The Constantin Mimi Foundation keeps classical music on the cultural calendar of the Republic of Moldova. It brings back to Castel Mimi, at the start of autumn, the 8th edition of the VinOpera International Classical Music Festival. This year as well, on the stage of the country’s only wine castle, famous arias will resound, performed by internationally renowned musicians.
Sixty musicians from the Municipal Orchestra “Camerata Chisinau,” under the baton of conductor Cristian Spataru, will accompany the exceptional voices of four soloists from the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest — Sorana Negrea, Alexandru Constantin, Georgiana Dumitru, and Bogdan Mihai — who will create an extraordinary evening of classical music at Castel Mimi on September 13.
Sorana Negrea, a soloist of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest and laureate of numerous specialty competitions, has performed concerts in Romania and abroad. Alexandru Constantin, a baritone of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest and the Romanian National Opera in Iasi, and a guest at the “Maria Biesu” National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Chisinau, is passionate about the lied genre and won First Prize at the “Hariclea Darclée” International Lied Competition in Bucharest. Georgiana Dumitru, soloist of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest, earned the Royal Margareta of Romania Foundation scholarship for three consecutive years and won the 2018 “George Enescu” International Singing Competition in Paris.
Among the most celebrated voices of this year’s VinOpera is Bogdan Mihai, a tenor of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest and the Romanian Athenaeum. Bogdan Mihai has sung on opera stages in major cities including Stuttgart, Berlin, Paris, Montréal, Dubai, Milan, Barcelona, Salzburg, Geneva, Zurich, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and Saint Petersburg. For the past decade, he has been a regular guest at the Stuttgart Staatsoper. To date, he has performed the role of Count Almaviva from Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia over 250 times for Romanian and international audiences. With this role, Bogdan Mihai became the first Romanian to make an absolute premiere at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, performing the final scene and aria. The tenor has also shared the stage with the famous Lara Fabian at the “Elena Teodorini” International Festival in Craiova, performing together the splendid duet Caruso.
The four soloists of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest will perform famous arias under the baton of conductor and composer Cristian Spataru, who studied Composition, Orchestral Conducting, and Choral Conducting in Vienna and is currently Artistic Director of the “Maria Biesu” National Opera and Ballet Theatre. His notable achievements include winning Second Prize at the Premio Guido Cantelli in 2022 and being named “Best Romanian Conductor” at two editions of the International Conducting Competition “Jeunesses Musicales” in 2019 and 2021. As a composer, Cristian Spataru has created nearly 100 works performed in prestigious venues across Vienna.
With these celebrated Romanian Opera names, the 2025 edition of the VinOpera International Festival will build a cultural bridge for music lovers and wine enthusiasts on both banks of the Prut. On September 13, the Constantin Mimi Foundation invites you to an exceptional evening where classical music will resound under the open sky at Castel Mimi, one of the architectural masterpieces of the Republic of Moldova, ranked among the top 15 most beautiful wineries in the world.
Through this event, the Constantin Mimi Foundation not only showcases the cultural heritage of rural Moldova but also serves as a platform for social cohesion, attracting tourists who directly contribute to the region’s economic and cultural development.
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This year as well, the VinOpera International Classical Music Festival continues its commitment to sustainability and environmental care. For the second consecutive year, the event will run entirely on renewable energy produced by the Castel Mimi photovoltaic park. Thus, all the energy needed for the concert, stage, and lighting will come from the sun.
As always, the organizers provide a special train service to encourage the public to choose this more ecological mode of transportation, leaving cars parked for the evening to enjoy exceptional music and wine. Another environmentally friendly achievement is the complete elimination of plastic from the event, with each adult participant receiving a glass wine cup at the entrance.
Visit the official websites and social media channels of the Constantin Mimi Foundation and Castel Mimi for up‑to‑date information on access and tickets. See you at VinOpera — one of the most important cultural events of the Moldovan autumn.
The Constantin Mimi Foundation organizes the 8th edition of the VinOpera International Classical Music Festival, with funding from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova and the “Mihai Eminescu” Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau, in partnership with Mastercard, Orange, and Castel Mimi.