The Estonian National Opera will start the new season on Saturday, August 27, with the jubilee X Vana Tallinn Gala. Conductor Arvo Volmer, the Estonian National Opera Chorus and Orchestra will perform and solos will by Ukrainian soprano Olga Mykytenko, tenor Raimonds Bramanis from Latvia and international caliber bass Ain Anger.
On Sunday, August 28 at from 12:00 to 3:00 PM, the annual theatre fair will take place around Estonia opera house, where tickets for the entire season are on sale at a 30% discount, this year's laureate of the title Friend of the Theatre will be announced, and everyone present will be able to enjoy a free gala concert, where excerpts from new productions and the best pieces of the repertoire will be performed. The theatre crowd also sells tempting food, crafts, props and other exciting theatre stuff.
New season also brings us new people. Three new soloists join the opera troupe: Ukrainian soprano Elena Brazhnyk, mezzo-soprano Karis Trass, and Brazilian baritone Leonardo Neiva. The ranks of the Estonian National Ballet will be supplemented by soloist Nelson Peña of Cuban origin.
Innovations also took place behind the scenes. Namely, the stage electronics of the National Opera were replaced - devices that the audience never sees, but which are of critical importance in the performance and which failed to work for several years. In mid-August, the French company BC Caire and the Austrian company Waagner Biro handed over updated stage control equipment to the opera house. The stage technology equipment of the mentioned companies is used in many of the world's largest theaters - now the Estonian National Opera also got the most modern stage electronics. The exchange of stage technology and electronics cost around 800,000 euros, and the investment was covered from the financial surplus of 2020.
General Director of the National Opera, Ott Maaten: "It is obvious that our National Opera must be technically equal to other opera houses in Europe and the world, and upgrading the equipment was a big leap for today. At the same time, this innovation does not solve the main problem of the national opera, which is the need for a theater hall with the necessary dimensions and modern acoustics."
Thanks to the new stage equipment, even higher quality creative solutions reach the audience.
The first new production will be ready for the audience on September 30, and it will be Jacques Offenbach's comic operetta "Orpheus in the Underworld", which will be staged by Liis Kolle. In the new season, the pirate story "Corsair", known as a gem of classical ballet, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Giovanna d'Arco", the ballet production "Black / White" integrating modern and classical dance art and Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" will be presented to the audience.