Soloists of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre Zoya Rzheplyanskaya and Aliona Babivskaya performed the concert of the Russian romance songs Mellifluous Nightingale in Bogotol. This is the first event of a concert tour within the project Promotion of Opera Art in Small Towns of the Krasnoyarsk Region.

That was Zoya Rzheplyanskaya who came up with the idea of the project. The project team also includes the Theatre’s soloist Aliona Babivskaya, the children's folk ensemble Ozornie Perelivy headed by Oleg Karataev and Irina Oleynik. The piano part was performed in Bogotol by a recent graduate of the Hvorostovsky Siberian Institute of Arts Alexander Sokolov.

Zoya believes that the mission of the project is to involve residents of small towns in cultural events and develop their interest in the opera art: “Due to remoteness or their busyness, many local residents can’t afford to go to a big city to watch an opera show or classical concert. You don't need to go anywhere. We shall come to you."

Bogotol (where the first concert of the project took place) is the hometown of Zoya Rzheplyanskaya; she is known and loved there. Concert spectators awarded the singers a storm of applause. Mayor of Bogotol Elena Demenkova handed them letters of gratitude. The concert programme included works by Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Rachmaninov, Slonimsky; and the event ended in full accordance with its title - with the famous virtuoso romance song The Nightingale by Alexander Alyabyev performed by soloists as a duet.

Let us add that Zoya Rzheplyanskaya will take the stage of the Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theatre in Gaetano Donizetti’s opera Don Pasquale on December 23; Aliona Babivskaya - in the opera performance He, She, and the Telephone that is to take place in the foyer of the Theatre on December 2.