Maria Bieșu National Opera and Ballet Theatre
Moldova's national opera and ballet company, in a 1980 modernist house on Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare.
Moldova's national opera and ballet company traces its origins to the musical and drama theatre set up in Chișinău in the 1940s, and it became a fully professional opera company in the mid-1950s. For its first decades it shared premises with other companies; the purpose-built house on Bulevardul Ștefan cel Mare și Sfânt, with its long colonnaded front and auditorium of about 1,200 seats, opened in 1980. In 2012 the theatre was given the name of Maria Bieșu, the soprano who was for many years its leading singer and its director.
The repertoire is built on the standard Italian, French and Russian operas alongside a classical ballet tradition, with productions such as Carmen, La Traviata, Madama Butterfly, Otello, The Marriage of Figaro, Swan Lake and Spartacus returning season after season. The company also stages gala concerts and works by Moldovan composers, and it hosts the Maria Bieșu Invites international festival. Performances run from autumn to early summer, generally at weekends, and the theatre stands opposite the main government quarter in the centre of the capital.
Highlights
- Colonnaded 1980 opera house seating around 1,200
- Standard opera repertoire from Carmen to The Marriage of Figaro
- Classical ballet including Swan Lake and Spartacus
- Named in 2012 after the soprano Maria Bieșu
