The Lviv National Opera is one of the most beautiful opera houses in Europe with a rich history across ages and cultures. Built in 1900 by an acclaimed Polish architect Zygmunt Gorgolewski, it is rightly considered an architectural gem and a popular tourist attraction in Lviv. In 2000, in honor of its centennial celebration, the theater was named after the famous Ukrainian soprano Solomiya Krushelnytska.

The mission of the theater is to promote Ukrainian opera art on the global stage and to strengthen international ties through cross-cultural cooperation. Our vision is to stage opera and ballet productions of the highest quality and in the spirit of the most contemporary world trends, involving leading directors, stage designers, and producers.

The Lviv National Opera was the first opera house that resumed operations during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We opened the doors to our viewers as early as April 1 to fulfill the primary task of art—to heal souls. We adapted the work of the theater to the requirements of wartime: we purchased metal detectors and set a limit on the sale of tickets according to the number of seats in the bomb shelter. While our production shops made clothing and equipment for servicepeople and territorial defense fighters, our performers prepared concerts to support soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and people forced to leave their homes. We do not like the cold label “internally displaced persons” because they are, first and foremost, ruined destinies and crippled lives.

In November 2022, Lviv Opera presented a world premiere of The Terrible Revenge, an opera by Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych based on a story by Mykola Gogol. In times of war, in which we are fighting for our identity, language, and culture, it is vital for us to popularize the work of Ukrainian artists of different generations, and to return them to the European context after many years of attempts by the Russian imperial and then the Soviet authorities to destroy or appropriate them. In December 2022, Lviv National Opera presents a ballet premiere dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Hryhorii Skovoroda, a prominent Ukrainian 18th-century thinker. The contemporary ballet Know Yourself is directed by the Opera’s artistic director Vasyl Vovkun. 

Know Yourself, modern ballet

Idea, libretto, and staging: Vasyl Vovkun; music: Dmytro Danov; chief choreographer: Vadym Prokopenko

Premiere—9 December 2022, Lviv

A ballet premiere for the 300th anniversary of the philosopher Hryhorii Skovoroda. The performance combines contemporary choreography, choral singing, and acrobatic art. Synthesis of electronic music and original video projection gives a new resonance to Skovoroda’s ideas.

opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/piznaj-sebe/ 

The Terrible Revenge, opera by Yevhen Stankovych 

Premiere—25 November 2022, Lviv

The world premiere on the stage of the Lviv National Opera timed to the 80th anniversary of the contemporary Ukrainian composer Yevhen Stankovych. A mystical story about a terrible retribution for terrible crimes, which reflects the events of today.

German director Andreas Weirich and set designer Anna Schöttl offer a personal interpretation of Mykola Gogol’s plot as a biblical story of Cain and Abel. The guest conductor is a well-known interpreter of Stankovych’s music, Volodymyr Sirenko.

opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/prem-yera-strashna-pomsta/ 

facebook.com/lvivoperaofficial/videos/648677733584114 

Fox Mykyta, opera by Ivan Nebesnyi

Premiere—December 2020, Lviv

The opera was commissioned by the Lviv National Opera. The libretto was written by the Opera’s artistic director Vasyl Vovkun and is based on a popular fairytale Fox Mykyta by Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko.

opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/prem-yera-lys-mykyta/ 

When the Fern Blooms, féerie by Yevhen Stankovych

Premiere—December 2017, Lviv

The performance combines instrumental and choral music, folk traditions, contemporary choreography, and stage design with video projection. Banned by the Soviet authorities at the time of its creation, this seminal work by Stankovych survived decades of oblivion.

opera.lviv.ua/en/shows/koly-tsvite-paporot/