Skopje, 8 May 2026 (MIA) — The 54th May Opera Evenings festival will open Saturday at the National Opera and Ballet, featuring a lineup of seven operas by Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi and a performance of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake." 

Running through May 31, the festival begins with the back-to-back premieres of Puccini’s "Suor Angelica" and "Gianni Schicchi" staged in a single evening, organizers told a press conference Thursday.

Renowned Macedonian soprano Ana Durlovski will light the traditional festival fire to mark the opening.

The schedule continues with several operatic and ballet performances, beginning with Verdi’s "Rigoletto" on May 13, followed by Puccini’s "Tosca" on May 16 and "Madama Butterfly" on May 20. The festival programming then shifts to ballet with Tchaikovsky’s "Swan Lake" on May 22, before returning to Verdi's operas "La Traviata" on May 27 and a festival-closing performance of "Nabucco" on May 31.

National Opera and Ballet Director Oliver Arsovski said the repertoire "carefully combines tradition with new energy." 

He noted the festival served as proof that the NOB can compete with major European stages.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Minister Ljutkov praised the event as a symbol of Macedonian cultural ambition.

"The May Opera Evenings are a cultural message that this country has the capacity, talent and vision to create events equal to European ones," Ljutkov said, adding that the ministry viewed the festival as a strategic investment in the nation’s cultural identity. mr/