Skopje, 9 May 2022 (MIA) - A premiere of Vincenzo Bellini’s opera titled Norma will kick off the 50th edition of May Opera Evenings this year, set at the stage of the National Opera and Ballet (NOB). The jubilee edition will offer top artistic creations by local and foreign artists for the audience’s enjoyment, organizers say. Alongside Norma, which will be reprised on May 11, Donizetti’s Lucia of Lammermoor, Adam’s ballet Giselle, Puccini’s Turandot, and the ballet in nine paintings The Ladies of Avignon will be performed in the off-program. The annual event will be closed on May 31 with Guiseppe Verdi’s opera Aida. NOB Director Vaso Ristov, at the press conference concerning the jubilee edition of the event, said that the Macedonian cultural scene has been able to experience the month of May as a center of music, representing a platform of modern musical values through performances by local and foreign musicians. “Through the years, the May Opera Evenings have been accomplishing their projected goals, justifying the need for their existence and maintenance, establishing itself as a revered, prestigious and internationally renowned event. In spite of the pandemic, it maintained continuity and quality, given the challenges brought by the world economy, energy and security crisis,” Ristov said. NOB Artistic Manager of Opera Dejan Proshev, said that they decided to use Norma for the opening performance, because this year marks 30 years since its first performance in the country. It was last performed at the festival in 1996. “A crew from Italy, Serbia and local soloists who traditionally open the Evenings will be performing Norma,” Proshev said. Directed by Renato Bonajuto, Enrico Dovico from Italy will conduct the opera. Bonajuto expressed gratitude for “the opportunity and honor to open the May Opera Evenings’ 50th edition, alongside Macedonian artists who all have great potential”. Soprano Blagica Poptomova has been cast into the leading role of the opera, and she will be performing alongside Sandra Mitrovska as Adalgisa and Gjorgji Cuckovski as Pollione, who said at the press conference that they’re very pleased to be part of the May Opera Evenings' opening, and the challenge to perform in such a good production, which includes costume and stage design. The rest of the cast includes Ivan Tomasev from Serbia as Oroveso, Marika Popovic as Clotilde, Dejan Stoev as Flavio, and Vasilij and Stefan Dasic will play the children. The choir and orchestra of the National Opera and Ballet will also perform. Set design credits go to Flavio Arbetti, who also designed the costumes alongside Marija Pupuchevska. During the festival, the monograph “50 years of May Opera Evenings” by Dr. Aleksandar Trajkovski will be promoted. The monograph has been edited by Fimcho Muratovski, conductor of the Tzar Samuil opera, the first opera to open the May Opera Evenings in 1972. dk/ba/