Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus
From 26 to 28 June the 6th edition of the Evening of the Bolshoi Theatre at the Radziwill Castle will take place.
A summary of the season, a wonderful weekend outdoors, a significant cultural phenomenon – the opera and ballet festival in Nesvizh established itself as a long-awaited and important event, a nice tradition and a source of life inspiration.
Every year the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus presents various concert programmes and recitals, opera and ballet performances, including those which have just premiered, in the majestic castle of the Belarusian magnates where the domestic professional theatre was born in the 18th century.
This year the Nesvizh open-air festival will begin with a concert revealing new pages of the Belarusian music history. Sacred music plays a special role in the festival programme. The concerts disclosing this layer of the national heritage take place in one of the most beautiful catholic churches of Belarus, the Church of Corpus Domini. The works by Edward Girdo and Antony Radziwill, which will be performed there on 26 June (beginning at 16:00, free entrance), are closely connected with the history of this sacred place. While the name and the merits of Antony Radziwill, a magnate, politician, patron and composer, are well-known, Girdo has become the focus of the researchers’ attention only recently. In the late 1990s, a part of the musical archives of the Church of Corpus Domini in Nesvizh was transferred to the National Library of Belarus. The manuscripts of Girdo’s pieces were found among the huge piles of music by different composers. Between the two world wars he was the organist and choirmaster at the church, an important figure in the musical life of the town that left numerous amazing sacred and secular works. His artistic heritage of different genres has underlain the Concert of Choral Music which is being prepared for the festival opening by the chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre headed by the chief chorus master, People’s Artist of Belarus Nina Lomanovich.
The 26 June Evening (beginning at 21:30) is dedicated to ballet. Performances of The Firebird by Igor Stravinsky and Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov will be given on the main festival stage in the courtyard of the Radziwill Palace. The Belarusian audience will see the ballets as they were choreographed in the beginning of the 20th century by the noted Russian choreographer Mikhail Fokine. The décor, designed by the outstanding artist, a native of Belarus, Leon Bakst, was made after his original sketches and pictur
The performances of opera soloists accompanied by the string quintet Serenada is another good tradition of the festival in Nesvizh. The ensemble comprised of the musicians of the symphony orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre has the repertoire consisting of pieces of different epochs and genres. The new programme, “Silent Words of Love”, featuring the recipient of the Francysk Skaryna Medal, opera soloist Tatyana Tretyak and the quintet Serenada, can be heard on 27 June (beginning at 15:00, Theatre Hall of the Radziwill Castle
On 27 June (beginning at 21:30) the heroes of Pagliacci will appear on the big stage in the courtyard. The most popular opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo premiered last winter and opened the Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum, another project of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. The director Mikhail Pandzhavidze transferred the story of a troupe with a love triangle to the world of modern theatre. Pagiacci is a theatre in the theatre. The characters of the opera have to show on stage all the feelings and emotions which they have in life. Here an onstage comedy and a real life drama are interwoven in such a way that actors cannot tell performance and life apart. The performance will take place under the baton of the guest conductor, People’s Artist of Azerbaijan Yalchin Adigezalov
