The Bolshoi Theatre (Russian: Большо́й теа́тр, romanized: Bol'shoy teatr, IPA: [bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r], lit.

'Grand Theater') is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové.

[3] The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia (its iconic neoclassical façade is depicted on the Russian 100-ruble banknote).

17 March] 1776,[7] when Catherine II granted Prince Peter Urusov a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment.

[10][11] The new building opened on 18 January 1825 as the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre with a performance of the catalan Fernando Sor's ballet, Cendrillon.

[17] Finally, on 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi Theatre re-opened with a concert featuring international artists and the ballet and opera companies.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, there have been a few attempts to reduce the theatre's traditional dependence on large state subsidies.

[citation needed] After the death of Joseph Stalin, the company toured internationally and became an important source of cultural prestige, as well as foreign currency earnings.

The first occurrence was on 23 August 1979, with Alexander Godunov;[20] followed by Leonid Kozlov and Valentina Kozlova on 16 September 1979; and other cases in the following years.

[21][22] Until the mid-1990s, most foreign operas were sung in Russian, but Italian and other languages have been heard more frequently on the Bolshoi stage in recent years.

[23] In December 2023, Valery Gergiev was appointed artistic director of the company, with immediate effect, with an initial contract of 5 years.