BMW Opera for All: Russian premiere of BMW Group’s outdoor series in Moscow

On Sunday, June 24, Moscow witnessed an unique musical event – the festival “BMW Opera for All”, organized by the BMW Group Russia together with the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. The oldest orchestra in the country – the Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra under the guidance of its Chief Conductor and Music Director Tugan Sokhiev ‒ gave a free, open-air concert in the spectacular setting of Moscow’s Theatre Square. The capital’s residents and guests enjoyed the arias from outstanding classical works by Russian and foreign composers.

“Open-air concerts with the stars of the world classical scene have already become a good tradition in Europe. Thanks to this BMW Group’s initiative, Berlin, Munich and London have been hosting the ‘Opera for All’ festival for many years. We are delighted to be able to take it over and bring this musical festival to Russia, together with our long-term partner, the Bolshoi Theatre,” said Stefan Teuchert, CEO BMW Group Russia, “We’ve supported many high-profile premieres held in the theater, and now we let music outside. With the launch of the joint ‘Garage/BMW : Art/Tech Grant’, this year has already become very special for the concern’s cultural presence in Russia, and ‘Opera for All’ will make it just unforgettable. This project perfectly conveys the essence of BMW Group’s cultural activities: Bringing classical music outside the concert hall, it gives people the opportunity to enjoy art with no limitations whatsoever.”

Vladimir Urin, the general director of the Bolshoi Theatre: “I am very glad that thanks to our long-term cooperation with the BMW Group Russia, this June the residents and guests of Moscow will have an opportunity not only to watch the matches of the World Cup, but also to enjoy a concert of the soloists and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre. It seems very important to me to expand our audience. I hope that many listeners of this concert will return later to the theatre for our performances.”

Concerts from the BMW Group opera series are highly anticipated events in the musical calendars of European capitals. Since 2007, thanks to the BMW Group, more than 400,000 music fans have been able to enjoy the festival. Under the guidance of Tugan Sokhiev, over 100 musicians of the Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra appeared on stage at the premiere in Moscow under the theme “BMW Opera beyond borders”. In the first section, the soloists of the theatre performed the main arias from the best Russian operas: “The Snow Maiden” and “May Night” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, “Eugene Onegin” and “The Queen of Spades” by Peter Tchaikovsky. The programme also included the overture to Mikhail Glinka’s opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and the romance by Alexander Alyabyev “The Nightingale”. The second part of the concert was devoted to the works by foreign composers. The guests heard excerpts from works by Giuseppe Verdi – “La Traviata” and “La forza del destino”, the operas by Gaetano Donizetti – “Don Pasquale”, “L’elisir d’amore” and the musical masterpieces by Georges Bizet – “Carmen” and “Les pêcheursde perles”. The perfect complement to the programme served “Barcarolá” – the gentlest duet for soprano and mezzo-soprano from Jacques Offenbach’s last opera “Les contes d’Hoffmann”.

Following Moscow, the event will be held in the British capital. The London Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Trafalgar Square on July 1. Under the guidance of Sir Simon Rattle – the sixth in the list of top-20 greatest conductors of all time, according to BBC Music Magazine – for the sixth time, the orchestra will give a free concert in London. This year’s program will be devoted to the theme of dance and ballet and will include works by Dvorak, Massenet, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky. In addition, Trafalgar Square will host the world premiere of the 29-year-old pianist and composer Kate Whitley, the founder of the Multi-Story Orchestra, which promotes availability of classical music.