Operosa

Operosa is an annual classical music and opera festival. Devoted mainly to opera, it also includes concerts of orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo instrumental music. Operosa is active in Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro with main office in Belgrade, Serbia. Since 2014 the Operosa Opera Festival is held in Montenegro.

Photograph of the background sets at Operosa Evxinograg 2007 Don Giovanni performance.

History

Operosa was founded by Finnish mezzo-soprano Katherine Haataja in 2006.^[1] The first open air opera festival was launched in June 2007 in Varna, Bulgaria in the open air of the Euxinograd castle garden with the opera Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart.^[2][3] The following year festival performances were held in Sofia at the Ivan Vazov National Theatre. Operosa returned to Euxinograd in 2009 and 2010 with performances of La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc,^[4][5][6][7] and Romeo & Juliette by Charles Gounod.^[8][9][10] In 2011 Operosa produced opera performances in Belgrade in Serbia at the Belgrade Youth Center. It was the first time an opera was performed at the center. 2012 was dedicated to baroque opera with workshops, master classes and performances of Pimpinone opera by Georg Philipp Telemann at the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment in Belgrade in Serbia as well as at Betahaus in Sofia, Bulgaria. In 2013 Operosa participated in performances at the Night of Culture event in Herceg Novi in Montenegro. The very first international full-scale opera performance in Montenegro was produced in collaboration with Porto Montenegro in Tivat in September 2014 with Romeo & Juliette by Charles Gounod. ^{[11][12][13][14]} Since 2015 the Operosa Montenegro Opera Festival takes place in the Old Town, the Forte Mare and the Kanli Kula Fortress open air amphitheater in Herceg Novi, Montenegro.^{[15] [16][17]}

The educational program Operosa Academia was initiated in 2012 and is active in Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro. It provides training all year round for young opera and classical music artists with master classes, workshops and smaller scale opera performances.^[18] Operosa also supports young artists with awards and stipends.

Operosa has collaboration and exchange schemes with international opera establishments such as Aix-en-Provence Festival, Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, Aldeburgh Music Helsinki Festival, La Monnaie, Dutch National Opera and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through the ENOA network of European opera academies.^[19]

Artists

Artists who have performed and worked at Operosa include mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore, soprano Darina Takova, alto Marijana Mijanovic, mezzo-soprano Katherine Haataja, set designer Jamie Vartan, stage director John La Bouchardiere, stage director Martin Lloyd-Evans, stage director and designer Tim Hopkins, stage director Seth Yorra, lighting and set designer Simon Corder, costume and set designer Domenico Franchi, organist and harpsichordist Jeremy Joseph, conductor Eraldo Salmieri, Sofia Symphonic Orchestra, Varna Philharmonic Society Chamber Orchestra and Montenegrin Symphony Orchestra

Past productions

• 2007: Don Giovanni by W.A. Mozart (Euxinograd, Varna, Bulgaria)
• 2008: Opera & Arabesque Ballet (Ivan Vazov National Theatre, Sofia, Bulgaria)
• 2009: La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc (Euxinograd, Varna, Bulgaria)
• 2010: Romeo & Juliette by Charles Gounod (Euxinograd, Varna, Bulgaria)
• 2011: La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc (Belgrade Youth Center, Belgrade, Serbia)
• 2012: Pimpinone by Georg Philipp Telemann (Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment, Belgrade, Serbia)
• 2012: Pimpinone by Georg Philipp Telemann (Betahaus, Sofia, Bulgaria)
• 2013: La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc (Night of Culture, Herceg Novi, Montenegro)
• 2014: Romeo & Juliette by Charles Gounod (Porto Montenegro, Tivat, Montenegro)
• 2015: Cosi Fan Tutte by W.A. Mozart (Kanli Kula, Herceg Novi, Montenegro)
• 2015: Lo Speziale by Joseph Haydn (Studentski kulturni centar, Belgrade, Serbia)
• 2016: La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini (Kanli Kula, Herceg Novi, Montenegro)

Other media

In 2007 Operosa released a recording named “Perle” under the label Orpheus Music.^[20] It features works by W.A. Mozart, G. Rossini, G.F. Handel, A. Vivaldi and Giulio Caccini performed by the Sofia Symphonic Orchestra together with conductor Nayden Todorov, mezzo-soprano Katherine Haataja, guitar by Rosen Balkanski and harpsichord by Magdalena Vasileva.

In 2012 Operosa launched an online social media platform for opera and classical music artists called the Operosa Forum.^[21] The majority of its users are young aspiring artists from divers parts of the world.

See also

• List of opera festivals
• Euxinograd
• Varna

References

External links

• www.operosa.org