Even though Bolshoi Theater opened after restoration several years ago, it is difficult to get there for many reasons, including the high cost of tickets. However, there is a way out! Excursions are organized at the Bolshoi Theater, so that everyone can certain days can visit the historical scene and tour the building. This is my review today.
Official excursions to the Bolshoi Theater are held regularly, three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday), they begin exactly at 12-10 o'clock, and tickets for the excursion can only be purchased at the theater box office and only on the day of the excursion (the box office opens at 12 -00 and is located in the 12th entrance). Live queue. The whole problem is that they recruit only one Russian-speaking group of 20 people.
There is another option to get into the historical building - to join a tour organized by travel agency, but the price difference is significant. An official excursion from the Bolshoi Theater costs 500 rubles; an excursion as part of a tourist group from an agency will cost you at least 1,500 rubles. As they say, if you can't see the difference, why pay more?
On Wednesday we got up early and went to the Bolshoi Theater building, which is located at Teatralnaya Square, 1. It’s more convenient to exit from the Teatralnaya Metro Station, because this way you won’t have to cross the road.
We were at the theater at 11-15, but there were already crowds of people at the entrance we needed (tickets for excursions are sold at the box office, entrance 12). We counted the heads of those present - we were 18th. That is, there was a chance to go on an excursion. By the way, by 12 o’clock there was a very long tail behind us, about 20 more people. People did not believe that there would be only one group. Overall, if you arrive exactly at 12, you will be wasting your time.
So, the time was approaching 12 and we did not lose hope of getting inside. Meanwhile, “girlfriends” began to approach everyone who was standing in line. So we were already 30th in line... Hope was fading before our eyes.
To our joy, at 12 o’clock the door opened, a guard came out with a machine gun and asked the line to be divided into two parts, foreigners and Russians (the excursion for foreigners costs 1,300 rubles). As it turned out, there were a lot of foreigners in front of us. So for our part, we managed to get on the list of lucky ones.
At the entrance, the guard counted out exactly 20 people from the Russian queue. And he never missed a single person. Literally behind us the heavy door closed and the screams of the angry crowd, those who were not caught, were not heard.
Joyful, we purchased tickets for the excursion and went down to the cloakroom. True, we had to go through metal detectors and show the contents of our bags.
The guide appeared and began the Tour.
So, a few words about the theater itself. Let's fast forward to the street.
It is generally accepted that the founding date of the theater is March 28, 1776, when one of the first performances was performed in the house of Prince Vorontsov on Znamenka. And already in 1780, the theater settled in its current location, where a building was built for it. Theater Square was then called Petrovskaya, and the theater itself was called Petrovsky. In 1805, the theater burns (as will happen many times later, candles, you understand). According to the design of O.V. Bove and A.A. Mikhailov, a new building was built in 1821-1824, a monument to the Russian XIX classicism, which we can still admire today. In 1853, there was a fire again and the entire theater burned down, except for the beautiful walls.
Just 3 years later it was restored again by architect A.K. Kavos. The building was restored in 13 months, it was necessary to be in time for the coronation Alexandra III. The volume of the building was preserved; the quadriga, controlled by Apollo (works by Klodt), once again rose above the central portico.
The last reconstruction of the theater began in 2005 and lasted 6 long years; the underground space of the theater was significantly expanded, the foyer and auditorium were restored.
With this I will finish my short excursion into history and return to the tour.
First of all, we went to see the newly created underground space of the Bolshoi Theater. To do this, we loaded into a large glass elevator and descended to the minus first floor.
It should be noted that it goes 27 meters underground. Underground there is a new transforming hall - the Beethoven Hall. The guide told us that geographically we were no longer in the theater building, but somewhere under the theater square, between the theater and the Vitali fountain.
The Beethoven Hall is a super-technological hall where the walls fold like an accordion, and the stage itself can rise and fall 6 meters down. The walls of this hall are reinforced concrete, so the acoustics are not very good. But rehearsals and conferences are regularly held here. By the way, it should be noted that there are no difficulties with purchasing tickets for a concert in the Beethoven Hall - see the official website of the Bolshoi.
Unfortunately, I do not have photographs of this hall, since there was a rehearsal there, and the guide forbade us to take pictures.
One of the halls, near the elevator.
There is a very beautiful chandelier in this hall.
After visiting the Beethoven Hall, we went to see the Historical Stage - in fact, why many came on the tour.
Here our group was very unlucky; the lights in the hall were turned off, so we were not able to see all the luxury of the Historical Hall.
On the stage, the preparation of the scenery for the new performance was in full swing.
The guide, almost in a whisper, told us about how and where the scenery is stored, about where it is better to sit in the hall (you need to focus on the royal box in the center - it’s best to see there, and choose the first rows of balconies).
By the way, there are wooden chairs in the hall, and soft armchairs in the boxes.
What I found very interesting was that the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theater was made according to the principle musical instrument, for example, Guitars. The auditorium is entirely wooden, made from a special type of pine.
The ceiling is the soundboard, the stage is the hole for the sound to escape, and the hall is actually the very bend of the ringing guitar. That’s why the sound reaches the audience so alive and full.
In the darkness we tried to make out the stucco moldings and golden ornaments that decorated the hall. It turned out that it was papier-mâché covered with gold leaf. Despite the fact that the entire hall appears to be gold, only 8 kg of gold was used for decoration. 800 restorers worked over 3 years to restore the gilding.
One of the tourists asked to turn on the lights - but of course they didn’t do it, they told us: “This is not a museum, the theater lives its own life, and you are guests here.” Eh, it’s a pity, I can imagine how beautiful it is here when the lights are on.
After sitting on the first row for a while, we went to the 6th tier to examine the hall from above.
The cheapest seats are located on the sixth tier. I was surprised that there are standing places here, like on a bus. We were told they were for students. It is very difficult to see anything from the side, so only half of the stage will be visible. The side is very low, I even felt a little scared from the height that opens from above.
But from here you can take a closer look at the luxurious Bolshoi chandelier, which appeared here in 1870. The height of the chandelier is 7 meters, diameter is 6. It weighs about 2 tons.
Impressively beautiful!
The most impressive is the White Spectator Foyer. The guide told us that before the restoration the walls of this hall were white. However, restorers noticed that beautiful paintings were hidden under the paint, so the ceiling painting was restored using the grisaille technique using the surviving drawings and drawings.
From the spectator foyer there are also main halls to the right and left.
First we looked around the red small and large imperial foyers. These rooms were decorated in French style for Emperor Nicholas II. The small foyer is known for its acoustics, where you can even speak in a whisper.
The large foyer attracts special attention unique wall panels. Therefore, a special temperature regime is established here. Some panels depict double headed eagle, and on others - a sign from the first letters of the names of Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. In the 20th century, concerts and sometimes party congresses were held here.
On the other side of the beautiful foyer with stairs there is also a hall where exhibitions are located. During our visit there were stands dedicated to the ballet Ruslan and Lyudmila.
Several costumes from the performances were displayed in the center of the hall.
The windows in this room are very beautifully decorated.
At the end of the excursion, we went down to the Bolshoi Theater souvenir shop, where we could buy books about the theater and, of course, memorable souvenirs. So the simplest mug with a logo will cost 1.5 thousand rubles, a porcelain pair - 2.5 thousand rubles. And beautiful figurines with ballerinas cost 30 thousand rubles.
Overall, I liked the tour of the Bolshoi Theater. When else can you photograph the halls of the Bolshoi Theater without guests?
There are also disadvantages - an hour of waiting in line in the cold, nerves about whether you will get inside. In addition, the excursion lasted only 1 hour, we literally ran through all the halls. People didn't even have time to take a few photos.
Passwords and appearances
Address: Moscow, Teatralnaya metro station (Okhotny Ryad metro station, Revolution Square), Teatralnaya Square, no. 1
Hours: Mon, Wed, Fri at 12-10. There are only two excursions per day: one in Russian (20 people) and one in English.
Tickets can be purchased at the Bolshoi Theater box office on the day of the tour (entrance 12), the box office opens at 12-00.
Tour cost (in Russian): 500 rubles, 1300 rubles (in English).
Discount tickets - 250 rubles (schoolchildren, students, WWII veterans and others). Children under 14 years of age are not allowed to participate in the excursion.
Details at official website Bolshoi Theater
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(SABT), or simply the Bolshoi Theater, as it is usually called, is one greatest monuments in the history of Russia and the whole world. The reason to visit this wonderful cultural museum can be not only the performance of an opera or ballet in the main hall, but also its other concert events. Currently, the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow houses three operating concert venues: the main historical stage, the new stage and the Beethoven Hall. A visit to the latter can also be the main reason for a visit to As there is no more interesting and beautiful place in Russia, which would be dedicated to the brilliant German classical composer. Beethoven Hall art at its best has a long and complicated history.
Through the milestones of history
Initially, the place where the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater is located did not have its own name, and the Imperial Foyer, which served as the entrance to it, bore this name. The room was built at the beginning of the twentieth century and was originally intended for a certain circle of people, most often for royal family and her associates. The decorative hall has been restored and reconstructed in every possible way over the course of 80 years. In 2002, it was officially decided to return the original name and call the concert performance hall Beethoven's. The interior of the room was made in the best traditions of the Old Italian school from the time of Louis XV. In 1965, a memorial bust of Ludwig van Beethoven was installed inside where the entrance to the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater is located. In general, the hall received the name of the master not by chance, and not only due to its unique acoustics. The music of the German maestro was valued like no other, because it was believed that it contained exceptional communist ideas.
Design and site features
Construction of a concert and rehearsal hall named after the great German genius XIX century, has a very complex and multi-level structure. Its design today is made according to last word engineering technology. The hall is equipped with a technological system that is used on ocean liners. The room itself is located on three levels: on the main one, which is the stage, and on two side ones, which are most often used as a spectator area. The levels of the Beethoven Hall have special mechanical equipment that can change the distance between them. The rearrangement in the hall is controlled using a special stationary remote control. Lowering or raising the room levels is necessary for listening to opera performances with an orchestra, choir and soloists without using main stage; for holding various events in the Imperial Foyer using the space to accommodate spectators or for performing music with the participation of chamber ensembles. Engineering innovations can unite the place where the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater is located with general structure Imperial Foyer and turn it into a monolithic concert venue.
How to find the Beethoven Hall
The Beethoven Hall at the Bolshoi is located on the minus first floor of the main building of the Bolshoi Theater at the address: Theater Square, building 1. You can get to the square where the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater is located either by personal transport, or by bus and metro train. It will be very convenient to drive along Petrovskaya Street by car, and then you can literally arrive at the main entrance of the building. On public transport you need to get to the Teatralnaya station, located on right side from the theater, or “Kuznetsky Most”. Which is north of the Bolshoi Theater. To theater square You can walk from the station. The journey usually takes no more than 10 minutes. The main building has three entrances: the central one and along the facades. When entering inside you need to go down the main staircase on the minus first floor. You can get into the hall itself directly through the Imperial Foyer. There are also location signs and service personnel, ready to give advice or guide people experiencing difficulties.
Symphonies of the maestro and more
After a grandiose restoration and renovation, the Beethoven Hall of the Bolshoi Theater has become a performance center for domestic and foreign artists of world renown. Vera Dulova, a famous Soviet harpist, has already appeared on stage as soloists; Egon Petri is an outstanding classical pianist and teacher; Svyatoslav Knushevitsky - Soviet cellist, Honored Artist of the RSFSR; Nadezhda Obukhova - famous Soviet opera singer the beginning of the twentieth century, and many other brilliant instrumentalists, opera singers and artists of the world. Serving as a rehearsal base for opera companies, The Beethoven Hall often becomes the venue for the world's most famous operas. Today, all operas that include mass choral scenes go through a preliminary audition stage in a small hall. The site of the Bolshoi Theater's Beethoven Hall has also often hosted full-scale symphony performances.
How many times have I run past Bolshoi Theater, honoring him with a fleeting glance: “On the spot? - On the spot" and ran on. And it never occurred to me that the Bolshoi Theater is a kind of “state within a state,” that it is a special world with its own laws, traditions, and hierarchy.
And then the door to this world unexpectedly opened... entrance No. 12, where the theater box office is located, and our wonderful group of bloggers gathered, led by a guide from the Bolshoi Theater Museum.
It will be difficult for me to convey in words all the splendor that appeared before our eyes... Undoubtedly, the Bolshoi Theater is one of the most beautiful theaters peace! The grandiose, recently completed renovation allowed us to see it in all its truly imperial splendor!
Just imagine that below the theater there are 6 more underground floors; that the Beethoven Hall, where they take place music concerts, built on the principle of a “folding cup”, you just need to press the magic button and the stage, along with the rows, begins to rise and fold to a flat floor, and then
the concert hall turns into a banquet hall; that under the very roof there is a brand new rehearsal hall with a sloping stage lined with rectangles and a luxurious hall made of dark wood, where the artists rest while waiting for their part and where there is no access for outsiders.
The Bolshoi Theater is magnificent without further ado!
I'm in and 
The last thing I want is to rewrite Wikipedia - let's just silently admire!
But it’s still very brief. About the Bolshoi Theater.
The first name of the theater is Moscow Public Theater (1776).
Second - Petrovsky Theater (1780).
Third - Imperial Theater (1805).
In 1824 it was rebuilt by the architect Osip Bove.
The theater acquired its approximate current appearance in 1856 and owes it to the architect Albert Kavos.
Peter Klodt installed on the pediment the famous quadriga (four) of horses with the god of arts Apollo.
In the 20s, the Bolshoi Theater was named by V.I. Lenin “a piece of purely landowner culture” and was on the verge of closing.
In 1983, the theater received several nearby buildings.
In 2002, the New Stage was opened.
Theater Square. Bolshoi Theater 
We were very lucky with our guide. Larisa is intelligent, graceful, with excellent presentation of information about the history of the theater 
From the entrance lobby, we go down the stairs into the marble hall (souvenir shop, small wardrobe, toilet rooms), and from there again down the escalator and find ourselves in Beethoven Concert and Rehearsal Hall, the same “folding cup”.
When the orchestra is rehearsing, photography is strictly prohibited.
Therefore, there is only one photo, but it also gives a complete idea of the beauty of this technologically advanced and modern concert hall(noise-proof moving walls, and yes, glass partitions, rows of chairs, the stage itself, everything disappears, rises/falls/levels). 
Here is a cross-sectional diagram of the Bolshoi Theater.
Find the number 5 - this is the Beethoven Hall! That is, approximately it is located under the fountain on Theater Square!
(c) Illustration by iCube studio 
And now, with bated breath, we enter the auditorium! 
Are you blinded by the glitter of gold?
It turns out there is one little trick, the so-called. optical illusion. In fact, not the entire surface is gilded, but only decorative protruding parts.
The white background is clearly visible in this photo. 
And that’s almost all there is to it) The Royal Box is magnificent! 
And here too there is a trick. Atlas is not marble, as it might seem, but made of papier-mâché. 
Now I would like to translate the admiringly emotional conversation into a practical direction, and discuss such important for theatergoers - convenient and inconvenient places in auditorium. Thank God, in my time I was at the Bolshoi many times, at least ten, for sure. I watched the opera and the ballet, sat in the stalls, on all the balconies and tiers, in the gallery, and once I actually had a place “behind the column.”
So let's see what it is stalls
Chairs! The floor is sloping, so one row is slightly higher than the other. 
The color of the velvet upholstery is raspberry-scarlet. Very beautiful 
There is something like a ventilation cover built under each chair. Previously, in my opinion, this did not exist, it appeared after the renovation. Very convenient 
But still we must admit that on the ground it is not the best best review scenes.
Look at these beautiful scarlet soft chairs. Amphitheater! It is located next to the stalls, under the royal box. Excellent review! 
Look how you can see from here! The whole scene is at your fingertips! 
Now let's look at the boxes.
The first tier is benoir boxes. 
This is what you can see from the benoir boxes. Very good.
But in the boxes it’s like that - the first row is the best. The second - and the heads are already in front of you. At the Bolshoi, instead of third-row chairs, they now use high stools similar to bar stools. They are much cheaper and look great.
*Anya atlanta_s
she corrected me (and she is a ballerina of the Bolshoi Theater!) - high chairs in boxes 10-14, indeed, give good review, but in boxes 1-3 less than 50% of the stage is visible! Knowing such essential nuances will help you choose really good tickets. 
Take a closer look - do you see chairs with high legs? If they offer tickets for them, take them without hesitation! 
Mezzanine boxes are located at the level of the Royal Box.
Therefore, the review from here is definitely the best.
Do you see the lower box on the right side of the stage? It is intended for artists who celebrate their anniversaries in the theater, from here greeting the audience, accepting bouquets and basking in applause.
Above it is the Guest Box for VIPs. 
Wait, wait, admire the chandelier! We will admire and consider it in detail below. And now - fix your gaze on the gallery. Do you see the gilded metal fencing? This is an innovation at the Bolshoi - standing room. These are quite inexpensive - 200-300 rubles. Sold with student ID. A similar experience has been practiced in European theaters for a long time, and now, finally, it has reached us.
But! Still... I'm a snob dear comrades. And I don’t understand why you need to stand on your feet for two or three hours and see a piece of the stage... If you just go in and admire the theater, look a little and... leave.
View from the balcony of the 4th tier 
Well, now wow.
And a delighted exhale! 
The weight of the steel frame with brass elements is about 1860 kg. Together with crystal elements - about 2.3 tons. Diameter - 6.5 meters, height - 8.5 meters.
By the way, upper part the curtain is called "portal harlequin", and it is decorated with Russian heraldic symbols. 
If you raise your head, then on the theater ceiling you will see Apollo playing the golden cithara and 9 muses: Calliope with a flute(muse of poetry), Euterpe with a book and flute(muse of lyrics), Erato with lyre(muse of love songs), Melpomene with a sword(muse of tragedy), Waist with mask(muse of comedy) Terpsichore with a tambourine(muse of dancing), Clio with papyrus(muse of history), Urania with globe(muse of astronomy). And instead of the ninth muse of the sacred hymns of Polyhymnia, the artists depicted the “self-proclaimed” muse of painting with a palette and brush. 
Now we take the elevator up even higher! 
And then we climb several more flights of steps.
Just think we're out of breath and our knees hurt, but now we're in Bolshoi rehearsal hall(in the photo of the section of the Bolshoi Theater, find No. 4)!
And we were wildly lucky, the rehearsal just ended, and we can film a little. 
The rectangles on the stage show the location of the scenery.
The stage has a visually visible slope of three degrees - this is customary in the Russian ballet tradition. 
But let's not interfere.
Enjoy it and that's enough.
We go down again and go to White foyer, which is located above the entrance to the theater.
The interior of 1856 has been restored here - painting using the grisaille technique (made in different shades of the same color, which creates the impression of convex stucco images), large mirrors increasing the visual volume of the room, three crystal chandeliers.