A new building of the national theatre has been opened in Bratislava

Bratislava - Today, the new building of the Slovak National Theatre (SND) was officially opened in Bratislava. The symbolic ribbon was cut by the general director of SND, Silvia Hroncová, Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič, and Minister of Culture Marek Maďarič.
    In front of the building, which took 21 years to construct, the fountain also came to life. Today's festive evening opens with the overture to Bedřich Smetana's opera Hubička, which the audience heard at the very first opening of the Slovak National Theatre in 1920. Several opera stars, whose work calendars are filled for several years ahead, took time to attend the festive evening.
    During the first performance in the new building, the voices of Gabriela Beňačková, Eva Urbanová, and Peter Dvorský will be heard. The singers will perform opera hits from Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as well as an aria from the first Slovak national opera Krútňava by Eugen Suchoň.
    The chairman of the coalition People's Party-Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (LS-HZDS) Vladimir Mečiar also did not miss the opening of the theatre building, marking his first public appearance since heart surgery in January. "It is an event, a social occasion, after all, I have devoted a lot of time to it," said the former prime minister. He emphasized that the construction was started illegally. "Our government legalized it in 1992," Mečiar pointed out.
    The new building of the Slovak National Theatre, which cost approximately five billion Slovak crowns (about 4.2 billion Czech crowns), will be the largest theatre between the Danube and the Tatras with three halls and 1,700 seats. By the end of the season, eight premieres will take place in it, but performances from the former stages of SND will also be presented here.