Solodovnikov theatre, Opera house in Tverskoy District, Russia

The Solodovnikov Theatre is an opera house in Moscow's Tverskoy District, designed by architects Konstantin Tersky and Traugott Bardt. The building sits on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street and combines an ornate facade with an interior layout built to accommodate full-scale operatic productions.

The building was rebuilt in 1883–1884 for merchant Gavrila Solodovnikov by architect Konstantin Tersky, who turned an 18th-century Shcherbatov-Shakhovsky estate into a five-tier theatre seating 3,100. Delays forced by inspection commissions meant it opened only on 24 December 1895, with Donizetti's La Favorite. From 1896 Savva Mamontov's Private Russian Opera performed here until early 1904, and after a 1907 fire Traugott Bardt restored it for Zimin's Opera in 1908.

The building's name comes from merchant Gavrila Solodovnikov, who had it rebuilt as a theatre in 1883–1884. From 1896 Savva Mamontov's Private Russian Opera staged works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky here, with sets by Vasnetsov, Vrubel and Korovin. Since 1961 it has housed the Moscow Operetta Theatre.

The theatre sits centrally on Bolshaya Dmitrovka Street in Moscow's heart and is easily reached on foot. Visitors should remember that the interior layout is typical of a classical opera house, so comfortable clothing is worth considering.

On 6 May 1896 the building hosted Moscow's first cinema screening, when French impresario Raoul Gunsbourg presented the Lumière brothers' films, including "Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat". From 1908 to 1929 the theatre portal carried Mikhail Vrubel's painted panel "The Princess of Dreams".