HIGH NOTE :: Opera Nova and Bydgoszcz Opera Festival - Part I

'Bydgoszcz Opera Festival' was launched in 1994 and has played host to foreign companies such as A. Makarov Ballet Theatre from St. Petersburg, the National Opera Establish­ment from Sofia, the Academic Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus from Minsk and the National Opera Establishment of Ukraine from Kiev.

Traditionally, Opera NOVA opens each Festival. So far the host company has given its performances of G. Verdi's Nabucco, directed and staged by Ryszard Peryt (1995); G. Puccini's Turandot directed by Marek Weiss-Grzesiński (1996); W. A. Mo­zart's Don Giovanni under the musical management of Mie­czysław Nowakowski (1997); J. Offenbach's fantasy opera The Tales of Hoffmann, an impressive production staged with a flourish by Waldemar Zawodziński (1998); and the premiere performance of G. Bizet’s Carmen directed by the American Bodo Igesz with stage decorations by Paweł Dobrzycki and choreography by Montse Sanchez (Spain), under the musical man­agement of Maciej Figas (1999).

Reporter Ela Krajewska spoke to festival director over the last two decades, Maciej Figas.