Five Evenings

ГЕНЕРАЛЬНЫЙ ПАРТНЁР ПРОЕКТА

ГЛАВНЫЙ ПАРТНЁР ПРОЕКТА

Premieres, guests, stars, music... From 10 to 15 December, Her Majesty the Opera will reign at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus! The Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum will take place on our stage for the 14th time.

The Main Question will be asked by the Chuvash State Opera and Ballet Theatre "Volga Opera" on 10 December. For the first time on the Belarusian stage, a performance that completely turned the idea of opera upside down and which is much discussed in theatre community. The digital space opera will open the Christmas Forum in Minsk.

Why should you visit this production of the “Volga Opera” Theatre in Minsk?.. The sets and costumes are generated by a neural network, libretto and music are created using artificial intelligence. One of the leading roles is performed by a robot artist. The opera is performed in nine languages: Russian, Chuvash, English, Italian, German, French, Japanese, quasi-Slavic and Sanskrit. The plot includes references to popular works of science fiction, philosophical works, computer games and anime.

The Voronezh State Opera and Ballet Theatre has already come to Minsk with ballet productions. This time, the Belarusian audience will see their opera repertoire. On 11 December the company will perform Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. This is one of the most striking opera performances in the calendar of the Russian theatre.

The renowned director Mikhail Bychkov staged the production in 2021. The action takes place in one of the European powers embroiled in the battle ground of the First World War of the XX century. Events develop at the junction of the end of the war and the return to peaceful life.

Le nozze di Figaro was nominated for the Golden Mask Russian National Theatre Award in six categories in the 2020-2021 season.

It has already become a peculiar tradition to include premieres in the Forum's programme. This year will be no exception: on 12 December, the second performance of the premiere production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin will take place. (The production team is headed by the main specialists of the theatre: conductor Artem Makarov and stage director Anna Motornaya.)

On 14 December, the large-scale Puccini's work, fabulous Turandot will be performed. The Belarusian production will feature guest opera stars.

Princess Turandot lived in fabulous and legendary times in China. But she was as beautiful as merciless: Turandot decided that she would belong only to the one who would solve her three riddles. But if she does not hear the right answer, the severed head of the lover will be added to those that already adorn the walls of the palace. One day, another brave man appears, who dared to put his life on the line and unravel the mystery of Turandot's petrified heart…

In 2013, Mikhail Pandzhavidze directed this large-scale production at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus.

The production will feature Elena Mikhailenko (Helikon-Opera) as Princess Turandot, Mikhail Pirogov (Mikhailovsky Theatre) as Calaf, Elizaveta Kulagina (Helikon-Opera) as Liù. Artem Makarov will conduct.

The Christmas Forum at the Bolshoi Theatre will be finished by the unusual gala concert on 15 December. Real opera "hits" will be performed this evening by winners of the Elena Obraztsova International Competition of Young Opera Singers “The Heritage of Elena Obraztsova”.