Bucharest National Opera House needed headquarters since the beginning of the 19th century. The nowadays building housing the National Opera in Bucharest was designed in 1946. The first Italian theater was opened in Bucharest in 1843 and it has to do with the National Opera, for it was opened with the opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini, followed by the Barber of Seville by Rossini. In 1870, the composer and conductor George Stefanescu tried to persuade the authorities to build a headquarters for the Opera. Thus he launches the Opera Company in 1885 with the performance of Linda di Chamonix by Donizetti, sung in Romanian. Only in 1921, the Opera Company receives the necessary funds in order to organize itself in the new institutional order, becoming the Romanian Opera. The premiere of Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, with George Enescu conducting, was the opening performance that year. The theater was built in classical style. The main hall ha 2200 seats, surrounded by lodges and amazing acoustics. There are four caryatids, four statues, Drama and Poetry statues, a bas-relief called Music and another one called The Dance. George Enescu’s monument is in front of the building. https://bucharest-travel.com/opera-in-bucharest/