Rio de Janeiro Opera and Ballet Theater is one of the attractions of the city. It is located in Cinelandia in the center of the city. Its full name is Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro.

At the end of the 19th century it was decided to build a theater. At that time the city had two theaters: “Theatro St. Peter” and “Theatro Lyrico”. However, they were criticized for their facilities. In 1984 playwright Arthur Azevedo launched a campaign to build a new municipal theater which would have been in the style in “Comedie-Francaise”. The campaign resulted in a new municipal tax but the collected money was wasted.

At the beginning of the 20th century Mayor Pereira Passos launched a contest for the best theatrical building project. Seven projects had been presented by 1904. The projects of Brazilian Francisco de Oliveira Passos and French architect Albert Guilbert received equal number of the votes. The press blamed the city officials for favoritism and falsification of the results. Finally, the project of the Brazilian and the French was approved. The theater had a capacity of 1739.

The construction started on January 2, 1905 and lasted until July 1909. Famous sculptors Henrique Bernardelli, painters Rodolfo Amoedo and Eliseu Visconti worked on the decoration of the theater. European artisans worked on stained glasses and mosaic tiles. Nilo Pecanha, president of Brazil, opened the Municipal Theater in 1909. The theater was reconstructed in 1934 and it had a capacity of 2205. Later, the number of the spectators increased up to 2361.

The theater was reconstructed again in 1975-1978. In 2008 the theater was renovated for its centennial.

Statue of famous Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes stands next to the theater. He is considered as the founder of the Brazilian Opera. He was born in 1836 and his father was a conductor. Gomes studied at the Rio de Janeiro Conservatoire and then in Milan. In 1861 he founded “Brazilian National Opera”. In 1872-1880 Antonio lived in Italy and then returned to his homeland. Carlos Gomes is an author of famous Brazilian Opera “Guarany” which is based on the conquest of Brazil by the Portuguese. He also composed “The Night of the Castle”, “Joana de Flandres”, “Salvator Rosa”.

The Operas of Gomes were very popular at the beginning of the 20th century. His opera arias were sung by famous opera singers Caruso, Muzio and Chaliapin.

Lasha Tabagari, special correspondent of worldsport.ge from Rio de Janeiro