Skopje, 30 April 2024 (MIA) - The premiere performance of Giuseppe Verdi's "The Troubadour" at the National Opera and Ballet (NOB) on May 9 marks the beginning of the 52nd edition of international festival "May Opera Evenings," followed by one ballet and opera performances until the end of the month.

"The Troubadour" opera is described as a "symphony of love, hate and destiny," directed by Ivan Popovski, Enrico Dovico from Italy as conductor, Miodrag Tabački from Serbia as set designer, Marija Pupuchevska as costume designer, and Sasha Evtimova as choreographer. The leading role will be played by Macedonian tenor Zoran Sotirov, along with a cast of local artists and mezzo-soprano Sanja Anastasija from Serbia as Azucena.

The opera will be performed again on May 11 with the inclusion of foreign soloists from Canada and Chile, and Ivan Emikovikj as conductor.

"We have a great team of authors and expect excellent results. The premiere and rerun are almost sold out, which indicates success," said NOB artistic director Orce Ickovski.

According to him, they tried to create an exclusive programme, which in addition to "The Troubadour" will include a ballet performance of Tchaikovsky's "The Sleeping Beauty" (May 15), with Nayer Nagui from Egypt as conductor and soloists from Bulgaria. Richard Wagner's "The Valkyrie" will be staged on May 18, performed by the Sofia Opera and Ballet. "This marks the first performance of Wagner's work on our stage, as the most exclusive event of the festival," Ickovski added.

On May 23, "Tosca" will be staged in dedication to Giacomo Puccini, with Vesna Gjinovska Ilkova in the leading role and local cast and guests from Serbia and Romania. The Slovenian Chamber Music Theater is set to stage chamber opera "The Wedding" on May 28.

Giuseppe Verdi's "Aida" will traditionally close the festival on May 31, performed by a soloist from Austria in the role of Monika Medek, and cast from China, Italy and Bulgaria, and Macedonian bass singer Igor Durlovski and Nimrod David Pfeffer from Israel as conductor.

"The Troubadour" opera is the 11th opera directed by Macedonian director Ivan Popovski, and the first to be staged in the country.

"Theatre tries to explain, approach materialize, adjust, while the music flies and is untouchable. That is a collision, a difficult junction in which the opera is in danger of dying before it is born. It just so happens that two leaders - conductor and director - come together in harmony. In the last decade, the director, who does not pay much attention to the music, is seen as the most important even to the detriment of the music, which in Verdi's peace is genius and cosmic," Popovski stressed. What inspires him thematically is, as he said, the struggle between the sublime and primitive.

This will mark the first time that Ivan Popovski, who built his career in Moscow, stages an opera on the Macedonian stage. He expects that the audience will be satisfied with "The Troubadour", as well as the wonderful music, soloists, choir and orchestra. ssh/ik/

Photo: MIA