The ground-breaking of Opera-Theatre took place on November 28, 1930 during the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of Soviet Armenia. On January 20, 1933 the building was officially opened. Soon after the theatre foundation, a ballet troupe was established. Swan Lake by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was the first ballet performance in 1935.
Based on Tamanian’s design and under the supervision of his son the theatre hall was completed in 1939, and the opera building was renamed after Alexander Spendiaryan. Large-scale construction works did not finish until 1953, when the entire building was finally completed with its current shape.
The opening of the theatre promoted the creation of new national operas and ballets. The first Armenian ballet was Happiness by Aram Khachaturian. On the basis of this ballet the composer soon created Gayane which has been performed all over the world. Many other Armenian composers have written operas and ballets. Over the years, these artists have worked at the theatre: singers Gohar Gasparyan, Tatevik Sazandaryan, Mihran Erkat, Pavel Lisizian, Aikanush Danielyan, Nar Hovhannisyan, Gegham Grigoryan, Anahit Mekhitarian; conductors Konstantin Saradjev, Michael Tavrizjan, Aram Katanyan,Yuri Davtyan; ballet masters A. Petrosyan, M. Chmshkyan, Vanush Khanamiryan, Vilen Galstyan; painters Martiros Saryan, Minas Avetisyan.
Since 1935 a unique Armenian opera, Anoush by Armen Tigranian, has been performed in Yerevan opera theatre. It was a great step in Armenian opera’s history. Anoush is in the repertoire of the theatre until now.
Since it was opened, the Armenian National Opera & Ballet Theatre has performed more than 200 different operas and ballets by Armenian, Russian and West European composers. The theatre company has performed in more than 20 countries: Russia, Spain, Lebanon, USA, Greece, Germany. In 1956, the theatre received the status of National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre.
The theatre has also hosted concerts performed by Charles Aznavour, Ian Anderson, John McLaughlin, Akvarium and many others.
