The Dresden Opera Ball in the UAE, which will take place at the Dubai Opera in November and feature best Russian artists and celebrities, could become a new venue for forging international cultural and interpersonal ties, the ball's artistic director, Hans-Joachim Frey, told Sputnik on Thursday
ST. PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2023) The Dresden Opera Ball in the UAE, which will take place at the Dubai Opera in November and feature best Russian artists and celebrities, could become a new venue for forging international cultural and interpersonal ties, the ball's artistic director, Hans-Joachim Frey, told Sputnik on Thursday.
"I believe a new tradition is being born before our very eyes. The Dresden Opera Ball has been held in Germany since 2006. In St. Petersburg, it first took place in August 2019. The first edition of the Dubai edition of the ball was held in 2022 and hosted 1,500 guests from Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Europe. We are confident that Dubai venue will become an important location for mending and developing international cultural and interpersonal contacts," Frey said.
Fabio Mastrangelo, a guest artist and famous Italian-born conductor working in Russia, told Sputnik on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), that Frey's initiatives demonstrated the important role of culture in building bridges between nations in times of geopolitical turbulence.
"Balls are often regarded as an old format. Hans-Joachim's vision and new approach reinvented completely this typically European tradition, exporting it to far places as Dubai. It's a wonderful way to bring people together without any social, political, or cultural barrier," Mastrangelo said.
Frey added that violinist Pavel Milyukov, and opera singer Aida Garifullina, accompanied by Mastrangelo's Northern Sinfonia of the St.Petersburg F.I. Chaliapin Musical Theater, will be the highlights of the event's classical program. Russian jazz saxophonist Igor Butman will also perform.
SPIEF is taking place in the Russian city of St.Petersburg from June 14-17. RIA Novosti, a part of the Rossiya Segodnya media group, is an official media partner and the host photo agency for the event.
