After more than 300 cultural events within which around 130 artists presented themselves, the end of the ‘Migrations’ programme arch of the European Capital of Culture will be marked by another spectacular work, the premiere of the opera ‘Vladimir and Kosara’ that will be performed by the Opera of the Serbian National Theatre on 28 March at 8:22 p.m.

The ‘Vladimir and Kosara’ opera is a step towards the regional opera scene, where we don’t have a chance to see contemporary and local authors often. That is why the synergy with the institution such as the Serbian National Theatre, which marks 161 years of its existence, is of great importance for raising capacities of the city’s cultural scene, and production capacities in the year when Novi Sad proudly bears the European Capital of Culture title.

That is not only the first but also the only opera performance, whose author is one of the most famous Serbian composers of classical music and librettists, Stevan Divjaković, this year’s winner of the February Award, while the director is the renowned Aleksandar Nikolić. The opera will be performed by the guest from Bulgaria, the General Music Director of State Opera Plovdiv, maestro Dian Tchobanov.

Pride, dignity, love, betrayal, redemption all together make the oldest love story of the region. ‘Vladimir and Kosara’ is a story that is being retold, inspires, moves from epoch to epoch and appears under some other names and forms for more than 10 centuries.

Director Aleksandar Nikolić stresses that the opera is conceived as a great historical fresco and a dream at the same time. ‘We use big puppets in dreamy scenes, while each of the characters has their beast double – Kosara is a silver roe deer. Vladimir is a silver deer, the emperor Samuel is a big bear, while Vladislav is a black wolf,’ said Nikolić, adding that the work is far from realism: ‘In opera, the word is not dominant. It is just a piece of information. Music is a subtext, and it depicts the emotion and meaning of the word. Light and visual appearance can also contribute to the work. I would like opera to be out of touch with reality, to lead it on a path that is often risky’.

Humour and Tolerance at the Very End of ‘Migrations’

The team of ‘Državni posao’ (Government Job) will hold a premiere of the play ‘The Great Migration of Archivists’ for the very end of the ‘Migrations’ programme arch, scheduled in the cultural and educational institution Cultural Centre ‘Mladost’ Futog on 8 April at 8 p.m. Tickets purchased for 29 March, when the premiere was previously scheduled, are valid for the new date of the premiere performance, 8 April. The second performance of the play is scheduled for April 9.

The popular characters Čvarkov, Torbica and Boškić deal with the problem of migration in the region in a humorous way, this time, out of their office. Our heroes find themselves in a new unknown environment, in a warehouse where they are forced to live, where the conditions for three people to stay are not met, while at the same time they cannot avoid their work obligations because they are forced to work to get permission to return to the ‘home office’.

The director of the play is Petar Jovanović, while the project has been organised by Laureat D.O.O.

Anyone interested in seeing the play can buy tickets in the cultural and educational institution Cultural Centre ‘Mladost’ Futog.

Photo: Promo, V. Veličković