Opera and poetry night in Shakespeare's honour

BELGRADE - The National Theatre in Belgrade will organise an opera and poetry night on Sunday to mark the 450th anniversary of birth of English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

Within the programme entitled '"U mracnoj noci/In the dark night/Nella notte densa', the audience will have a chance to hear segments of Shakespeare's work in English, Italian and Serbian which have been an inspiration for opera composers in all eras.

In addition to the famous opera arias and duets, the programme will also feature solos composed for Shakespeare's sonnets and songs which were originally used in staging Shakespeare's plays during his lifetime.

Within the programme, the audience will have a chance to hear performances by famous opera singers including soprano Jasmina Trumbetas Petrovic, Janko Sinadinovic and Dusan Plaznic, as well as soprano Natasa Tasic Knezevic as the guest solo and actor Nenad Hadzi Maricic who will recite the sonnets translated by Jelisaveta Milojevic.

Among other works, the programme features Macduff's aria from Verdi's opera 'Macbeth', arias and duet from Verdi's 'Othello', Falstaff's aria and Julia's aria from Bellini's 'I Capuleti e i Montecchi'.