The Romanian Cultural Institute in Tokyo, in collaboration with the Bucharest National Opera and the Embassy of Romania, is proud to present an extraordinary recital on May 4, 2026. Featuring the acclaimed soprano Iulia Isaev and pianist Liana Mareș, the evening offers the Japanese public a rare glimpse into the brilliance of Romanian lyrical art. Serving as a refined preview of the 2026 Bucharest Opera Festival, the program invites the audience to discover a curated selection of world-famous arias alongside the hidden gems of Romanian classical music—a true testament to the excellence of the Bucharest National Opera.
The evening will serve as the official unveiling of the Bucharest Opera Festival’s fifth edition, offering an exclusive preview of the upcoming season's highlights. Preceding the recital, the festival’s initiator and renowned music critic, Oltea Șerban-Pârâu, will deliver a lecture reflecting on the event’s first four years—charting its evolution from a bold vision into a landmark of international cultural significance.
The program also features the screening of Bucharest Opera Festival 2025, a cinematic documentary directed by Virgil Oprina that captures the triumph of the previous edition. Joining the celebration, Daniel Jinga, General Manager of the Bucharest National Opera, will share his vision for the future of Romanian opera, highlighting the festival’s vital role as a cultural bridge to the global stage:
„We bring the spirit of the Bucharest Opera Festival to Tokyo to reaffirm with dignity: the Bucharest National Opera is not only a keeper of tradition, but an active player on the great European cultural stage. Launching the fifth edition outside Europe is a strategic gesture, proof that Romanian lyrical excellence has international resonance.”
Now entering its milestone fifth edition, the Bucharest Opera Festival continues to elevate Bucharest’s prestige among the world’s great cultural capitals. From its inception, the festival has served as a distinguished nexus for the performing arts, seamlessly bridging domestic excellence with the international lyrical stage.
BIOGRAPHIES
Soprano Iulia Isaev is a preeminent figure of the Romanian vocal school, carrying its storied heritage to the forefront of the global lyrical scene. Her prestigious international career is highlighted by a decade of excellence, notably marked by her leading appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, where she delivered acclaimed interpretations ofTosca and Tatyana inEugene Onegin.
A graduate of the National University of Music in Bucharest, under the guidance of the distinguished maestro Arta Florescu, she distinguished herself during her student years by winning awards at international competitions such as „Loire Atlantique” Nantes (France), „George Enescu” Bucharest, and „Madama Butterfly” Barcelona (Spain).
Her artistic debut took place on the stage of the Bucharest National Opera in the role of Micaëla in Carmen by G. Bizet, followed by an intense career during which she was invited to prestigious opera houses in Europe, Asia, and the United States, including Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Cologne Opera, Schwetzingen Schloss Opera Festival, Zurich Opera House, Hamburg State Opera, Paris National Opera (Palais Garnier), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra National de Lorraine Nancy, Opéra National du Rhin Strasbourg, La Monnaie Brussels, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, La Fenice and Teatro Malibran Venice, Teatro San Carlo Lisbon, Greek National Opera, New National Theatre Tokyo and Bunkamura Hall Tokyo, Seoul Opera House, and the Metropolitan Opera New York.
She has performed leading roles such as Mimi (La Bohème), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Tosca (Tosca), Manon Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Liu (Turandot), Desdemona (Otello), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Marguerite (Faust), Giulietta (The Tales of Hoffmann), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Countess (The Marriage of Figaro), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin), Nedda (Pagliacci), Adriana Lecouvreur (Adriana Lecouvreur), Elsa of Brabant (Lohengrin), and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser).
She has collaborated with renowned conductors such as James Levine, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Michel Plasson, Marco Armiliato, Carlo Rizzi, Fabio Luisi, Mstislav Rostropovich, Daniel Oren, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Daniel Harding, Evelino Pidò, Asher Fisch, Franz Welser-Möst, Kerry-Lynn Wilson, Robin Ticciati, Gianluigi Gelmetti, among others, as well as world-class opera and film directors including Franco Zeffirelli, Peter Brook, David McVicar, Richard Eyre, Graham Vick, Robert Wilson, Luigi Proietti, and Hugo de Ana.
She has also performed numerous symphonic-vocal concerts in prestigious venues such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (Verdi Requiem), Megaron Concert Hall in Athens (La Mort de Cléopâtre by Berlioz), Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Ein deutsches Requiem by Brahms), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and the Cologne Philharmonic Hall (Mozart Requiem).
Since 2012, she has been an associate professor at the National University of Music in Bucharest.
LIANA MAREȘ – piano
A graduate of the Faculty of Musical Performance at the National University of Music in Bucharest in 1998, pianist Liana Mareș also completed the harpsichord department of the same prestigious institution.
Immediately after graduation, she was employed by the Bucharest National Opera, while also collaborating with institutions such as the „George Enescu” Philharmonic in Bucharest, the „Ion Dacian” National Operetta Theatre, and Romanian Radio Broadcasting.
She has performed recitals at the Romanian Athenaeum, Dalles Hall, Cotroceni Museum, Peleș Castle, and concert halls in Craiova, Oradea, and Brăila.
Her opera accompaniment repertoire includes works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Gaetano Donizetti, Georges Bizet, Engelbert Humperdinck, Richard Wagner, Henry Purcell, and Peter Ruzicka.
Alongside the Bucharest National Opera ensemble, Liana Mareș has undertaken tours in France, Greece, and Israel.
Since June 2011, she has been a trainer of lyrical performers, a title awarded by the Accademia Teatro alla Scala.
