87th Season: We Begin!

On 13 September the press conference dedicated to the opening of the new season in the Bolshoi took place in the Chamber Hall. The general director of the theatre Vladimir Gridiushko; artistic director of the theatre, People's Artist of USSR and Belarus, professor Valentin Elizariev; artistic director of ballet, People's Artist of Belarus Yury Trayan; principal сhorus master, People’s Artist of Belarus Nina Lomanovich; conductor, People's Artist of Belarus Alexander Anisimov; stage director Galina Galkovskaya, People's Artist of Russia Vyacheslav Okunev, soloist of the theatre, People's Artist of Belarus Anastasia Moskvina.

The 87th season at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus was opened with the large-scale premiere of Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin on 15 September. So, on 14 November, the premiere of Anna Karenina to the Tchaikovsky’s music will take place (conductor: recipient of the Francysk Skaryna medal Andrei Galanov, choreographer: winner of international competitions Olga Kostel). On 8 December the artistic director of the Belarusian Bolshoi, People's Artist of the USSR and Belarus, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus Valentin Elizariev will present to the audience the new version of the famous ballet The Creation of the World by Andrey Petrov. This season, we also plan the revival of Verdi’s Nabucco directed by the principal stage director of the theatre Mikhail Pandzhavidze. The premiere of Giacomo Puccini’s Le Villi staged by the Honoured Artist of the Republic of Belarus, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus Oksana Volkova is also expected. The young choreographer Sergei Mikel will stage the ballet Peer Gynt by Edvard Grieg.

Performances, concerts, exhibitions and meet-the -artist sessions will be held back-to-back with the significant dates of composers, artists, conductors, directors, choreographers who created the history of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. In particular, events dedicated to the memory of the principal set designer of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus from 2009 to 2019 Alexander Kostyuchenko, 80th anniversary of the People's Artist of the USSR Svetlana Danilyuk, 90th anniversary of the composer, People's Artist of the USSR Eugeny Glebov, 95th anniversary of the People's Artist of the USSR Tamara Nizhnikova will take place.

Our audience also can see the large-scale international projects in the 87th season. The October calendar will feature: the project of the People's Artist of Russia Andris Liepa “Autographs and Images. Maya plisetskaya. Dedication.”; concert of German composer and musician Sven Helbig “I Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain” as part of his European tour; concert of Anna Netrebko and Yusif Eyvazov ("Berin Art Management"). In November, ballet Viy staged by Radu Poklitaru ("Kiev Modern ballet") will be performed at the Belarusian Bolshoi. This performance will be held as part of the 32^nd International Festival of Modern Choreography in Vitebsk. In March 2020, Berin Iglesias Agency will organize the festival “Vladimir Spivakov Invites...”. During this festival  the French pianist Lucas Debargue will perform at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus with the Kremerata Baltica Chamber Orchestra.

The 10th anniversary Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum will took place in December. Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, performed by the artists of the National Opera of Ukraine, promised to be one of the highlights of the forum. In 2019 we will change the format of the Minsk International Christmas Singing Competition: it will be held once in two years, as is usual in international practice. The next, sixth contest will be held in 2020, and this season we together with JSC Belarusbank will present to the audience the gala concert of winners and grand prize winners of previous years. About thirty artists who currently work at the Mariinsky, Mikhailovsky, Yerevan, Sofia, Estonian and other theatres will participate in it. The Bolshoi theatre of Belarus will also delight its friends with traditional projects: the 11^th New Year’s Ball at the Bolshoi, 6^th Open Day, 7^th International Festival “Ballet Summer at the Bolshoi” and 11^th  festival “Evenings of the Bolshoi Theatre at the Radziwill Castle”. In the new season special attention is paid to the children and youth projects. It will be interactive educational programmes, competitions, tours, creative meetings and etc.

The Chamber Hall of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus will be open throughout the season. The autumn calendar will feature concerts of old art songs and masterpieces of world opera, film music, the golden collection of Ukrainian vocal music, concert "Jazz, Classic, Tango", concert of Mozart’s music ("Trio and Mozart "), Offenbach’s muzic ("Ah, Offenbach, Offenbach, Offenbach...") and many other.

The tour plans of the theatre include performances on major venues of the world, as well as throughout Belarus (in the branches of the theatre in Grodno, Gomel, Mogilev, Novopolotsk, on the stages of other large cities and small towns).