World Opera Day

The new "red-letter day" will be a traditional celebration of the fascinating and complex opera art; it will remind us about the important role of creativity and artistic expression in society and human life. All companies and partners of Opera Europa supported the idea to emphasize the contribution that opera brings to the historical and cultural life of the society. Especially for the upcoming celebration, the broadcasting platform OperaVision has prepared a hit list of the brightest opera productions of the best theatres in the world, which will be shown on the OperaVision website in the coming weeks. Live broadcasts of Puccini’s La bohème (National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai), Bizet’s Carmen (National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing) and Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Rome Opera) are timed the World Opera Day.

On their official websites and social networks, Opera Europa, OPERA America and Ópera Latinoamérica are launching a kind of "challenge": theatre companies, opera performers, musicians and opera admirers can join the future celebration. It is enough to make and publish a 30-second video, which explains the superiority of opera over other forms of art, in other words, you should answer the question: "Why is opera the supreme art for You?". All videos will be identify by the thematic hashtag #WorldOperaDay. The Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, which became a member of the International Association Opera Europa in 2015, will also take part in the celebration of World Opera Day.

Director of the Opera Europa Nicholas Payne, who has repeatedly visited the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus and was a jury member of the Minsk International Christmas Singing Competition, prepared a congratulatory address to the team and audience of the theatre:

This month, on 25 October, the leading service organisation for professional opera companies and opera festivals throughout Europe, which currently serves over 200 member companies from 43 different countries, launch World Opera Day for the first time.  The idea is born out of last year’s World Opera Forum, which brought together representatives from six continents in Madrid for two productive days of debate about four topics: heritage; new work; diversity; and advocacy.

How best to make the case for opera in the wider society is the reason behind World Opera Day.  It is designed to celebrate how culture in general, and opera in particular, may contribute to well-being throughout the world.  Opera Europa members, great and small, will convey the message in their own individual ways, as will our partners in North and South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania.

It is not a coincidence that 25 October marks the birthdays of Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss, composers of perhaps the most popular opera and operetta in existence, Carmen and Die Fledermaus.

The magnificent Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus marks the occasion perfectly with its concert of the great soprano Anna Netrebko and tenor Yusif Eyvazov, an event which will resonate round the world.

Greetings to you in Minsk from the world opera community!