Latvian National Opera and Ballet
Latvia's opera and ballet company in a classicist 1863 theatre beside the Riga city canal.
The building opened in 1863 as the Riga German City Theatre, designed by the St Petersburg architect Ludwig Bohnstedt in a classicist manner with a six-column Doric portico. A fire in 1882 destroyed much of the interior, and the house was rebuilt under the city architect Reinhold Schmaeling. Latvian-language opera took root here after independence, and the Latvian National Opera was founded in 1919. The company adopted its present name, Latvian National Opera and Ballet, in the twenty-first century.
The main auditorium seats around 950 and is used for opera, ballet and concerts, while a smaller New Hall hosts chamber work and events. Richard Wagner worked in Riga in the late 1830s at an earlier theatre nearby, a connection the city still marks. A major reconstruction completed in 1995 restored the historic rooms and added rehearsal and technical space. The repertoire mixes standard opera and classical ballet with Latvian works and family productions, and guided tours of the house run on selected dates.
Highlights
- Classicist 1863 theatre with a six-column portico facing the city canal
- Home of both the national opera company and the national ballet
- Main auditorium of roughly 950 seats, plus a smaller New Hall
- Backstage guided tours in Latvian, English and German
