National Opera of Ukraine

The Kyiv Opera group was formally established in the summer of 1867, and is the third oldest in Ukraine, after Odessa Opera and Lviv Opera. The day of the first performance, November 8 (October 27 old style), 1867 was made a city holiday. On February 4, 1896, after a morning performance of Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky, a fire erupted from an unextinguished candle in the theatre. The fire consumed the whole building within several hours. One of the largest musical libraries in Europe along with numerous costumes and stage props of many performances were lost during the fire.