Construction of the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre building was almost finished by the beginning of war, it was going to open in August 1941. However the war assigned a different mission to the theatre, the one of the keeper for the cultural heritage. The theatre building housed treasures from the museums of Moscow, Leningrad and other places based in European part of the USSR. Items of the Tretyakov gallery and the Ethnography Museum were exhibited on the theatre premises. Starting from November 1942 the auditorium was used to host formal meetings and concerts featuring local artists and evacuated ensembles.
In autumn 1942, the hardest times for the country, when the battle of Stalingrad was thickening, the government made a decision to include the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre in the list of top priority construction projects. That was a tough call to answer during these devastating times, to continue developing culture in the rear of a country engaged in war.
In October they started hiring maintenance staff and management of the opera and ballet theatre. At that time the stage was still under construction and separated from the auditorium with a heavy safety curtain. The orchestra pit was covered with special flooring, which was used as a concert venue.
On June 22nd the Executive Committee of the City decided to hand over the responsibility for the final construction to the theatre’s management. When the intensive construction works started, the theatre desperately needed critical material. Despite that the rail line was busy with military shipments, theatrical equipment was brought to Novosibirsk from Moscow.
The construction project lacked skilled workers. Many former construction workers were out at the battle fronts fighting the Great Patriotic War. A lot of them never returned… The theatre needed architects. B. A. Gordeev died of tuberculosis in May 1943. Another architect B. I. Dmitriev fought at the battle front. Even on the frontline he never took his mind off the project and kept writing letters with instructions for the construction. B. I. Dmitriev died in July 1944 and never managed to contemplate the majestic results of his effort.
The construction was also supported by various Novosibirsk enterprises and relocated factories. Specialists with the Novosibirsk Aircraft Plant named after Chkalov worked on machinery for drop curtains, while the construction shop helped with the stage equipment.
In November 1943 the Executive Committee of Novosibirsk made a decision “to compel the theatre management to accomplish the first phase of the building by January 1st 1944 including all finishing work”. In early February 1944 the government committee signed the operational acceptance certificate of the theatre’s first phase. In October 1944 a decree was issued ordering a re-evacuation of museum valuables. The unique items went back to Moscow and Leningrad.
9th April 1944 A. N. Kosygin, Chairman of Sovnarkom (the Council of People's Commissars of RSFSR) signed an order to allocate one million rubles to the Novosibirsk theatre from Sovnarkom’s emergency funds.
The inauguration was scheduled on spring 1945.
The repertoire for the first season was compiled in October 1944, it included Glinka’s Ivan Susanin, Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s La Traviata. The date of the first performance was set. Everyone was preparing for this day, printing the event posters and invitation. 12th May 1945 the Novosibirsk opera and ballet theatre opened with Glinka’s Ivan Susanin opera.
