International Opera Festival in Cheboksary

The 12th International M. D. Mikhailov Opera Festival will open on Wednesday evening, November 27, with the premiere of Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro", staged by the Chuvash Opera and Ballet Theatre (Chuvashia is a republic in the Volga region).

According to chief director Aleksei Karatygin, the opera by the Austrian composer of genius will be staged in the Chuvash theatre for the first time. Young singers will act in the opera first of all.

The programme of the festival will be unique, said festival's director Inna Nikolayeva. Russian opera diva Lyubov Kazarnovskaya will give a solo concert and hold a vocal master-class.

Soloists of the world famous Spanish theatre, Liceo Opera (Barcelona), Marisa Roca, Rosa Matteo and Jose Fado will act in Bizet's opera "Carmen".

The tour of Moscow's Gelikon-Opera, which is to show "Traviata", staged by director Dmitry Bertman, famous for his original performances, will be one more sensation of the festival.

A traditional gala-concert, involving soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mariinsky Theatre, the Grand Teatro de Liceo, the Chuvash Opera and Ballet Theatre and Yekaterinburg opera singers will complete the festival week.