"The Lady of the Camellias" at the National Opera and Ballet on 28 November - Verdi without singing, "La Traviata" as ballet

The ballet "The Lady of the Camellias", set to the music of Giuseppe Verdi, is performed on 28 November at 7:30 pm at the National Opera and Ballet in Skopje. Marguerite is danced by Marija Kičevska Šokarovska, Armand is Francisco Jiménez Ruiz, and the conductor is Eduard Ambartsumyan from Armenia.

It isn't an opera, even though the poster says Verdi. The dramatic basis comes from his "La Traviata", and the staging is by Russian choreographer Vasily Medvedev, with a libretto by Jana Temiz and sets, costumes and lighting by Pavol Juráš from Slovakia. The house has had it in the repertoire since the premiere on 31 October 2014.

The story begins at a ball: naive young Armand falls in love at first sight with the ailing Marguerite, camellias bought on a Paris street become the symbol of their relationship, and then come the debts and his father with a diamond bracelet. She throws it on the floor, yet still promises to leave him. A father trying to buy off someone else's love with diamonds is a figure that needs no translation in the Balkans.

The ticket costs 800 denars and is bought at the box office of the National Opera and Ballet, as the house doesn't sell through ticketing sites.