaw

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

, earthwork and design, employing the leading

stonemasons Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

from the city and beyond. Local materials were used wherever possible, however

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

elements were manufactured in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, special

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong and absorbent, and it dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. Lin ...

for painting in the

foyer A lobby is a room in a building used for entry from the outside. Sometimes referred to as a foyer, entryway, reception area or entrance hall, it is often a large room or complex of rooms (in a theatre, opera house, concert hall, showroom, cine ...

was imported from Belgium. The German company

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

, ran the electrical wiring and lights, while the hydraulic mechanization of the

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

was built by the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

railway workshop company in

Sanok Sanok (in full the Royal Free City of Sanok — , , ''Sanok'', , ''Sianok'' or ''Sianik'', , , ''Sūnik'' or ''Sonik'') is a town in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of southeastern Poland with 38,397 inhabitants, as of June 2016. Located on the San ...

. Construction continued for three years. Funding came from the city, the surrounding communities, and from voluntary donations. The cost of the works totaled 2.4 million Austrian crowns. Stories remain that despite the engineering innovations used by Gorgolewski to construct the foundation of the building, it began to slowly sink because of the Poltva river running underneath it in a tunnel. In July 1903 he died suddenly of paralysis of the

aorta The aorta ( ; : aortas or aortae) is the main and largest artery in the human body, originating from the Ventricle (heart), left ventricle of the heart, branching upwards immediately after, and extending down to the abdomen, where it splits at ...

.
Zygmunt Gorgolewski, twórca gmachu Lwowskiego Teatru Wielkiego
' ("Zygmunt Gorgolewski, the creator of the building of the Lwów Grand Theatre"), by Piotr Marek Stański. (in Polish) After some initial settling, the building ceased 'sinking' and remains stable to this day, owing to the innovative design of Gorgolewski. In April 1990, immediately prior to the

fall of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of Nationalities, Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. :s: ...

, the first performance of the Ukraine's national anthem, ''

Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia The State Anthem of Ukraine, also known by its incipit "" and its original title "", is one of the state symbols of Ukraine. The lyrics are a slightly modified version of the first verse and chorus of the patriotic song "", written in 1862 ...

'', was held at the theatre.

Grand opening

The Lviv Opera opened on October 4, 1900. The cultural elite—painters, writers, and composers, as well as delegations from various European theatres—attended the opening festivities. Among the guests attending the ceremony were writer

Henryk Sienkiewicz Henryk Adam Aleksander Pius Sienkiewicz ( , ; 5 May 1846 – 15 November 1916), also known by the pseudonym Litwos (), was a Polish epic writer. He is remembered for his historical novels, such as The Trilogy, the Trilogy series and especially ...

, composer

Ignacy Jan Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;

r 1859 R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars''. The lette ...

– 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist, composer and statesman who was a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the nation's Prime Minister of Poland, prime minister and foreign minister durin ...

, the painter

Henryk Siemiradzki Henryk Hektor Siemiradzki (24 October 1843 – 23 August 1902) was a Polish painter. He spent most of his active creative life in Rome. Best remembered for his monumental academic art, he is particularly known for his depictions of scenes from th ...

,The three were considered the most renowned Polish artists of the epoch the

Chief magistrate A chief magistrate is a public official, executive or judicial, whose office is the highest in its class. Historically, the two different meanings of magistrate have often overlapped and refer to, as the case may be, to a major political and admi ...

of Lviv

Godzimir Małachowski Godzimir Małachowski of Nałęcz (1852–1908) was a Polish lawyer, university professor and President of Lviv. An heir of the powerful Małachowski family, he was also a member of the Austro-Hungarian parliament, the Galicia Diet and one of t ...

, the

provincial governor Provincial may refer to: Government & Administration * Provincial capitals, an administrative sub-national capital of a country * Provincial city (disambiguation) * Provincial minister (disambiguation) * Provincial Secretary, a position in Can ...

Leon Piniński Leon Jan Piniński (8 March 1857 – 4 April 1938) was a Polish scholar, diplomat, art historian and politician. A professor of Roman law and one-time rector of the Lwów University (1928–1929), he devoted much of his life to a political caree ...

and head of the provincial assembly Count Stanisław Badeni. Due to recent deaths of both the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Greek Catholic Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also known as the Eastern-Rite Catholic Churches, Ea ...

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

s, the building was blessed by the

Armenian Catholic Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

archbishop of

, Izaak Mikołaj Isakowicz, alongside

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Ezechiel Caro and the Protestant pastor Garfel. The grand opening gala that evening included excerpts from

Jan Kasprowicz Jan Kasprowicz (12 December 1860 – 1 August 1926) was a Polish poet, playwright, critic and translator; a foremost representative of Young Poland. Biography Kasprowicz was born in the village of Szymborze (now part of Inowrocław) within t ...

and

Seweryn Berson Seweryn Berson (1858–1917) was a Polish lawyer and composer. Born in Nowy Sącz, early in his youth he moved to Lwów (then in Galicia (Central Europe), Galicia, currently in Ukraine), where he spent most of his life. A student of Berlin-based ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

(''Tale of the Midsummer Night''), Władysław Żeleński's opera '' Janek'', and

Aleksander Fredro Aleksander Fredro (20 June 1793 – 15 July 1876) was a Polish poet, playwright and Polish authors, author active during Romanticism in Poland, Polish Romanticism in the Partitions of Poland, period of partitions by neighboring empires. His works ...

's comedy ' (''Recluses'').

Architectural style

The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet is built in the classical tradition using forms and details of

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

and

Neo-Baroque Neo-Baroque may refer to: * Neo-Baroque music * Neo-Baroque painting, a painting style used by Christo Coetzee and others *Baroque Revival architecture * Neo-Baroque film *the Organ reform movement The Organ Reform Movement or ''Orgelbewegung'' ...

architectural styles. There are also elements of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

. The

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

mouldings and

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

s on the walls and ceilings of the multi-tiered

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

and foyer give it a richly festive appearance. The building's

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

is decorated with numerous niches,

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

s, statues,

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s and stucco garlands. Standing in niches on either side of the main entrance are allegorical figures representing Comedy and Tragedy sculpted by

Antoni Popiel Antoni Popiel (13 June 1865 – 7 July 1910) was a Polish sculptor. Life He studied at the School of Fine Arts, Kraków from 1882 to 1884, with Izydor Jabłoński, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz and . He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts ...

and

Tadeusz Barącz ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bednarowicz (1906–1939), Polish footballer * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish wr ...

; figures of

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

s embellish the top of the

. The building is crowned by large bronze statues, symbolizing Glory, Poetry and Music.The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet, ''Lviv Best Portal'
The Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet architectural description
The theatre became a centrefold of the achievements in sculpture and painting of Western Europe at the end of the 19th century. The internal decoration was prepared by some of the most renowned Polish artists of the time. Among them were Stanisław Wójcik (allegorical sculptures of Poetry, Music, Fame, Fortune, Comedy and Tragedy), Julian Markowski,

Tadeusz Wiśniowiecki ''Tadeusz'' is a Polish first name, derived from Thaddaeus. Tadeusz may refer to: * Tadeusz Bednarowicz (1906–1939), Polish footballer * Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski (1895–1966), Polish military leader * Tadeusz Borowski (1922–1951), Polish wr ...

, Piotr Wojtowicz (relief depicting the

coat of arms of Lviv The coat of arms of the city of Lviv features a golden lion beneath a city gate in a blue field. The current version of the symbol was adopted by the city council in 1990. Based on the principles of the blazoning it features a lion passant Or, be ...

Juliusz Bełtowski Juliusz is a Polish male given name. Notable people with the name include: * Juliusz Bardach (1914–2010), Polish legal historian *Juliusz Bursche (1862–1942), bishop of the Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland * Juliusz Bogdan Deczkowski ( ...

(bas-relief of Gorgolewski) and

(sculptures of Muses decorating the façade). Among the painters to decorate the interior were

Tadeusz Popiel Tadeusz Popiel (1863, Szczucin - 22 February 1913, Kraków) was a Polish painter, known for his religious and historical scenes; especially his work on several famous panoramas. His brother was the sculptor, Antoni Popiel. Biography He was bor ...

(staircases),

Stanisław Rejchan Stanislav and variants may refer to: People *Stanislav (given name), a Slavic given name with many spelling variations (Stanislaus, Stanislas, Stanisław, etc.) Places * Stanislav, Kherson Oblast, a coastal village in Ukraine * Stanislaus County, ...

(main hall),

Stanisław Dębicki Stanisław Mieczysław Dębicki (14 December 1866, Lubaczów - 12 August 1924, Kraków), was a Polish painter and illustrator. Life From 1881-1884, he studied with Christian Griepenkerl at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, then with Władysł ...

, Stanisław Kaczor-Batowski and Marceli Harasimowicz (

). The team supervised by these artists included the painters Aleksander Augustynowicz, Ludwik Kohler, Walery Kryciński,

Henryk Kuhn Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier * Henryk JanikowskiSoccer Player (polish National) See also * Henryk Batuta hoax Henryk Bat ...

, Edward Pietsch, Zygmunt Rozwadowski, Tadeusz Rybkowski and

Julian Zuber Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian, of the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (given name), people w ...

. The main

curtain A curtain is a piece of cloth or other material intended to block or obscure light, air drafts, or (in the case of a shower curtain) water. Curtains are often hung on the inside of a building's windows to block the passage of light. For instan ...

was decorated by the Polish painter

Notes

''a.'' ''The Habsburg Empire. The World of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Original Photographs 1840–1916'' by Franz Hubmann, Vienna, 1971, attributes this theatre to Fellner & Helmer.

References

Sources

* *

External links

*
Opera House, Lviv Krushelnitskaya National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet (Lviv)
{{Ballet companies Theatres completed in 1900 Buildings and structures in Lviv Opera houses in Ukraine Tourist attractions in Lviv Music venues completed in 1900 Culture in Lviv Theatres in Lviv 1900 establishments in Austria-Hungary Establishments in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Academic theatres Institutions with the title of National in Ukraine Ballet in Ukraine