More than 5,000 spectators attended the "Strelka" arts festival in Nizhny Novgorod.

      On June 30, 2026, at 16:18, Culture and Leisure: The results of the VIII Arts Festival "Strelka" (12+) were summarized in Nizhny Novgorod, which was attended by more than 5,500 spectators. Traditionally, the festival took place on the historic stage of the Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater and the concert Packhouse with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. This year, the festival program was dedicated to the 130th anniversary of the All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1896 (6+). For three weeks in June, Nizhny Novgorod lived in the rhythm of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The festival program presented listeners with both well-known and rarely performed music. The spirit of the time, the atmosphere of search and renewal, reflected in musical scores, resonates remarkably accurately with the creative energy that Nizhny Novgorod experienced at the turn of the 19th century. "Since its inception in 2019, the 'Strelka' festival has steadily expanded and developed its program and audience. Today, it is a world-class festival offering the public premieres of new opera productions, symphonic and chamber programs dedicated to vocal music from various countries and eras. This year, we revealed a fantastically diverse and rich world of music from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The vocal and symphonic music of Puccini, Scriabin, Taneyev, Janáček, Mahler, Busoni, Szymanowski, Myaskovsky, Malipiero, Kalinnikov, Webern, Tchaikovsky, and Leoncavallo intertwined in the festival concerts, recreating the unique musical atmosphere of that time," noted Alexey Trifonov, artistic director of the Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater and the Arts Festival "Strelka." The VIII Arts Festival "Strelka" opened with the premiere of Giacomo Puccini's opera "La Bohème" (12+) directed by Ekaterina Odegova. The world premiere of this opera took place exactly 130 years ago, in 1896, and the Nizhny Novgorod stage version became a bridge between eras. After four premiere performances of "La Bohème," the pulse of the festival shifted to the concert Packhouse at Strelka, where intellectual and sensual chamber music was performed. In the festival's symphonic concerts featuring contemporary Russian conductors Fyodor Lednev and Fyodor Beznosikov, works by Gustav Mahler, Karol Szymanowski, Alexander Scriabin, Gian Francesco Malipiero, Vasily Kalinnikov, Anton von Webern, and Ferruccio Busoni were performed. "One of the main features of this year's 'Strelka' is the opportunity to hear music that rarely appears in concert programs, despite its undeniable artistic value. Myaskovsky, Szymanowski, Busoni, Malipiero are names well known to musicians but not always familiar to the general public. It is all the more pleasant to see that the audience's interest in such programs turned out to be very high. Full halls confirmed a simple fact — the audience is ready for discoveries if they are spoken to honestly and offered music backed by talent, meaning, and a real story. For musicians, this is also a rare opportunity to perform compositions that are not often heard on the domestic stage, and for the festival, a reason to expand the understanding of how rich and diverse the musical world is," emphasized acting director of the Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater Eduard Musakhanants. At the festive closing of the festival, conducted by Maestro Dmitry Sinkovsky, one-act operas "Pagliacci" (12+) by Ruggero Leoncavallo and "Iolanta" (12+) by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, whose world premieres took place in 1892, were performed for the first time in one evening. Stars of the premiere block of "La Bohème" — Maria Kalinina, Konstantin Suchkov, Evgeny Fan, Matvey Paskhalsky, Ekaterina Yasinetskaya, Sergey Kuzmin — shone in the roles of Nedda, Tonio, Silvio, René, Iolanta, and Vaudemont. One of the world's best tenors, Ivan Gyngazov, made his debut in the role of Canio. Despite the end of the theater season, from July 1, the Pianissimo (12+) piano festival will start at the concert Packhouse, and from July 10, a series of concerts "Towards Music. Jazz" (12+). NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" has channels on Telegram and MAX. Subscribe to stay updated on major events, exclusive materials, and timely information. Copyright © 1999—2025 NIA "Nizhny Novgorod." When reprinting, a hyperlink to NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" is mandatory. This resource may contain materials 18+.