Tbilisi State Opera and Ballet Theatre will reopen January 30, after several years of restoration. The renovation of the building began in 2010 with the financial support of the Georgian billionaire and former Prime Minister of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili. The foundation was reinforced, the roof was closed with copper sheets, the stage technique has been brought to the latest standards and the orchestra pit has been enlarged.
The first opera to be shown after the renovation is Abesalom da Eteri by the Georgian composer Zakaria Paliashvili, premiered in the same house in 1919.
Georgian State Opera, Georgia’s largest musical theatre, was founded in 1851. However, in 1874, a fire completely destroyed the opera house. The theatre reopened only in 1896 in a new building. In 1937 the theatre was named after the Georgian composer Zakaria Paliashvili.
