The Bolshoi Theatre will send its chorus and orchestra to Teatro La Scala in Milan from January 7 to 9 to kick off a three-year collaboration accord between the two historic theatres.
The new agreement revives those in 1964 and 1973-74 and will involve the two theatres exchanging music, ballet and opera productions, Bolshoi director Aleksander Vedernikov told the foreign press here on Thursday.
Vedernikov said he regretted that his theatre would not be able to stage or host productions until at least October 2009. This because of delays in renovation work which began in 2005 and was to have been completed in October of next year.
However, when the theatre does reopen La Scala will be the first foreign company to perform on its stage.
In his meeting with the press, the 43-year-old Bolshoi director said Italy was ''the best country in the world to collaborate with'' and added that negotiations were in progress to have his company also perform in Florence, Naples and Cagliari.
The performances in Italy, Vedernikov explained, were part of a new strategy for the famed Moscow theatre to expand its international horizons.
This will include tours in Japan and Europe, especially Paris and Vienna, as well as in the United States, with the Metropolitan in New York the most likely candidate to host the Bolshoi.
The collaboration accord with La Scala began to take shape last summer and the final details still have to be worked out, Vedernikov said.
Next October La Scala's orchestra and chorus will travel to Moscow for a number of performances at the Bolshoi's temporary home, set up in a building next to the original theatre.
The Bolshoi company is set to return to La Scala in November 2009, two months after La Scala's ballet company performs at the Bolshoi.
The collaboration between the two theatres winds up in 2010 with La Scala company performing concerts and staging an opera at the renovated Bolshoi Theatre.
The exchanges between the Milan and Moscow theatres in 1964 marked the Bolshoi's first foray abroad, while their collaboration between 1973-74 included solo performances by such Italian greats as Mario del Monaco, Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti.
