Baku Opera and Ballet Theatre gets all-new domes PHOTO

As part of the restoration and reconstruction of the building of the Baku Opera and Ballet Theatre, all-new domes have been installed on the historical structure.

Architect, member of the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan, professor Elchin Aliyev told Caliber.Az that two new domes, prepared based on the building’s original blueprint inherited from late 19th century, were installed on the roof of the beautiful building of the Opera and Ballet Theatre on May 26.

“The domes are covered with copper sheets, which in a few years will gain a dark green colour familiar to Baku residents. Restoration work in the historic building continues: facades are being restored, the roof is completely repaired, wooden windows and doors are being replaced [with new wooden ones],” Aliyev said.

After the end of this year’s theatre season, the interior of the building will go through a major overhaul. According to Aliyev, the theatre will be welcoming the visitors in the renovated building not earlier than 2023.

Meanwhile, the restoration of the facade of the building is carried out by the Austrian company Erich Pummer.

The building of the Opera and Ballet Theatre is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the capital of Azerbaijan. The construction of the building started in 1910 and the Opera and Ballet Theatre of Azerbaijan moved to the building in 1920.

There is an interesting story of how this magnificent building was built in Baku.

It is said that the decision about the construction of the building came up in 1910 when a famous Russian female opera singer was on a tour to Baku. After performing a concert program, she attended a party organized in her honour by Baku millionaires. When the local community asked to know the date of her next performance in the city, she said it would never happen because there was no building for opera performances in such a large city, and she was disturbed by singing in casino halls. The Mailov brothers, one of the wealthiest families of Baku at that time, are said to be upset by her words and promised the singer to build a magnificent opera house in Baku within a year.

The Mailovs purchased a piece of land in the then Gubernski street (modern-day Nizami street) in the centre of Baku for the building’s construction. Although famous Azerbaijani philanthropist and tycoon Zeynalabdin Taghiyev explained to Mailovs the impossibility of building such a building within a year and tried to dissuade them, the brothers did not change their decision. They ultimately bet that if the theatre building was launched at the time promised by the Mailovs, Taghiyev would cover all construction costs.

The dream of the brothers came true within less than a year when on February 28, 1911, they took over the building of the Opera and Ballet Theatre. The architectural style of the building amazed those who saw it with its elements of baroque, rococo, and Mauritanian styles. The acoustics in the hall of the theatre became one of the focus of big interest among the specialists and ordinary people.

After the building was ready, the Mailovs immediately sent a telegram to the Russian opera singer to invite her to Baku. The grand opening of the Opera and Ballet Theatre was held with the participation of the singer in 1911. On the opening day, Boris Godunov, an opera written in 1869 by Russian composer Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, was played, starring Ivan Ilyich Mozzhukhin, the most famous actor of that time. The opening of the theatre has become a significant cultural event in the life of Baku.

After the relocation of Azerbaijan’s Opera and Ballet Theatre to the building in 1920, it was named after prominent Azerbaijani writer Mirza Fatali Akhundov in 1928. Since 1959, the art centre has been called the Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The first reconstruction of the theatre building was carried out in 1938, and then in 1982. However, due to a strong fire at the beginning of 1985, the work was completed only in 1987.

Today, the Opera and Ballet Theatre is one of the must-see places in Baku. The well-preserved patterns of its original appearance coming through more than a century help the visitors hop in time travel under the spell of opera sound.