Established in 1927 as a tribute to the internationally distinguished Spanish tenor, the festival is held on the Canary Islands every year. Taking place at Kraus’ birth place, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s warm sun, blue sea and exceptional historic legacy are unfolded before guests. The first-class opera productions featuring world renowned artists inside the grandeur of concert halls are well-matched by the city’s unique multi-ethnic culture outside opera houses. The curtains of the 2012 edition will be lifted upon Bizet’s Carmen, with soloists Nancy Fabiola Herrera, Aquiles Machado and more. Bellini’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi will be jointly presented by Daniela Barcellona, Yolana Auyanet and more artists. The spotlight will also be on Verdi’s Rigoletto and Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de Perles, featuring Alberto Gazale, Nino Machaidze, Juan Diego Florez and many more international musicians.

Following the opening of the National Centre for Performing Arts in 2008, the festival is organized annually to provide opera performances of world-class quality. In addition to selections of the classical repertoires, it also features traditional Chinese operas and new commissioned works by local artists so as to promote the diverse ethnic music of the country. In 2012, the programme includes a wide variety of classical and modern operas. Sun Xiuwei, Cellia Costea, Aquiles Machado and Renzo Zulian will join the China NCPA Orchestra and NCPA Chorus to perform Puccini’s Tosca under the baton of Lu Jia. The Korea National Opera will present Puccini’s La Boheme conducted by Myung-Whun Chung, other highlights include commissioned operatic works by Chinese composers.

Ever since its inception in 1993, Le French May has staged numerous events of the highest international caliber and is now one of the largest French arts festivals in Asia. It offers audiences a rich cornucopia of French culture, covering a broad array of artistic disciplines including visual arts, classical and contemporary music, dance, multi-arts performance and cinema. Besides, the festival also runs Le French Fashion May, as well as Le French GourMay, which is a stand-alone programme dedicated to the culinary arts. The 2012 edition will open with Hong Kong Sinfonietta’s performance of Fauré’s Requiem, Op 48. Bizet’s Carmen will be performed by Shanghai Opera House Orchestra under Philippe Arlaud’s baton, staging soloists Rinat Shaham, Jean Pierre Furlan, Isabelle Cals, Jean-Luc Ballestra and many more. Jean-Claude Pennetier will collaborate with Hong Kong Sinfonietta to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466. The spotlight will also be on François Chaplin, Daishin Kashimoto, Le Quatuor Bordeaux and many more artists.