Theater, Ekaterinburg, Russland  

The Opera and Ballet House of Ekaterinburg is one of the oldest in Russia. It opened in 1912. Since that first night, the ballet troupe of the theater has always been praised as one of the best in Russia and the theatre itself has earned the title of "the best theater of the Asian part of Russia".

The ballets repertoire includes about 40 operas and ballets. Among them are Russian and European classics: Swan Lake, Cinderella, Nutcracker, Giselle, Romeo and Juliette. The theater has cultural relations with Italy, Germany, the US, UK, etc. Many famous guest artists perform here. On the boulevard just across from the Opera House stands a statue of Yakov Sverdlov, a prominent Bolshevik, an inspired orator, and at one point the assumed successor to Lenin. During the Soviet era, Ekaterinburg was named Sverdlovsk after him. Although in 1992 the city itself gained its historic name back, the region is still referred to as Sverdlovsk(aya) oblast. The railway station, for some reason, is still known as Sverdlovsk, not Ekaterinburg.