Saša Matovina / Ressenyes

In the opera "Madama Butterfly" the role of the young Japanese Cio-Cio San will be sung by the champion of the Anamarija Knego Theater Program at the Croatian National Theater Ivana pl. Zajc begins with the pre-season, a two-day musical-scenic introduction to the new theater season, on Friday, September 10 and Saturday, September 11, 2021, reports from the Rijeka Theater. The first on the program at 8 pm is Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly", created in collaboration with the Croatian National Theater in Split, directed by Dražen Siriščević. The same place, the same hour, but on the second day on the "Zajc" stage, the Opera and Ballet of the Slovenian National Theater from Ljubljana will perform in a concert program. In the opera "Madama Butterfly", the role of the young Japanese Cio-Cio San will be sung by the champion of the Anamarija Knego Theater, and the reckless officer of the US Navy Pinkerton will be played by the theater champion Aljaž Farasin. The role of Suzuki will be played by Ivana Srbljan, and the role of Sharpless will be sung by Robert Kolar. Other roles will be played by Marko Fortunato, Saša Matovina, Slavko Sekulić, Dario Bercich and others. The opera will be conducted by Valentin Egel, chief conductor of the Rijeka Symphony Orchestra. The concert on Saturday will be conducted by Slovenian maestro Marko Hribernik, and the program includes arias and duets from operettas, comic operas and comic Spanish zurzuela signed by Strauss, Lehár, Offenbach, Bernstein, Smetana, Chapí, Fernández Caballero and others. - Let's just mention some like "Bat", "Happy Widows", "Land of Smiles", "Sold Brides". .. As soloists, with the orchestra of the Ljubljana SNG, will perform stars of the Slovenian opera scene, sopranos Urška Arlič Gololičič and Urška Breznik, mezzo-soprano Nuška Drašček, baritone Jože Vidic and Slovenian tenor, champion of the Rijeka HNK Aljaž Farasin. The program will also include the eternally popular polkas and waltzes of Strauss II. with performances by the ballet ensemble choreographed by the famous Robert Zanella - reported from the Theater, noting that tickets for both programs can be purchased online from September 1, and at the box office "Zajc" from September 3.