19th Beijing Music Festival opens

Poster of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". [Photo/bmf.org.cn]

This year's Beijing Music Festival is underway, with around 30 classic operas, symphonies and performances set to take place over the coming 3-weeks.

Among the shows will be the opera "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by British composer, conductor and pianist Benjamin Britten.

Tu Song, director of the Beijing Music Festival, says they've contracted a big name to help put on that show.

"This year we have worked with Festival d'Aix en Provence to stage a Britten version of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we have invited world famous drama director Robert Carsen to work with us. This year is the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and we try to make something new under an old title."

Mozart's opera "Giovanni" is also expected to be one of the other major highlights of this year's Beijing Music Festival.

Organizers say this year's event is going to be bolstered by more 3D technology to help make the experience more exciting.