China's futuristic new National Grand Theater that floats on a pool of a water plum in the centre of the capital is busy sifting through a full list of candidates before opening its doors to artistic performances this September.

After receiving applications from arts companies ranging from ballet to orchestras to Peking Opera, the theater has developed a shortlist of 30 candidates, according to Wednesday's People's Daily.

  

The theater is expected to offer 12 to 15 top Chinese programs and seven to eight foreign ones in its first season.

  

The egg-shaped "bubble" structure just to the west of Tian'anmen Square is covered with titanium panels and surrounded by water and greenery.

Designed by French architect Paul Andreu, the National Grand Theater boasts three gigantic halls -- a 2,416-seat opera house, a 2,017-seat concert hall and a 1,040-seat theater -- and is destined to become China's top art performance center.

  

The Chinese National Symphony Orchestra and Beijing Symphony Orchestra will each offer two concerts during the inaugural season but the dates and programs have not yet been decided, the story said.

  

The newspaper quoted a Chinese National Symphony Orchestra source as saying that it will give two 2008 New Year's Concerts at the National Grand Theater and has issued invitations to renowned conductor Seiji Ozawa and pianist Lang Lang.

  

Other candidates clamoring for a place on the bill include a new Peking Opera retracing the life of legendary Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang and Teahouse, a popular play by dramatist Lao She.

  

Foreign troupes are likely to offer opera and ballet performances, said Wang Zhengming, a senior theater manager.

  

But the very first program to be staged in the new space-age theater is still a secret, with staff denying a media report that the Russian drama "War and Peace" would lead off the season. They said the final decision would not be announced until August.

  

"The theater is open to every talented artist and troupe," said Chen Zuohuang, director of the theater's music section. "We want a diversity of art forms."

The surrealistic-looking theater, built at a cost of 2.69 billion yuan (about 336 million U.S. dollars), has sparked controversy both because of its cost and its design.