As part of the 58th Belgrade Music Festival (BEMUS), Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata will be performed on 28 October on the Main Stage of the National Theatre in Belgrade at 7 p.m. under the baton of the renowned Romanian maestro Cristian Sandu and the production will feature three guest artists, as well as two soloists making their role debuts.

Throughout his remarkable career, Sandu has collaborated with leading Romanian opera houses and philharmonic orchestras, and from 2013 to 2016 he served successfully as Principal Guest Conductor of the National Opera in Bucharest. On the international stage he has also made notable appearances and undertaken tours across Asia, Europe and South America, conducting symphony orchestras and ballet productions in Japan, South Korea, Colombia and elsewhere. He made his debut at the National Theatre in Belgrade on 3 October 2021, when he conducted a gala concert dedicated to the celebrated Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi, marking the 120th anniversary of his death. Sandu holds a doctorate in the stylistic aspects of Italian opera, gives vocal masterclasses throughout Europe, and regularly participates as a lecturer at international conferences and as a jury member at prestigious competitions.

The guest soloists will be led by acclaimed Romanian soprano Diana Țugui in the title role of Violetta Valéry, the tragic Parisian courtesan. She graduated from the “George Enescu” University in Bucharest, and in her more than two decades long stage experience as an opera soloist she has received numerous national and international awards. Apart from Violetta Valéry, her most notable roles include Mimì (La Bohème), Gilda (Rigoletto), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Marguerite (Faust), Liù (Turandot) and Nannetta (Falstaff).

The role of Alfredo Germont, a passionate, impulsive and naïve young man whose love for Violetta fluctuates between romantic obsession and destructive jealousy, will be performed by Ermin Ašćerić, a talented soloist of the National Theatre Opera in Sarajevo. Born in 1999 in Zenica, this award-winning young artist completed both his undergraduate and master’s studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, in the class of Željko Lučić, receiving numerous distinctions at prestigious competitions during his studies. He has performed a range of successful roles, with notable appearances including Alfredo, Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Prince Sinodal (The Demon), Rade (At Dawn), the Emperor (Turandot) and Remendado (Carmen).

The role of Alfredo’s father, Giorgio Germont, embodying the rigid bourgeois morality, social conventions and patriarchal authority of the 19th century, will be portrayed by Željko Andrić, Principal Opera Singer of the Serbian National Theatre Opera in Novi Sad. He received his education at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad and the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, where he completed his master’s degree in the class of Nikola Mijailović. Throughout his career, he has received several major awards and his extensive baritone repertoire includes, alongside Giorgio Germont, other leading roles such as Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Count di Luna (Il trovatore), Amonasro (Aida), Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore) and Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana).

In this performance of La Traviata, soloists Anđela Simić (Flora Bervoix) and Stefan Pavlović (Baron Douphol) will be making their role debuts. The cast also includes Tatjana Mitić (Annina), Mihailo Šljivić (Doctor Grenvil), Slobodan Živković (Gastone/Giuseppe), Miloš Gašić (Marquis d’Obigny) and Ranko Jović (the Commissioner).

The Orchestra and Choir of the National Theatre in Belgrade will also take part in the performance.

The 1991 production directed by Borislav Popović has been revived by Ivana Dragutinović Maričić.

The set designer is Boris Maksimović, the costume designer Božana Jovanović, and the choreographer Vladimir Logunov.

The libretto, based on Alexandre Dumas fils’s novel Camille, was written by Francesco Maria Piave.

BEMUS, Serbia’s most important festival of classical music, is being held this year from 17 to 30 October under the slogan “Music Beyond Time”.