SUCCESSFUL END OF THE 21st SEASON AND THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE 22nd SEASON

Opera & Theatre Madlenianum ends its 21st season on Saturday, June 29 2019 with the ballet of Krunislav Simic Blood Wedding – Bolero on the Large stage of the Zemun`s Theatre. In this season, two drama premieres have been performed on our stage: Dolce Vita by Jelena Paligoric Sinkevic and The Briefcase by Yuri Polyakov, and renewal of the performances where extra tickets are always asked for: the drama Anna Karenina with Nina Jankovic in the title role and Casanova against Don Juan, directed by Predrag Ejdus, revived by the writer Miodrag Ilic with Tihomir Stanic and Stevan Piale in the title roles. In the music part of the repertoire, we have revived the opera Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo, directed by Yuri Aleksandrov, whose last performance in the season was conducted by Italian guest Alberto Veronesi and the ballet Blood Wedding - Bolero whith a ballerina Brankica Mandic making her debut in the 2nd act - Bolero. At the very end of the season, the premiere of the production of the Musical and Opera Studio of Madlenianum was held, where, after several months of work, the participants, nine of them, showed their skills and performances from the opera by Domenico Cimarosa The Secret marriage. This staging of young artists will continue its stage life in the next season, as a part of the Youth Program.

This season will certainly be remembered for the guest visits, both in our and in other theatres as well as for significant ensembles on our stage. Let's just mention some of them; for the first time we hosted a theatre from Belarus, Kinoaktera Theatre Studio, National Film Studio "Belarusfilm", with a piece Nobody promised an easy life. The peak of the season has certainly been hosting of the Saint-Petersburg Opera with the opera Faust by Charles Gounod, performed during the 150th anniversary of the National Theatre in Belgrade and 20 years of the Opera and Theatre Madlenianum and with the commitment of both houses to make this tour successful; all the critics gave the best reviews for this guest visit, some of which naming Faust as the "music event of the season"! The guests of Madlenianum has been Prince Michael of Yugoslavia, with whose exhibition of photographs we opened the season 2018/2019 and we are also particularly pleased by the visit of the author of the play The Briefcase, the respected Russian writer Yuri Polakov, attending the premiere of the play.

Our performances in the past season started in Varazdin, where we performed with the drama Zanka. This play was also performed in summer scenes - on July 9th in Pozarevac within the summer festival and on July 10th in Veliko Gradiste, within the Music festival The Days of Carevac. Our monodrama Dmitry Karamazov`s confession, directed and performed by Nebojsa Dugalic, who is this year's laureate of the First Festival of Small Theatre Forms in Zajecar, will be on July 23 in Brioni within the Ulysses Festival. It is worth mentioning visit of drama I take your hand in my drama in Moscow, where the performance won the "Golden Knight" award at the festival of the same name, and the romantic comedy Dolce Vita in front of the crowded hall of Theatre Akzent in Vienna.

Satisfied with the results of the season which is about to end, Andreja Rackov, General Manager of the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum, announced in the informal meeting with journalists the next, 22nd season. Now, traditionally, the season is to begin in September, with the concert. Earlier announced, and postponed due to the illness of our famous tenor - Gala concert of Zoran Todorovic and friends will be held on September 28, at the opening of the season 2019/2020. Hoping to celebrate his 25 years of artistic work with a concert in the city where Zoran Todorovic comes from, this concert has been scheduled as the beginning of the celebration at the beginning of the year, but he will ultimately come as the finale celebration of his rich art career - on September 28 at the Large scene of Madlenianum. Zoran will be accompanied by his friends, above all a conductor Alberto Veronesi, baritone Nikola Mijailovic, and instead of the announced soprano Dragana Radakovic, who due to previously undertaken obligations can not perform a concert, Zoran has chosen to present one young opera hope - our Evgenija Jeremic, already proven at opera competitions, who had productions at the Belgrade National Theatre, the last of them Kostana by Petar Konjovic, directed by Jug Radivojevic. The program of the concert is to remain the same, arranged by Zoran’s choice, consisting of his favorite arias and duets, such as those from Tosca, Pagliacci, Turandot, Otello ... and the "light" repertoire from the operetta and the canzones. Tickets are already on sale and can be purchased online, or at the box office of the Zepter Museum, Knez Mihailova Street 42.

The General Manager Rackov has also looked back on the premiere performances and guest visits. In October, we are expecting the premiere of drama Nana, by the famous novel of Emil Zola, in dramatization of Spasoje Z. Milovanovic and directed by Ivana Vujic, with Tamara Aleksic in the title role. In November, we are to stage a new opera title, the opera by Giacomo Puccini Manon Lescaut, in co-production with the National Theatre in Belgrade. For the first half of the season, we are preparing guest visits: on September 24 we are visiting Minsk, Belarus with the play Dolce Vita and with the opera Pagliacci  we are going in Torre di Lago  on December 15 2019, which is the birthplace of Puccini, on the occasion of the centenary of the death of Leoncavallo.

We are proud of 160 plays in our production this season. These have been the performances of all genres and for all ages, viewed by about 40,000 spectators. Some of them have been with free entrance, such as our programs for children and young people, and guest visits, such as Ballet Twinkle Sleepyhead, by the Madlenianum Opera Society of Friends, which our youngest visitors attended for free. Also the other performances of our theatre were free for the ones who belong to sensitive categories and who we did not forget: the blood donors of Zemun and Palilula, members of the Association of War Disabled Veterans and Pensioners, and two new associations with which we established cooperation and who are regular visitors to our program – Older people`s association "Mimosa Plus" and Center "Zvezda" - Center for Social Integration of Young People and Children Without Parental Care. They are all grateful for encountering art in our theatre and the joy of socializing in the beautiful ambiance of Opera & Theatre Madlenianum and therefore we are bound to continue cooperating with them in the next season as well.

Goodbye till the new season!