The first new production to take the stage on 1 September is the timeless love story “Anna Karenina” staged by Marina Kesler to the music of Dmitry Shostakovich. “Anna Karenina” is a story wrapped in temptation, passion, and moral conflict, a turbulent tale of betrayal, dreams chased and lost, and the consequences of getting swept off your feet by love.
Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera “Don Pasquale” on 25 September is the first new opera production. Giorgio Bongiovanni’s radiant staging unveils the urgently impassioned and contemporary characters and storyline.
The concert season begins on 4 September, when Estonian National Opera celebrates the 100th anniversary of one of the most outstanding Estonian opera singers Georg Ots. “Opera Gala – Georg Ots 100!” will be given on September 4 in the Estonian National Opera and on 6 September in Pärnu Concert House. The Concert season continues on 17 October with a memorial concert dedicated to Peeter Lilje at the concert hall of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.
On 18 October, Jevgeni Grib’s short ballets “Picasso” and “Tango” that premiered on New Year’s Eve, will be back in the repertoire.
The holiday season will not go without the traditional “All Souls’ Day Concert” in St John’s church in Tallinn on 1 November with Fauré’s Requiem taking centre stage, the Christmas concert “Estonian National Opera Christmas Concert – Beethoven 250” in St John’s church in Tallinn on 17 December, and the New Year’s Eve Ball – Mister X, dedicated to Georg Ots.
As the ballet event of the fall season, the Estonian National Ballet presents an homage to the great Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky on 20 November. George Balanchine’s “Serenade” and Mai Murdmaa’s “Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6” will take the stage.
The new year will begin with a concert event: Arvo Volmer will conduct Jean Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Op. 39 and Estonian National Opera Chorus, Orchestra and the Mixed Choir of the Estonia Society will present the powerful scenic cantata “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff on the stage of the Estonia Concert Hall.
The season continues with Verdi’s “Il trovatore” in all its classical glory on 29 January. Verdi’s passionate melodrama charms with its fast-paced plot, fierce emotions, and dazzling vocal fireworks.
On 11 and 13 February, the opera theatre will perform one of Mozart’s first epic operas, which the composer wrote when he was 22 years old. “Idomeno” is one of Mozart’s more humane dramas, telling the story of the inevitabilities of war and contemplating the meaning of fate at the moment of love’s intervention.
From 5 March, Delibes’ fairy-tale ballet “Coppélia” will be on stage again, set for the stage in 2010 by Ronald Hynd.
The traditional “Women’s Day Concert” will again take place in the National Opera’s Chamber Hall as a cosy café concert.
On 26 March, Maurice Ravel’s evening of short arrangements for the whole family will premiere, the first half presenting the composer’s lyrical fantasy “The Child and the Spells”, and the second half the dance performance “Mother Goose”.
The traditional gala of International Dance Day will be held on 29 April and the MyFitness Dance Awards will once again be handed out.
The season will end with Franz Lehár’s energetic operetta “The Merry Widow”, which premiers on 28 May, set for the stage by Brazilian director André Heller-Lopes.
This season will also see the members of the theatre’s family travelling around the world. Performances and concerts will be held in St. Petersburg with Mozart’s opera “Le nozze di Figaro” and a beautiful symphony concert. The ballet “Swan Lake” will be played in Rakvere Sports Hall; the children’s musical “Buratino” will be performed in Pärnu and Jõhvi Concert Halls, Ugala Theatre, and Paide Music and Theatre House; Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces re-envisioned in Balanchine’s and Murdmaa’s short ballets will visit Haapsalu and Pärnu and a Ballet Gala will await all the citizens of Põlva.