Stadtmarketing closed 2004 and opened 2005 with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Forum am Schlosspark in Ludwigsburg on 31 December 2004 and at the Brauhaus in Bocholt on 25 January 2005. Both evenings began with the overture to Le nozze di Figaro and went on through Verdi, from Parmi veder le lagrime and Quando le sere al placido to Otello's final aria, with Lance Ryan, Giuliano di Filippo, Luigi Frattola, Vincenzo Sanso, Orfeo Zanetti, Stoyan Daskalov and Andrea Hörkens among the soloists.