The International Festival of Operatic and Ballet Stars “Maria Biesu Invites” was inaugurated last night, September 11, by the prima donna herself, who walked onstage accompanied by the director of the Opera and Ballet Theater Ghenadie Badica. “I promise you I’ll get well and I’ll sing on the great stage again”, declared Maria Biesu, eyes in tears. “It has been one year since the last edition of the Festival, but it’s like yesterday. I’m very glad to be here with the dearest audience, here on this stage, together with my fellow colleagues, with the orchestra, with everything I hold so dear, because this is what I dedicated my entire life and heart to”, the prima donna said. The XVII Festival Maria Biesu Invites opened with the two-act opera about the Moldavian medieval prince Alexandru Lapusneanu, with Mihail Munteanu in the leading role. While most of the Festival’s shows will be presented at the Opera and Ballet Theater, a charity concert will be staged as part of the Festival on September 13 at the Organ Hall, and the final show – the Gala Concert – at the National Palace on September 19, featuring special guests from Romania, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Slovenia. Among the performers of this year’s Festival are: Yevgeny Akimov (St. Petersburg, Russia), Maria Lobanova (Moscow, Russia), Peter Danailov (Sofia, Bulgaria), Alicja Wegoryewsca (Warsaw, Poland), Felicia Filip (Bucharest, Romania), Oleg Ionese (Bucharest, Romania), Dagmar Zaludkova (Prague, the Czech Republic), Tatiana Vladimirova (Krasnodar, Russia), Denis Vladimirov (Krasnodar, Rusia) and Michal Lehotsky ( Bratislava, Slovenia). Renoned conducters are expected at the Festival, among them Marco Boemi (Rome, Italy), Alexandru Samoila (Antalya, Turkey), Vladimir Garcusa (Kiev, Ukraine) and Nikolai Koleadko (Minsk, Belarus). The Festival is organized by the Moldovan Minister of Culture and Tourism, the Union of Musicians, the National Opera and Ballet Theater and is held under the patronage of the Moldovan Government.