On 17 July 2017, on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, Jüri Leiten, general manager of the Saaremaa Opera Festival, Wu Ji, director of the Shanghai Opera, and Szilveszter Ókovács, general director of the Hungarian State Opera signed the contract about the cooperation of the three institutes. As a result, the two exclusive partners of the 2018 Saaremaa Opera Festival are the Chinese and the Hungarian Opera.
The Hungarian State Opera is taking three grandiose productions to the island in the Baltic Sea. After negotiations of one and a half years, the titles of these productions can now be made public. On the request of the Estonian partner, Der Zigeunerbaron (which premiered in March 2017) is to be presented as it is a popular piece associated with the Hungarians. Another recent production, La Traviata as well as a classic Le nozze di Figaro will be featured in the programme of the festival next summer. Following the three performances, we will present a Hungarian-Italian opera gala which will feature the Hungarian National Ballet as well.