Buriat Opera

(full name, Buriat Order of Lenin Theater of Opera and Ballet), the musical theater of the Buriat ASSR.

The Buriat Opera was created in 1948 in Ulan-Ude from a musical and drama theater. The folk operas it has produced include Knipper’s On Lake Baikal (1948), Riauzov’s Medegmasha (1949; second version, The Foothills of the Saian, 1953), Aiusheev’s Sworn Brothers (1958) and Brothers (1961), and Iampilov’s Insight (1967). The ballets include Light Above the Valley by Riauzov (1956; the first Buriat ballet), Angara the Beauty by Iampoliv and Knipper (1959), and Flowers of Life (1962) and Geser (1967) by Batuev. Operas and ballets by Russian, Soviet, and foreign composers have also been produced.

The company in 1968 included the following singers: People’s Artist of the USSR L. L. Linkhovoin, People’s Artist of the RSFSR B. M. Baldakov, A. A. Arsalanov, and N. K. Petrova. Among leading dancers were People’s Artist of the USSR L. P. Sakh’ianova and People’s Artist of the RSFSR P. T. Abasheev. The principal director was People’s Artist of the USSR G. Ts. Tsydynzhapov; the conductor, Honored Art Worker of the Buriat ASSR M. L. Baldaev; and the set designer, People’s Artist of the RSFSR A. I. Timin.