Experience Passion and Emotion: Christmas Opera Forum Presents Bold New Interpretations of Classic Operas

From December 11 to 21, 2025, the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus will host the XV Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum. During a press meeting in the “Alone with the Bolshoi” format, the General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, Ekaterina Dulova, shared details about the upcoming event with journalists.

Tickets Sold to Viewers from Over 20 Countries

“Tickets for the Opera Forum have already been purchased by viewers from more than 20 countries,” Ekaterina Dulova announced at the meeting dedicated to the upcoming Christmas Opera Forum, which will traditionally take place before the New Year holidays. The forum will open on December 11 with a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera “THE MAID OF ORLEANS,” which premiered in June 2025.

“Just three months after the premiere, we presented our performance on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia,” noted Ekaterina Dulova. “The production became a participant in the jubilee, 10th Festival of Music Theatres ‘Seeing Music’ in October. Importantly, in the composer’s homeland, where they are well acquainted with his musical heritage, we did not receive any negative press. The performance was well-received by both critics and the audience.”

Two Performances of “The Maid of Orleans”

The Christmas Forum will open with two performances of the opera “The Maid of Orleans,” directed for Minsk by the artistic director of the Moscow State Academic Children’s Music Theatre named after N. Sats, director Georgy Isaakyan. Opera lovers will have the opportunity to choose whose voice they hear in the role of Joan: Daria Gorozhanko will perform on December 11, and Oksana Volkova on December 12.

“The voice of this performance is mezzo-soprano. When I started my service at the theatre, we had only one such voice—that of Oksana Volkova. It was our exclusive! But we understood that we needed to search for and find new voices,” shared the General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre. “Today, circumstances have fortunately aligned so that we have both Oksana Volkova, who recently performed the role of Carmen on the stage of the renowned Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Daria Gorozhanko, who, while on tour in Moscow, endured two daily performances of this opera—a tremendous vocal load! She handled her mission brilliantly.”

“The Maid of Orleans” in the Repertoire

The General Director of the Bolshoi Theatre recommended that audiences take advantage of the opportunity to listen to this large and undeservedly forgotten opera by Tchaikovsky performed by different casts, as “The Maid of Orleans” will not appear frequently in the theatre’s repertoire. “This production will definitely be shown. But it contains such a volume of music that needs to be experienced. Presenting such a work every week would be an oversaturation of luxury and emotions. We approach this performance with special reverence: it has its own place in the repertoire and its own time.”

Guest Performances and Special Events

The Christmas Opera Forum will continue with performances by guests. On December 16, the Samara Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet named after D. Shostakovich will present the opera “THE MASTER AND MARGARITA” by Sergei Slonimsky, based on the eponymous work by Mikhail Bulgakov, in Minsk. “I initiated this visit after learning that the performance was awarded a special prize by Valery Gergiev, ‘Maestro,’ at the Russian National Theatre Award ‘Golden Mask,'” said Ekaterina Dulova. “I must admit, I have one idea in mind, as our musical literature includes a piano score of ‘The Master and Margarita’ by the Belarusian composer Evgeny Glebow. It will be interesting to see how this work looks on our stage, how contemporary theatre producers interpret it, and how the audience perceives it… The Samara Theatre has already visited us on tour with their production of ‘Love for Three Oranges.’ We know that this theatre always surprises our audience with exclusive performances. This time, everything has wonderfully aligned so that the entire company, more than 200 people, can come to Minsk.”

Innovative Productions and Premieres

On December 19, the stage of the Christmas Opera Forum will feature a performance recently awarded the National Theatre Award as the best opera production—”EUGENE ONEGIN” with music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, created by the “star” team of the Bolshoi: the theatre’s chief director Anna Motornaya, artistic director of the theatre Artem Makarov, chief choreographer Igor Kolb, and chief designer Lyubov Sidelnikova. “Our performance is not the lyrical scenes that Tchaikovsky envisioned,” explained the innovation of the production. “Everything is more large-scale: more passion, emotion, and feeling. This classic opera has lost its statuary. The concept of the production team was to ensure that this work is experienced anew, so that the classic does not gather dust.”

The classic opera by Tchaikovsky will sound new to the Minsk audience also thanks to the invitation of soloists from the Moscow Academic Music Theatre named after K. Stanislavsky and Vl. Nemirovich-Danchenko: the main roles will be performed by Natalia Petrozhitskaya and Dmitry Zuev. “One of the traditions of the forum is inviting guests to participate in our performances. I hope their experience will allow them to fit into our version of the performance, as the characters in it are somewhat more open and emotional.”

The real “highlight” of this year’s Christmas Forum will be the premiere on December 20 of the opera “ACIS AND GALATEA” by the 18th-century composer George Frideric Handel. “This will be the premiere of a baroque opera on the stage of our Bolshoi Theatre. And we are approaching it very carefully,” admitted Ekaterina Nikolaevna. “As a rule, productions of baroque operas are held in chamber halls, preserving the tradition of presenting them to a select audience. These are not box-office performances aimed at an elite audience, connoisseurs of opera. But for the premiere in our Chamber Hall, all 120 tickets have already been sold!” We add that the conductor-director of the opera is Vitaly Grishchenko, and the director-director is Natalia Baranovskaya. The cast of performers will be announced later.

Gala Concert of Young Opera Stars

The current opera forum will conclude on December 21 with a Gala concert of young opera stars dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the opera diva Irina Arkhipova. For more than forty years, Arkhipova was the patron and chair of the jury of the prestigious vocal competition named after M. I. Glinka, held in the USSR since 1960. After her passing, the competition temporarily interrupted its tradition. In 2019, it was revived at the initiative of the soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre, Honored Artist of Russia Albina Shagimuratova. If last year, instead of the usual gala concert at the closing of the International Minsk Christmas Opera Forum, the laureates of the Elena Obraztsova competition performed, this year the audience will be able to hear young opera stars—laureates of the M. I. Glinka competition. As well as opera singers from Nicaragua, which has become another tradition.