Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre

After the war the theatre, directed by Samosud (and later Dmitri Kitajenko and Lev Mikhailov), continued operation as a primarily classical opera house; it retained some successful vaudevilles produced in the 1930s, but their share was gradually reduced. In the 1960s to 1980s the theatre regularly collaborated with Komische Oper Berlin, inviting Walter Felsenstein and Dieter Mueller to produce musicals in Moscow.

In 1976 Pravda launched an unforgiving attack against the "revised" version of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades. The show was salvaged through support of artistic circles.

In 1989 the theatre suffered its first disastrous fire. The main hall was not damaged, but the fire destroyed the props storage; 20 titles were cancelled for years. In December 1990 the company refused to perform in a strike action against the management. The city of Moscow shut down the theatre for two weeks; in January 1991 it reopened under the same management. In July 1991 the orchestra and the choir resigned with their conductors, taking some of the opera soloists with them, finally prompting a replacement of the management.

In June 1941 Nemirovich's company performed on a tour in Murmansk and nearby military bases. Immediately upon the outbreak of Operation Barbarossa it returned to Moscow; the shows resumed on 10 August. Stanislavski's company returned to Moscow from Yaroslavl. On 1 September 1941 the companies, reduced in number, were merged to become the "Moscow State Musical Theatre of Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko." Nemirovich was appointed its artistic director. Keen on overcoming the limitations of the opera genre, he defended the title of a musical theatre. In September 1941 part of the company was evacuated first to Nalchik, then to Tbilisi and finally Ashabad; Nemirovich with the core of his company stayed in Moscow, performing for the troops. His Moscow company was the only Moscow theatre performing in the disastrous October–November 1941.

Nemirovich, after a short evacuation to Tbilisi, returned to Moscow in September 1942; he died in April 1943. After his death the theatre was managed by Joseph Tumanishvili (stage direction) and Samuil Samosud (musical department). Over four years of the war the company, split in small groups, performed 770 shows for the front-line troops. Two of its staff were killed in action and one group of artists was taken prisoners of war.