Yuri Alexandrov, director and founder of the St. Petersburg Opera Theatre delivers a speech at the concert in Beijing on November 22. Photo: Hou Xiangjun/GT

In the context of the 2024 and 2025 Chinese-Russian Years of Culture, a marvelous opera concert was staged on Wednesday at the Russian Culture Center in Beijing. 

Tatiana Urzhumtseva, director of the Russian Culture Center in Beijing and, Yuri Alexandrov, director and founder of the St. Petersburg Opera Theatre attended the performance and delivered speeches. 

Alexandrov noted that the two countries have cemented close relations and Russia shares unbreakable brotherly ties with China. Meanwhile, Urzhumtseva underscored the Beijing Opera's long history that has become a beautiful representation of Chinese culture. 

"We have appeared for the first staged opera in Beijing," Russian stars from St. Petersburg Opera Theatre and "Zazerkalie" Theatre told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

They expressed their willingness to warmly welcome Chinese art experts to Russia and also noted that China has a long history of culture, especially witnessed in its diverse opera traditions such as the Beijing opera and Sichuan opera. 

"I'm looking forward to seeing more cultural collaborations with China and hope that the Chinese chorus will come to Russia," one Russian star from St. Petersburg Opera Theatre told the Global Times. 

Alexandrov agrees, saying: "I love Chinese culture and I promise that the exchanges between the two countries will deepen further," he said.

Alexandrov first came to China about 35 years ago, and remarked on the massive change that Beijing has undergone since then during his most recent visit, especially in terms of economy and culture. 

"The technology in China is very advanced, even in the small cities, and it allows actors to perform in an authentically artistic atmosphere," Alexandrov told the Global Times. 

As the Russian opera director, Alexandrov, won The Golden Mask (Russia's highest theater award) in the the categories of "Best Opera Production," "Best Opera Director," "Best Opera Designer," and "Best Opera Conductor," for his 1999 production of Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko. 

Russian stars from St.Petersburg Opera Theatre and "Zazerkalie" Theatre takes a group photo at the concert in Beijing. Photo: Hou Xiangjun/GT

There were 13 songs from well-known operas such as the Queen of Spades performed during the concert, which captivated numerous Chinese and Russian audience members and received thunderous applause. 

China-Russia relations have been deepened and developed in recent years, and the achievements of cultural exchange between the two countries are obvious to all. 

In November, the Mariinsky Theater's Opera, Ballet, Chorus, and Symphony Orchestra toured six cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Harbin, Taiyuan, and Zhuhai. 

In September, the opening ceremony of 2023 China Film Festival successfully kicked off in Moscow, Russia, attracting hundreds of moviegoers to watch the opening drama film Home Coming, starring Zhang Yi. It was another significant event under China-Russia collaboration, after the Russian Film Festival which took place in three cities across China, in Beijing, Heihe in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, and Suzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province, running from August 27 to September 3. This was the first time the Russian Film Festival project split screenings across three cities in China.