Construction and opening In 1882, H. Z. Taghiyev submitted for approval to the Baku City Government a project for a theater building to be raised on his own plot located in the center of Baku. The theater edifice was built in 1883. This is how a theater firstly appeared in Baku, and until 1911 it was the only theatrical building in the city. The architect was Khrisanf Vasilyev (according to his project and the building of the passenger station was raised in Baku). The newspaper "Kaspi" reported on 20 November that the opening of the newly built theater building would follow. Later, on 25 November, the newspaper announced that the commission which examined the theater's building found it usable and that the first performance could take place on 27 November. Finally, on 27 November 1883, there was the H. Z. Tagiyev's Theater opening and the auditorium was full. The drama of N. A. Potemkin the “Poor in Spirit” was staged. The newspaper "Kaspi" noted:
Theater’s history in the late 19th-early 20th centuries On 10 August 1890, an amateur performance was held at the Tagiyev's Theater for the poor students of the Real School. A comedy-joke in 4 acts by D. A. Mansfeld “On Shares” and a one-act vaudeville by P. A. Karatygin “Witzmunder” were staged with success. Even though, there was a strong stuffiness, the auditorium was almost full, and the funds raised amounted 300 rubles. The very premises of the theater were provided to the amateur actors free of charge. On 20 April 1898, the "Evil for good" play, by Iskender-bey Melikov, was shown by a troupe of amateurs at the Tagiyev's Theater. On 7 December of the same year, Najaf-bey Vezirov's play "Out of the rain and under the downpour" and his vaudeville "Home education" were staged for of the poor students of the Baku Real School. On 8 December 1899, a fire broke out in the theater and at the end of that year, the renovation of the edifice was completed. The reconstruction was carried out based on the project of the civil engineer Pavel Kognovitsky, being approved by the Construction Department of the
Baku Governorate. In 1900, the premises of the Tagiyev's Theater were restored. Before the fire, the office of H. Z. Tagiyev was also located in the theater's building, and after the reconstruction, it was transferred to another building. {{Blockquote On 12 (25) January 1908, the premiere of the first Azerbaijani national opera "Leyli and Majnun" by Uzeyir Hajibeyov took place at the Tagiyev's Theater. On 1 February 1918, the theater's edifice burned down again as a result of a fire. All the wooden parts burned down, there only the stone and reinforced concrete frame survived. At the beginning of 1909, the building of the Tagiyev's Theater burned down as a result of another fire, and this aggravated the condition of the Azerbaijani troupe. On 13 May 1916, the premiere of
Zulfugar Hajibeyov's opera "Ashig Garib" took place at the H.Z.Tagiyev's Theater. On 1 February 1918, the theater's edifice burned down again as a result of a fire. All the wooden parts burned down, there only the stone and reinforced concrete frame survived.
Theater’s history after 1920 In March 1921, a decision was made to restore the building of the former Tagiyev's Theater that burned down in 1918. By this time, only the facades were preserved. In 1922, the theater's edifice was renovated. In the 1920s, the theater housed the Turkic State Theatre in the name of Buniyat-Zade, in the early 30s - the Turkic Art Theater named after Bunyat-Zade. Since the late 1930s, the Azerbaijan State Drama Theater in the name of A. M. Azizbeyov, and since 1960, when a new building was built for the State Drama Theater, the Musical Comedy Theater named after Shikhali Kurbanov were located there. By the end of the 80s, the theater building fell into disrepair and began to collapse. In this regard, the city authorities decided to demolish the edifice in 1992. By 1996, the building of the Azerbaijan State Musical Theater was built on its site. == The role of the Tagiyev’s Theater in the development of the theatrical art ==