site.btaStara Zagora Festival of Opera and Ballet Arts to Be Held Nov. 23 - Dec. 9

The 53rd Festival of Opera and Ballet Arts in Stara Zagora will be held between November 23 and December 9, the management says on the festival's website.

It will open with Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, a premiere of the Stara Zagora State Opera, on November 23. The opera will have a second run on the following day.

Baritone Stoyan Popov will be honoured on November 25 on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The Burgas State Opera will stage a documentary photo exhibition on Popov's singing career.

A new production of Wagner's opera The Flying Dutchman will be presented on November 26 immediately after its premiere in Varna.

On November 27, the Sinfonietta Chamber Ensemble, featuring bass Ivaylo Dzhurov, will perform compositions written by Pancho Vladigerov for stage plays directed by Max Reinhardt. Vladigerov's student Milko Kolarov will tell the audience about his time with the renowned Bulgarian composer and the lessons he learned from him.

Master class students of opera singers Vesselina Kasarova and Kaludi Kaludov will give a concert on November 29.

The ballet The Long Christmas Dinner, based on the play by Thornton Wilder, with music by Vivaldi and choreographed by Radu Poklitaru, will be performed on November 30. It is a production of the Plovdiv State Opera.

The festival will close on December 9 with Wagner's music drama The Valkyrie, produced by the Sofia Opera and Ballet House.

Launched in 1967, the Festival of Opera and Ballet Arts is organized by the Stara Zagora State Opera with the collaboration of the municipal government. The upcoming 53rd edition of the event is supported by the National Fund for Culture.