The elements of theatrical and musical arts have been known in Ukraine since olden times that is testified by the 11th-century fresco Musicians in the St. Sophia Cathedral. It presents the actors playing various musical instruments: organ, kettledrums, trumpets, etc. The 12th-century bracelets bear representations of a psaltery player. Well-known is a school drama of the 17th-18th centuries performed by the pupils of the Kyiv Brotherhood and Lavra schools, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. In the late 18th century there were performances in one of the wings of the Mariinsky Palace. Other premises, among them the Contract House in Podil, were also used for performances. Since that time and during the 19th century numerous serf and professional companies, including the Russian, Polish and Italian ones, had toured in Kyiv In the 19th century the professional Ukrainian theatre came into being.

In the early 19th century a building of the first City theatre was erected in Khreschatyk, and after its destruction, in 1856, a new theatre was built It was located on the site of the modern building of the Shevchenko National Opera of Ukraine in Volodymyrska Street At that time its stage was used for dramatic, ballet and opera performances The modern Neo-Renaissance building of the thea tre was erected in 1898-1901 by architect Nikolayevto the competition design of architect Schroeder on the site of the building which burned down in 1896 Sculptor Sala took part in its decora tion The new life of the theatre was begun with the performance of M Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar (Ivan Susanm), on September 15, 1901.

In the 1980s the theatre was overhauled and restored, its stage box height increased by five metres and a new three-storey auxiliary building added The contrivances applied to suit technical and techno logical requirements did not affect an architectural aspect of the building. More than one generation of opera and ballet performers, musicians, choreographers and artists famous far outside Ukraine mastered their art within the precincts of the theatre Among soloists of the company were coryphaei of Ukrainian art Donets, Donets-Tessen, Haidai, Hmyrya, Hryshko, Huhayev, Kamionsky, Lytvynenko-Wohlgemuth, Mykysha, Nizhinska, Patorzhynsky, Petrusenko, Solovyanenko, Voronets-Montvid, and others Prominent artists such as Barsova, Battistini, Chahapm, Karsavina, Kozlovsky, Kszesmska, Lemeshev, Nezhdanova, Ruffo, and Sobinov appeared on the theatre stage. Foreign masters of many countries of the world performed on tour here The names of contemporary opera and ballet soloists like Basistluk, Hnatjuk, Kalynovska, Miroshnychenko, Mokrenko, Potapova, Stefyuk, and Tsypola are well known far beyond the borders of Ukraine The best operas and ballets of the world classics, including Ukrainian, were performed on the stage of the theatre. Quite a number of talented productions were put on here.

The activities of Mykola Lysenko, the founder of classical Ukrainian music, made an epoch in the history of the Kyiv Opera House. He gave many concerts on its stage and his operas The Christmas Eve, The Drowned, Natalka Poltavka, Taras Bulba, and The Aeneid entered forever into the repertory of the national theatre In 1965 a monument to the composer was unveiled in Teatralna Square, near the National Opera (sculptor Kovahov, architect Hnezdylov).

The Ivan Franko National Ukrainian Theatre of Drama dates back to 1920. It came into being in Vinnytsia on the basis of the New Lviv Theatre and the famous Young Theatre of Les Kurbas. Since 1926 it has been working in Kyiv, on the stage of the Solovtsov theatre - the well-known theatrical company of the turn of the 20th century for which, in 1898, a special eclectic building was erected (architects G. Schleifer and E. Bradtman), an additional storey was built on in 1959-1960. The interiors of the hall and foyers are lavishly decorated with the stucco mouldings, architectural details in the Baroque and Rococo styles (architect Horodetsky).

Founded in the years of liberation contests, the theatre has travelled a difficult road of creative searches and nowadays it is one of the leading artistic companies of Ukraine. At different times here worked such outstanding masters as Buchma, Dalsky, Hashynsky, Krushelnytsky. They were successors to traditions of the coryphaei of Ukrainian realistic theatre of the late 19th - early 20th centuries The settings of the performances were designed by such famous scene designers as Drak, Erdman, Meller, the music was written by Dankevych, Meitus and Verykivsky. Its repertoire includes Ukrainian and foreign classical and modern plays, while I Franko's drama The Stolen Happiness, first performed in 1940, is al ways a tremendous success of the celebrated company In 19S6, in a garden near the theatre the monument was erected to the great writer, scholar and public figure whose name the theatre bears (sculptors Suprun, Bilos totsky, architect Ivanchenko).

In 1926 a new artistic collective was created on the basis of the former Solovtsov theatre - the Lesia Ukrainka National Russian Theatre of Drama. It works in the building erected in 1875 by architect Nikolayev for the circus Later there was the Bergonier theatre (named after its founder, the Frenchman Bergonier) Ukrainian companies of M Kropyvnytsky, M Sta-rytsky, Solovtsov's Russian theatre, the Young Theatre and the Berezil per formed on its stage. The theatre was founded by Bolduman, Dobrzhanskaya, Draha-Sumarokova, and Svetlovidov. A number of the theatre's productions have been notable events in the theatrical life of the capital of Ukraine These are productions of plays by Chekhov, Gogol, Maxim Gorky, Ostrovsky, Pushkin, Tolstoi, Turgenev, Lesia Ukrainka, modern playwrights. Chief director Khokhlov, a disciple of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko, played the leading part in the formation of the theatre.

The Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, founded in 1913, is an outstanding centre of musical culture. Since 1956 it has been housed in the former Continental Hotel (Horodetskoho Street) built in 1895-1897 after the design by architects Bradtman, Horodetsky, Schleifer. In 1955-1958 from the side of Khreschatyk Street an opera studio with a concert hall, decorated with a colonnade, was added to the building. Here are held concerts of classical and modern music, popular with Kyivites. They are given by students and lecturers of the conservatory, which has symphony, folk instruments, and chamber music orchestras, the choir, and the opera studio.

The National Philharmonic of Ukraine, has one of the country's finest concert halls with wonderful acoustics. Since 1923 it is housed in the building of the former Merchants Assembly in Yevropeiska Square, built in 1882 by Nikolayev in the Renaissance style. The Philharmonic has the symphony and chamber orchestras, and Veseli Muzyky, Dyvohrai, Ridni Naspivy, Teren and other popular groups.

Concert programs, as in the kaleidoscope, change one another in the Ukraina National Palace, the biggest in the country The building with the hall seating 3,780 and the stage accommodating 1,500 performers was constructed in 1970. Thanks to the state-of-the-art equipment and design it boasts favourable conditions for recreation. Not only famous variety actors and actresses give their performances in the palace, but also illustrious national companies.

The capital boasts a large variety of theatres to choose of. Every evening open their doors the Musical Comedy Theatre, Young Theatre, Theatre of Drama and Comedy on the left bank of the Dnipro, Theatre in Podil, the Koleso Theatre-Cafe, the Suzirya Theatre, the MazI-tov Jewish Theatre, various experimental studios. The Young Spectators' Theatre in Lypky, Children's Musical Theatre, Puppet Theatre, and the Circus have their own admirers An ample opportunity to satisfy any refined taste is provided by the International Centre of Culture and Arts and the Ukrainian House, each offering a rich repertoire of concerts and shows.