Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater is the first theater in Odessa and New Russia in terms of time of construction, significance and fame. The first building was opened in 1810 and burned down in 1873. The modern building was built in 1887 by the architects Felner and Gelmer in the Viennese Baroque style. The architecture of the auditorium is designed in the late French Rococo style. The unique acoustics of the horseshoe-shaped hall allows you to convey even a whisper from the stage to any corner of the hall. The complete restoration of the theater building was completed in 2007.
Odessa received the right to build a theater in 1804, and in 1809 it was already erected. The author of this project was the famous French architect Thomas de Thomon, the author of a number of buildings in St. Petersburg. It was this building that A. S. Pushkin visited during his stay in Odessa in 1823-24. On February 10, 1810, the grand opening took place. The first performance was Fröhlich's one-act opera The New Family and the vaudeville The Comforted Widow by the Russian troupe P. Fortunatov.
The building was located somewhat higher than the modern theater, closer to the Palais Royal, and was perceived as a monument to the young city. The architecture of the building was designed in the classical style, with a portico of the Corinthian order and a pediment facing the building of the then English club (now the Museum of the Ukrainian Navy). The theater accommodated 800 spectators, following the example of the old Italian theaters, 17 boxes were located on three tiers, there were only 44 seats in the stalls. Another 700 spectators watched the performances standing in the stalls.

To correct the shortcomings of the theater building, repeated reconstructions were carried out: in 1820-1822, 1831-1833, 1836, 1857 and 1872. As a result of these reconstructions, a stone wall appeared along the axis of the columns, which made it possible to increase the space of the foyer. On the side of Richelieu Street, a one-story stone vestibule was added. Work on the last alteration of the building ended on December 31, 1872, and on the night of January 2, 1873, the theater completely burned down due to the ignition of a gas burner that illuminated the clock at night.
Almost eleven years passed from the moment of the fire to the laying of the first stone in the foundation of the new theater building. The work was carried out in a contract way from local building materials (mainly the popular Odessa limestone - shell rock). The new theater opened on October 1, 1887.

In March 1925, a fire broke out, as a result of which the stage was completely burned down and the hall was damaged. In a short time the theater was restored, and a year later resumed performances. The stage received new technical equipment, two reinforced concrete curtains were installed, cutting off the stage from the auditorium and service premises if necessary.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Nazis planned to blow up the theater building during the retreat, but fortunately this did not happen. As the inscription on the memorial plaque testifies, it was on the balcony of the theater on April 10, 1944 that the banner of the liberation of the city of Odessa from the Nazi invaders was raised.

In 1926 the theater was awarded the title of "Academic". On August 31, 2007, by decree of the President of Ukraine No. 807/2007, the Odessa Academic Opera and Ballet Theater was given the status of "National".
The Odessa Opera House is famous primarily for its architecture, and in terms of its layout and technical data it is not inferior to the best in Europe. The theater building at one time was considered one of the best in the world and remains the main attraction of the city. In plan, it consists of a horseshoe-shaped auditorium with galleries surrounding it, a foyer and a rectangular stage part with utility rooms. Along the longitudinal axis of the building there is a two-tier portal of the main entrance with a high attic, along the transverse axis there are three-arcade galleries of side entrances. The layout is radial - from the center along the radii in different directions, passages leading to the exit are laid. Stairs leading directly to the theater exit also have tiers. The building is covered with a system of metal trusses, zinc coating. The covering of the auditorium resembles the surface of a part of an ellipsoid, cut off by planes along the horizontal and vertical axes of symmetry; it is crowned with a round lantern with a dome, completed with a low spire.
The theater building is made in the Viennese "baroque" style, which was the main one in European art from the end of the 16th century to the middle of the 18th century. Outside, the building structurally consists of three floors (this is shown schematically in the figure on the right). The first (basement) and second floors, modestly decorated only with Tuscan columns in the loggias, form one whole and look heavy and fundamental, giving the building a static appearance, stability “for centuries”. The third floor is lighter, openwork, with refined processing of details with arched loggias, columns and pilasters of the Ionic order - hides the heaviness of the lower floors and creates the illusion of airiness. Additional effects are made by an elegant portico and a domed roof. As a result, the building seems to “float” above the ground. Above the facade rises a sculptural group depicting one of the muses - the patroness of art Melpomene. She sits in a chariot drawn by four furious panthers, who are subdued by her. Slightly lower are sculptural groups, also depicting scenes from ancient mythology. On the left - Orpheus plays a cithara for a centaur; on the right - Terpsichore (Melpomene's sister and muse of dance) dances with a girl.
Several dates are indicated in Roman numerals on the pediment of the portico:
• the first line - the dates of the beginning and end of the construction of the theater (1884-1887);
• the second line is the phrase “the theater was on fire”, referring to the fire of 1925; then the year 1967 and the word "reconstruction", referring to the restoration of the theater in that year.

Below, near the central entrance, on high pedestals, there are two sculptural groups representing Comedy and Tragedy: on the left is a fragment of Euripides' tragedy Hippolytus, on the right is an episode from Aristophanes' comedy The Birds. Along the pediment of the building, in the round niches of the upper floor, there are busts of brilliant creators of Russian literature and music: Pushkin, Glinka, Griboyedov, Gogol. F. Netali and F. Friedl worked on the sculptures, L. Strictius under the direction of F. Etel made stucco work.
The interior of the theater is festive and elegant. The architecture of the auditorium, designed for 1664 seats, is designed in the style of the late French "rococo". It is luxuriously decorated with various stucco ornaments with fine gilding. The ceiling plafond is decorated with four paintings by the artist Lefler in the form of medallions. They depict scenes from Shakespeare's works: Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Winter's Tale and As You Like It. In the center of the ceiling is a large crystal chandelier. There is a wide variety of stucco decorations in the hall (the stucco molding in tiers, side vestibules and along the stairs leading to the lodges is done with special grace), lamps, candelabra and ornaments of bronze furniture inlays. The central curtain was made according to the sketch of the famous theater artist Alexander Golovin.
In the autumn of 2007, a lengthy restoration was completed, during which the foundation was strengthened (with the help of 1800 piles), a comprehensive modernization of the technical systems of the theater was carried out (the most modern air conditioning, fire alarm and power supply systems, internal mobile communications, security, video surveillance were installed), a complete restoration of the facade and interior (approximately 7.5 kg of gold leaf was used to decorate the theater), a new curtain was installed. Also, the theater square was reconstructed and landscaped, green spaces were restored. After restoration, the theater was inaugurated on September 22, 2007.

The cost of reconstruction according to the estimate of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine amounted to 197 million hryvnia (in 2004 prices, including construction and installation work - 12 million hryvnia). The estimate also contains the technical data of the theater after reconstruction: the number of seats is 1636, the area of ​​the land plot under the building and the adjacent territory is 2.96 hectares, the building area is 0.54 hectares, the total cubic capacity is 102757.7 m³, the total area is 8123, 6 m².[11]
The facade of the theater building looks at the intersection of Lanzheronovskaya and Rishelyevskaya streets (Teatralnaya Square), the back side of the theater overlooks Tchaikovsky Lane (official address: Tchaikovsky Lane, 1). If you stand facing the facade, then on the left behind the residential building is the historical square of the Palais Royal. On the right is a lawn with a musical fountain and the building of the Museum of the Ukrainian Navy.