MINSK, 8 December (BelTA) - The 15th Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum will open with The Maid of Orleans by Pyotr Tchaikovsky on 11 December, Director General of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus Ekaterina Dulova told the media during the traditional Alone with the Bolshoi meeting, BelTA has learned.
Ekaterina Dulova noted that the forum goes way back and continues the country’s cultural traditions.
The anniversary program will open with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans that premiered in June 2025 to celebrate the 185th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The production involved a team of true masters: stage conductor, artistic director of the theater, People's Artist of Bashkortostan Artyom Makarov; the stage director, People's Artist of Russia Georgiy Isaakyan; stage designer Alexei Tregubov; the chorus master, principal chorus master of the theater, People's Artist of Belarus Nina Lomanovich; and others. The title role will be performed by international competition laureate Daria Gorozhanko (11 December) and Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus Oksana Volkova (12 December).
As part of the forum, on 16 December, the Dmitri Shostakovich Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater will present Sergei Slonimsky’s opera The Master and Margarita on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus. This production has become a milestone both for the theater and for the international arts community. In June 2025, the performance received the special Maestro award as part of the 31st Russian National Theater Golden Mask Awards.
“We are delighted that the entire company of more than 200 people has been able to come to Minsk and showcase their art. We have eagerly awaited this premiere on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus,” Ekaterina Dulova noted.
On 19 December, the leading roles of Tatyana Larina and Eugene Onegin in Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky will be performed by soloists of the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, international competition laureates Dmitry Zuev and Natalia Petrozhytskaya, and also leading soloists of the Belarusian Opera Daria Gorozhanko, Tatyana Tretyak, Aleksandr Mikhnyuk, Andrei Valenty, and others.
The program will continue on 20 December with George Frideric Handel's Acis and Galatea, a work the composer himself referred to in letters as a “little opera”. However, its 300-year existence has proven that the author created a true Baroque masterpiece. The production involves stage conductor Vitaly Grishchenko, stage director Natalia Baranovskaya, stage designer Lyubov Sidelnikova, chorus master Sergei Agranovich, and choreographer Anastasia Golesheva. Leading opera soloists will be featured in the performance.
A gala concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the great Russian singer Irina Arkhipova, who chaired the Glinka competition jury for over forty years, will wrap up the forum on 21 December. This concert is part of a large-scale tour featuring competition laureates. It began in the spring in St. Petersburg and has, throughout 2025, covered 17 cities in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.
“This concert will feature our Nicaraguan guests. In May 2025, we held a second gala concert in Managua dedicated to Mother's Day. And now, we have been invited for the 2026 Nicaraguan Revolution Day with another project. We will host young performers and most likely, it will feature national music as well as popular arias from famous operas,” Ekaterina Dulova noted.
Viewers from 20 countries have already purchased tickets for the anniversary forum, she added.
Ekaterina Dulova noted that the forum goes way back and continues the country’s cultural traditions.
The anniversary program will open with Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s The Maid of Orleans that premiered in June 2025 to celebrate the 185th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The production involved a team of true masters: stage conductor, artistic director of the theater, People's Artist of Bashkortostan Artyom Makarov; the stage director, People's Artist of Russia Georgiy Isaakyan; stage designer Alexei Tregubov; the chorus master, principal chorus master of the theater, People's Artist of Belarus Nina Lomanovich; and others. The title role will be performed by international competition laureate Daria Gorozhanko (11 December) and Honored Artist of the Republic of Belarus Oksana Volkova (12 December).
As part of the forum, on 16 December, the Dmitri Shostakovich Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater will present Sergei Slonimsky’s opera The Master and Margarita on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus. This production has become a milestone both for the theater and for the international arts community. In June 2025, the performance received the special Maestro award as part of the 31st Russian National Theater Golden Mask Awards.
“We are delighted that the entire company of more than 200 people has been able to come to Minsk and showcase their art. We have eagerly awaited this premiere on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater of Belarus,” Ekaterina Dulova noted.
On 19 December, the leading roles of Tatyana Larina and Eugene Onegin in Eugene Onegin by Pyotr Tchaikovsky will be performed by soloists of the Moscow Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theater, international competition laureates Dmitry Zuev and Natalia Petrozhytskaya, and also leading soloists of the Belarusian Opera Daria Gorozhanko, Tatyana Tretyak, Aleksandr Mikhnyuk, Andrei Valenty, and others.
The program will continue on 20 December with George Frideric Handel's Acis and Galatea, a work the composer himself referred to in letters as a “little opera”. However, its 300-year existence has proven that the author created a true Baroque masterpiece. The production involves stage conductor Vitaly Grishchenko, stage director Natalia Baranovskaya, stage designer Lyubov Sidelnikova, chorus master Sergei Agranovich, and choreographer Anastasia Golesheva. Leading opera soloists will be featured in the performance.
A gala concert dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the great Russian singer Irina Arkhipova, who chaired the Glinka competition jury for over forty years, will wrap up the forum on 21 December. This concert is part of a large-scale tour featuring competition laureates. It began in the spring in St. Petersburg and has, throughout 2025, covered 17 cities in Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.
“This concert will feature our Nicaraguan guests. In May 2025, we held a second gala concert in Managua dedicated to Mother's Day. And now, we have been invited for the 2026 Nicaraguan Revolution Day with another project. We will host young performers and most likely, it will feature national music as well as popular arias from famous operas,” Ekaterina Dulova noted.
Viewers from 20 countries have already purchased tickets for the anniversary forum, she added.
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