Skopje, 9 May 2025 (MIA) — The National Opera and Ballet’s 53rd May Opera Evenings will begin Friday evening with the lighting of the festival fire and a premiere performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s “Rigoletto.” As is tradition, the festival will close on May 31 with Verdi’s “Aida.”
“Let’s enjoy the music, dance and genuine emotions the May Opera Evenings have given us for more than half a century. I am looking forward to seeing you,” NOB director Oliver Arsovski said in an announcement of the festival’s programming.
According to Arsovski, the “Rigoletto” opera performance on May 9 will be conducted by Italian conductor Gianluca Martinenghi and directed by Italian stage director Pier Francesco Maestrini. Korean baritone Leon Kim will perform the title role. The cast also includes Korean tenor Mario Bagh and Macedonian opera singers Ana Durlovski, Igor Durlovski, Nikolina Janevska, Vladimir Sazdovski, Dragan Ampov, Jane Dunimagloski, Aleksandra Lazarovska Vasilevski, Dime Petrov, Marika Popovikj and Desanka Gligorijevikj.
On May 15, the festival will offer a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” ballet, conducted by Eduard Ambartsumyan of Armenia. The choreographer is Victor Yeremenko of Ukraine.
On May 19, the NOB ensemble will perform Verdi’s “Nabucco” conducted by Myron Michailidis of Greece. The stage director is Renato Bonaiuto of Italy. Spanish baritone Luis Cansino will sing Nabucco.
On May 23, Serbian soprano Marija Jelic will appear in the leading role of Giacomo Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” conducted by Italian conductor Marco Boemi and directed by Bulgarian stage director Alexander Tekeliev.
On May 27, the NOB will stage Puccini’s “Turandot,” conducted by Gianluca Martinenghi of Italy and directed by his compatriot Giancarlo del Monaco. Russian soprano Veronika Dzhioeva will play Princess Turandot, accompanied by Chinese tenor Zi-Zhao Guo, Macedonian soprano Biljana Josifov and Macedonian bass Vladimir Sazdovski.
On May 31, Verdi’s “Aida” will close the festival. Conducted by Italian conductor Gianna Fratta, this year’s performance of the opera will feature Italian soprano Daria Masiero as Aida, accompanied by Korean tenor James Lee, Canarian mezzo-soprano Nancy Fabiola Herrera and Macedonian bass Igor Durlovski. All performances begin at 8 pm.
