The National Academic Great Opera Theatre of the Republic of Belarus celebrates its birthday on May 25^th. On this day in 1933 the first performance of "Carmen" by G.Bizet was given on the stage of the Belarussian Theatre of Drama. During the 1920s this stage has also housed many fragmentary performances by the incipient troupe.

In 1939 the National Opera and Ballet Theatre acquired its own building located on Trinity Hill in the Minsk center. The first production staged here was the opera by E.Tikotsky "Mikhas' Padgorny" (10th of May, 1939). The very next season the National Opera Theatre declared itself at the Decade of Belarussian Arts in Moscow (June, 1940), having presented three national productions: the above-mentioned "Mikhas' Padgorny" by E.Tikotsky, "In the Dense Woods of Palesie" by A. Bogatirev, and "The Happiness Flower" by A.Turenkov. Afterwards, the Belarussian opera troupe appeared many times on the most prestigious stage of the USSR: that of the Bolshoi Moscow Theatre. The success of the 1940 season was so triumphant that the Opera Theatre was named "the Great"; another significant season of 1964 also brought the title of "Academic".

Among the names of the founders of the Belarussian National Opera are those of many celebrated artists: conductors I. Gitgarz, N. Grubin, M. Shneiderman; producers V. Borisevich, P. Zlatogorov, N. Smolich, I. Shlepianov; interior decorators M. Bobyshev, P. Viliams, B. Volkov, N. Korovin, S. Nikolaev; choirmasters A. Belsky and G. Petrov; soloists L. Alexandrovskaya, L. Alekseeva, A. Arsenko, I. Bolotin, T. Bonachich, V. Volchanetskaya, M. Denisov, S. Druker, P. Zasetsky, V. Kalinovsky, D. Kroz, N. Lazarev, V. Lapin, V. Malkova, R. Mlodek, I. Muromtsev, V. Talankin, G. Tsepova, Y. Shetikhin and others.

During the Great Patriotic War the troupe kept on working in Nizhniy Novgorod and Kovrov (Vladimir district) in Russia. Its concert units (brigades) performed regularly for the Soviet troops on the front line. The Opera came back to Minsk shortly after the liberation of the city from fascist occupation (1944). The new season opened with the premiere of the opera "Alesia" by E.Tikotsky.

Among the opera groups of the former USSR the troupe of the Belarussian Opera has maintained a steady reputation of brilliance and creative vitality. Its high professional standard has been upheld due to the work of many outstanding masters: conductors O. Bron, V. Piradov, L. Lyubimov, T. Kolomyitseva, J. Voshtshak, V. Moshensky, G. Provatorov, A. Anissimov, producers O. Moralev, D. Smolich, Y. Yuzhentsev, V. Tsiupa, M. Izvorska-Yelizarieva; stage decorators S. Nikolaev, E. Chemodurov, E. Geidelbrecht, E. Zhdan, V. Okunev; choirmasters A. Kogadeev, N. Lomanovich; soloists the People's Artists of the USSR and Belarus L. Alexandrovskaya, Z. Babiy, Y. Bastrikov, I. Bolotin, L. Brazhnik, N. Vorvulev, L. Galushkina, A. Generalov, V. Glushakov, S. Daniliuk, L. Zlatova, M. Ziuvanov, K. Kudriashova, T. Nizhnikova, N. Rudneva, A. Savchenko, N. Serdobov, I. Sorokin, N. Tkachenko, V. Chernobaev, I. Shikunova, T. Shimko... 

Among the special achievements of the troupe are the productions of "The Snow Maiden" and "The Golden Cockerel" by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, "War and Peace" by S. Prokofiev, "Othello" and "Don Carlos" by G. Verdi, "Lohengrin" by R. Wagner, "The Tales of Hoffman" by J. Offenbach, "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky, "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Katherine Izmailova)" by D. Shostakovitch and others. The troupe of Belarussian Opera was the first in the former USSR to produce the operas "The Dreadful Homestead" by S. Moniushko, "Orestea" by S. Taneev, "Maddalena" by S. Prokofiev, and was one of the few companies to produce "Der Rosenkavalier" by R. Strauss.

The National Opera Theatre has always turned its attention to operas created by Belarussian composers: Nikolay Aladov, Anatoly Bogatyrev, Andrey Bondarenko, Genrich Vagner, Eugene Glebov, Sergei Kortes, Grigory Pukst, Yuri Semeniako, Dmitry Smolsky, Vladimir Soltan, Eugene Tikotsky, and Alexey Turenkov.

Today the National Academic Great Opera Theatre of the Republic of Belarus comprises the regular soloists' troupe of 57 singers, the choir (76 singers), the orchestra (over 150 musicians), the artistic company "Belarussian Capella", and the children's musical theatre-studio. The artists of the National Ballet Theatre participate in such opera productions as "Boris Godunov", "Prince Igor", "The Queen of Spades" and others. Most of the operas from the theatre’s repertoire are performed in the original language.

Since 1992 the Belarussian opera has been steadily going on tours abroad. It has been well received in Brazil, Germany, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Cyprus, China, Korea, Poland, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, and Thailand.