Sofia Opera and Ballet
Bulgaria's national opera and ballet company in a neoclassical hall noted for its acoustics.
A permanent opera company was formed in Sofia in 1908 and performed in borrowed halls for decades. Its present home was begun in 1921 as the headquarters of the Agrarian Union, to a design by the Prague-trained architect and engineer Lazar Parashkevanov. Work stopped and resumed several times; from 1947 the scheme was reworked to include an opera auditorium and a monument to Aleksandar Stamboliyski, and the completed building opened in 1953. Its neoclassical front of white columns and pediments faces Dondukov Boulevard in the centre of the city.
The main auditorium seats around a thousand and has been praised by acousticians as one of the better opera halls in Europe. The company mounts a wide repertory of Italian, French, Russian and Bulgarian opera together with a classical and contemporary ballet programme, and it runs an annual Wagner festival that has drawn international attention. Concerts, musicals and children's productions are also staged, and open-air performances are held at other Sofia venues in summer.
Highlights
- Neoclassical 1953 hall by Lazar Parashkevanov
- Auditorium widely praised for its acoustics
- Annual Wagner festival alongside the standard repertory
- Resident opera, ballet, chorus and symphony orchestra
