Rusko - Ekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg, is the fourth-largest city in Russia and the administrative centerof Sverdlovsk Oblast, located in the middle of the Eurasian continent, on the border of Europe and Asia. Yekaterinburg is situated on the border of Europe and Asia, 1,667 kilometers (1,036 mi) east of Moscow, on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains on the Iset River. It is surrounded by wooded hills, partially cultivated for agricultural purposes, and small lakes.

Ekaterinburg Opera and Ballet Theatre.

The history of the Ekaterinburg Theatre had actually begun long before the first stone was laid in the foundation of its magnificent building. In the 1870s the stage of the first city theatre hosted first-class metropolitan opera companies. Having received excellent spectator schooling, in 1874 local opera fans formed a musical society, the only of its kind in Russia, where splendid opera productions were staged and the most difficult scores were brought to life. Their affectionate love and reverence for opera made the city authorities conceive the idea of building a local opera house, and in 1912 the New City Theatre opened its first season with the opera Life for the Tzar by Mikhail Glinka (music director Barbini, stage director Altshuller). The first ballet production, Drigo’s The Magic Flute (choreographer Troyanovsky), dates back to 1914, although it was not until 1931 that the name “The Opera and Ballet Theatre” appeared.