Press releases

MINSK, 18 November (BelTA) – The cast of the fifth International Christmas Opera Forum due in Minsk from 12 to 18 December will be star-studded, BelTA learned from the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus.

The world opera star, the USSR People's Artist Elena Obraztsova will appear in The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky on 14 December. According to the Director General of the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus Vladimir Gridyushko, Elena Obraztsova is the best Countess in The Queen of Spades in the world.

The forum will be opened on 12 December with the first-night performance of Opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo directed by Mikhail Pandzavidze. Soloists of the Bolshoi Theater will perform in the production on 12 December. The production to be staged on 13 December will feature Teimur Gugushvili, People's Artist of Georgia, lead singer of Paliashvili Tbilisi State Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

The soloist of the Odessa National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, Merited Artist of Ukraine Vladislav Gorai will play the part of Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi on 16 December.

A gala-concert of world opera stars will crown the Opera Forum in Minsk on 18 December. The leading soloists of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus and lead artists from Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria will create an unforgettable evening.

Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum will also give a start to a new project of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus. Minsk International Christmas Singing Competition will debut on 10-18 December. Participants from 21 countries will compete for the grand prix prize. The competition has received more than 280 applications from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus (about 50), Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, China, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Russia (around 130), Uzbekistan, Ukraine (about 60).

The contest will consist of three rounds. In the first and second ones the contestants will perform with piano accompaniment. In the third round the vocalists will perform on the main stage of the theater accompanied by orchestra. The final concert will be held on 18 December. Partaking in it will be all the winners of the competition. The grand prix winner will get €10,000. The first prize will be €7,000, the second – €5,000, and the third – €3,000. The encouragement prize will be €1,000. The contest is open to singers from all the countries who are students of music colleges and universities or already finished them.

The international jury will be chaired by Director General of the Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus Vladimir Gridyushko and will include the directors of the leading theaters of Ukraine, Bulgaria, Russia, Estonia, Uzbekistan, Austria, France, Germany, and Canada.

The final concert of the first Minsk International Christmas Singing Competition will be held as part of the fifth Christmas Opera Forum on 18 December.