Russian royalty was onto something when they decided to call one of their imperial theatres in Moscow the Bolshoi Theatre. The word bolshoi translates to big. The venue in question here, however, acquired its iconic status not for its size, but because of the magnitude of importance of the performances it has hosted. Home to the biggest ballet company in the world, it has to its credit some exceptional musical feats. Venues across the world reverberate with the music of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, but it was here that the legends debuted some of their best-known compositions.

A concert in the Bolshoi Theatre in 2011