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Bolshoi Opera goes on its first tour to Israel

The Bolshoi Opera will present their spectacular production of Eugene Onegin, which will be shown 11 times

TEL AVIV, June 24 (Itar-Tass) - The Bolshoi Opera is for the first time on a tour to Israel, and this is already seen as an historical event in Israel. The tour opens on Monday. It is expected that Israeli President Shimon Peres will address the audience and the long awaited guests from Moscow.

The Bolshoi Opera will present their spectacular production of Eugene Onegin, which will be shown 11 times. This grandiose “non-stop” will be launched late on Monday. “The Bolshoi Opera has indeed never performed in Israel,” deputy director general of the Bolshoi Theatre, Anton Getman, confirmed to Itar-Tass. He also said that it was Israel that had opted for Eugene Onegin. “Israeli producers wanted to show to their public exactly that opera, and we welcomed their invitation,” he said.

The new Eugene Onegin from the Bolshoi is in huge demand. Since the premier in 2006, it has already toured to a lot of countries, being shown in Grand Opera in Paris, Milan’s La Scala, London’s Covent Garden as well as Madrid’s Royal Opera House, as well as in Riga, Ljubljana, Tokyo, Beijing, Athens. Now it has arrived in Israel.

The opera will be performed on the stage of the Tel Aviv Opera House. Speaking at a news conference ahead of the tour, the director general of the Israeli Opera, Hanna Munitz, could not conceal her joy. “Our dear guests, we are proud and are very excited that we will be receiving the Bolshoi Theatre at the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv. This is an historical event for the people of Israel - we have been looking forward to it for a long time. We have dreamed for years that this will come true. My biggest wish is to see this event lay the foundation of beautiful friendship, so that we could be able to meet again in the future,” she said. All tickets to 11 performances are sold out. The Bolshoi company will be performing to the audience of 1,600 spectators.

“Even if we added 11 performances more on the bill, the Bolshoi Theatre would all the same draw capacity audience,” the director general of the Israeli Opera stressed.

A company of almost 300 people has arrived from Moscow bringing along ten containers with scenery. Leading performers of the Bolshoi will sing the leading roles, including Yekaterina Shcherbachenko, Tatyana Monogarova, Alexei Dolgov, Mikhail Kazakov, Margarita Mamsirova, Makvala Kasrashvili and many others. The Bolshoi orchestra will be conducted by Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre, Vassily Sinaisky.