Alisher Navoi Theatre

The State Academic Bolshoi Theatre named after Alisher Navoi is Uzbekistan's leading stage for opera and ballet, and one of the finest buildings of the Stalin era in Central Asia. It was designed by Alexey Shchusev, the architect of Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow, and built between 1942 and 1947, opening in November 1947. Construction stopped and started through the war years, and the final stage of work was carried out in part by Japanese prisoners of war. A plaque on the building, installed in 1996, remembers them.

From the outside the theatre is a disciplined composition of arcades and a tall stage block in pale brick and stone, set behind a broad square with a fountain. The surprises are inside. Shchusev invited master craftsmen from across Uzbekistan to decorate the interiors, and the side foyers are each dedicated to a region, among them Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khorezm, Fergana and Termez. Each has its own carved ganch, painted wood and ornament in the local manner, so a walk through the foyers in the interval is a short course in Uzbek decorative styles.

The hall and the repertoire

The auditorium seats around 1,400 under a richly decorated ceiling, in a parterre and two tiers. The repertoire mixes the European classics, from Verdi and Puccini to Tchaikovsky's ballets, with Uzbek operas and ballets, often on themes from the poetry of Alisher Navoi himself. The theatre was extensively restored in the early 2010s, and the hall, the chandeliers and the foyers are in excellent condition.

Going to a performance

Seeing a performance is the only reliable way to see the interior, and tickets are inexpensive by European standards. The programme is published a few weeks ahead on the theatre's website and posters; evening performances usually start at about 18:00, and the season generally runs from autumn to late spring, with a summer break. Smart casual dress is the norm. The theatre stands in the centre, a short walk from Amir Timur Square and from Kosmonavtlar and Mustaqillik Maydoni metro stations. Even without a ticket, the square in front is a pleasant evening stop, with the fountain lit after dark.