Uzbekistan will play host to the third International Festival of opera and ballet \"Toshkent Bahori\" – \"Tashkent Spring\" from 16 to 27 May.

The capital\'s Palace of Arts Turkiston will open its doors to the famous opera and ballet masters from Italy, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

President Islam Karimov in his book \"High Spirituality is Invincible Force\" writes that the art of theater is an integral part of our national culture. Theater as a temple of art and culture plays an important role in upbringing of the individual, possessing high spirituality, healthy and independent thinking.

The director of the State Academic Theatre named after Alisher Navoi, Honored Worker of Culture of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Yoqubov, spoke to the UzA reporter about the festival, its role and importance for the domestic arts as well as planned activities.

\"After the declaration of independence, national art has gained a new inspiration and broader horizons for creativity,\" said Bakhtiyor Yoqubov. \"Theater sphere began to develop, especially after adoption of the Presidential resolution \"On the development of theatrical art of Uzbekistan\" dated from 26 March 1998. The main objectives of the reforms carried out in this field have become enrichment of theater with new content, creating conditions for the free activity of creative workers and encouraging them to reach new creative heights.\"

In recent years, a variety of events have been held at our theater thanks to the support of the state. Among them is the festival of \"Tashkent Spring\", which serves as a strong impetus for further expansion of international creative communications, glorifying the ideas of peace, friendship and mutual understanding.

The festival was first held in 2007 and received a positive resonance among the Uzbek and foreign public. Soloists of our theater together with the opera and ballet soloists from abroad showed their skills at one scene.

The main objective of the festival, which has already become traditional, is not only to introduce the achievements of Uzbekistan in the development of opera and ballet, but also the progress achieved in this field in other countries, strengthening and expansion of international cooperation of creative people.

Festival organizers are the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the State Academic Theatre named after Alisher Navoi, the Fund \"Forum of Culture and Arts of Uzbekistan\" and the creative and production association Uzbekteatr.

At this time, the festival will involve not only artists, but also producers, managers, directors of theaters, in order to discuss future development plans and fruitful cooperation. The festival will be attended by the best representatives of opera from Italy, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Together with the Uzbek masters of bel canto they will give the audience opportunity to listen again to the great works of classical composers.

The art festival will begin on 16 May with the presentation of Giuseppe Verdi\'s opera \"La Traviata\". In the next days, ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky \"Swan Lake\", Giacomo Puccini\'s opera \"La Boheme\" and operas by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov \"The Tsar\'s Bride\" and Pietro Mascagni\'s \"Cavalleria Rusticana\" will be performed.

These days, the celebrities – People’s singers of Uzbekistan Muyassar Razzoqova and Avaz Rajabov, Honored singer of Uzbekistan Ramiz Usmonov and also foreign celebrities, including famous Italian conductor Eddy De Nadai and Maurizio Ciampi, People\'s singers of the Republic of Belarus Sergei Frankovskiy and Vladimir Petrov, Honored singer of Ukraine Victor Ploskina and others will show their high skills. (Source: Uzbekistan National news agency)