Surprises prepared at Maria Biesu Festival

The 20th editions of the International Opera and Ballet Contest-Festival “Maria Biesu” has prepared surprises for all those who appreciated the great soprano and for all the participants, claims Parascovia Berghie, executive director of the festival and deputy chairman of the Musicians’ Union. This year, the festival will have big awards, premiere shows and renowned guests, Info-Prim Neo reports. The festival will start on September 7 and will end on September 15. During this time, four opera performances and two ballet shows will take place and the National Opera and Ballet Theater “Maria Biesu”, with guests from 8 countries. Russian soprano Svetlana Kasyan and Italian baritone Mauro Augustini will perform the “Tosca” opera at the opening of the festival. Parascovia Berghie explained that Tosca was Maria Biesu’s debut opera in her artistic career. “Manon” will be performed on September 8 by US tenor Eric Fennell and Austrian conductor Friedrich Pfeiffercare. On September 9, the opera fans are invited to “Madame Butterfly”, which will be performed by Ukrainian soprano Tatiana Anisimova, Romanian tenor Hector Lopez and Ukrainian conductor Alexandru Samoila. September 11 will be a ballet day with the “Swan Lake”, performed by Kristina Balaban and Evgheni Lagunov and conducted by Alexei Baklan, all from Ukraine. On September 12, Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, German tenor George Oniani and Ukrainian conductor Alexei Baklan will take the stage for the “A Masked Ball”. On September 14, Kristina Balaban, Evgheni Lagunov and Alexei Baklan will perform the “Sleeping Beauty”. The schedule includes the traditional charity concert, which will take place at the Organ Hall on September 10. The singers will be Romanian soprano Felicia Filip and American tenor Erik Fennell. The money obtained from ticket sales will be allotted for the support of veteran musicians. 52 artists applied to participate in the contest and 33 qualified. The contest will start on September 11, in the Small Hall of the “Serghei Lunchevici” Philharmonics, while the final is scheduled for September 14, in the Large Hall of the Philharmonics. The winner will get €15,000 and the Festival Trophy. The award for the second place is €10,000 and €7000 for the third place. Besides, special prizes of €500 will be awarded as well. The Gala will take place on September 15 at the National Palace. It’s the first year when the festival takes place without the prima donna. “Unfortunately, Maria won’t be with us at this edition. Some of us feel like orphans. She really wanted to participate in the festival. She was optimistic and hoped she’d be able to sing at least some romances, that’s what she wished”, said the festival director.