Look forward to the new edition of the Festival of Opera and Ballet Art
News публикувана на: 17.11.2021
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THE OPERA AND BALLET FESTIVAL IN STARA ZAGORA WITH ITS FIFTY-FIRST EDITION
From 26 November to 10 December Stara Zagora is the capital of opera and ballet with premieres, tours, master classes, books and exhibitions
To remember
The Festival of Opera and Ballet Art /FOBI/ - Stara Zagora is the first specialized forum for opera and ballet in Bulgaria. It was established in 1967 as the December Musical Evenings and renamed the Festival of Opera and Ballet Art in 1973. From 1974 to 1989, the National Review of Opera and Ballet Art was held within its framework. Societal changes after 1989 and a fire in 1991 led to three interruptions of the festival in 1990, 2010 and 2013.
To know
Now in its second year, the festival organisers face the complex challenge of Covid-19. If in 2020 the festival edition was cancelled at the last minute, now its continuation is guaranteed by the clearly defined access regulations in the Stara Zagora Opera House. The public will be admitted upon presentation of a vaccination certificate. Opera and ballet fans who do not have a vaccine can take advantage of the free antigen test service. Its validity is 48 hours. Spectators presenting a PCR test certificate taken up to 72 hours before the event will also be admitted to the auditorium.
With masks in the hall and on stage
Opening the festival, on 26 and 27 November, are two premiere performances of Verdi's masterpiece, "Masked Ball". Director Slavcho Nikolov approaches with respect and reverence the gracious creative task of staging one of the great legislator's most mature works in the art of opera.
The production designer, Cataline Ionescu-Arbore, adds that it focuses on the mysterious and secret love between Amelia and Riccardo and the encounter with Ulrica. Gilded masks and ornaments are combined with brightly coloured ceramic fragments and large and long dark feathers. And they are all placed on red costumes, the only color that stands out in the darkness of time and space. In fact, most periods of our lives are covered by some imaginary masks to protect us from possible disasters. And colors always tell us the story.
The premiere is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Evdokia Zdravkova-Khorozova, who left a bright mark in the history of opera theatres in Ruse and Stara Zagora.
"My Wagner" with acad. Plamen Kartalov and music critic Klaus Bjland
On 27 November at 5 p.m. in the foyer of the Opera Hall is the presentation of the book "My Wagner" by the Publishing House "Zahari Stoyanov" by acad. Plamen Kartalov. The author presents ten years of experience in the realization of one of the most imposing titles in the world opera classics: the tetralogy "The Ring of the Nibelung", followed by "Tristan und Isolde", "Parsifal". The productions created rank among the operatic events with international dimensions in the recent history of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.
The realization of the grandiose project also contributes to the creative growth of dozens of Bulgarian singers and instrumentalists. The publication will be presented by the renowned Austrian music critic and insightful interpreter of the works of Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, Klaus Bildand. Video excerpts from the performances will be presented. The organizers have also arranged for a German translation.
The great tenor Kaludi Kaludov as an artist
The Sunday afternoon of 28 November at 4 pm is dedicated to the visual arts through the eyes of one of the landmark Bulgarian opera performers of the last four decades. "Kaludi Kaludov's prints are like small jewels reflecting the inner light of a universal artist. With their exquisiteness, they recall the etchings of the great Dutch artists of the 17th century. The fragments of nature reveal a sensual contemplation and have the effect of elegiac sonatas played by an invisible baroque orchestra."
At the event, with the personal presence of the artist, host Miglena Stoycheva will challenge him not only to tell about his unusual amplitude, but also to reward his admirers with a special musical greeting.
World opera prima Veselina Katsarova with an international masterclass
From 29 November to 10 December the world mezzo-soprano Vesselina Katsarova will hold a vocal masterclass in her hometown of Stara Zagora for the third time. Young opera singers from Bulgaria, Spain, Romania, Ukraine and Russia will hone their vocal skills with the Maestra, and on 10 December they will perform in the closing gala concert "Voices from the Future" on the Opera House stage accompanied by the State Opera-Stara Zagora Orchestra conducted by Viktor Krumov.
Schubert-Müller's exquisite song cycle "Winter Road" for the first time in Stara Zagora
On 1 December, for the first time in Stara Zagora, bass Ivaylo Djurov and pianist Denitsa Petrova will present one of the highlights of vocal art music - "Winterreise/Winterreise" to music by Franz Schubert and poems by Wilhelm Müller. This is Schubert's last great vocal opus.
The plot here is a conventional notion: there is no intrigue, no climax, no finale in the conventional sense; rather, it is a gradual development of initial heartache, a dramatic monologue of the poet whose love is shattered, his feelings consumed by the harsh practicality of reality.
A memory of Petko Stainov
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the great Bulgarian composer's birth. On 2 December at 6 pm, in collaboration with the Petko Stainov Foundation, a special evening will present his significant contribution to Bulgarian musical culture. A special highlight will be facsimiles of the originals of his most famous work "Thracian Dances", as well as the symphonic poem "Thrace", whose ballet version, staged in 1943, is evidenced by a colour photograph of the watercolour sketch of its set by Dechko Uzunov. The activities of Petko Stainov as director of the Sofia Opera and as founder of the Society of Bulgarian Composers "Contemporary Music" are also presented. A significant number of state awards and gramophone records with his works are shown.
The film "120 Years of Petko Stainov", produced by "EDITA Group" Ltd - Anelia Dosheva, script by Elisaveta Valchinova - Chendova, cinematographer Mikhail Georgiev, presents his unique creative and personal destiny. The film features arch. Stefan Staynov, the composer's son, Plamen Djurov, Teodora Pavlovich, Viktor Chuchkov and other witnesses of the artist's creative path.
Director Vera Nemirova and the Varna Opera's production of "Countess Maritza" on December 3
Vera Nemirova dedicates this title to her father, the director Evgeni Nemirova /1916-1981/ and her mother, the opera singer Sonya Nemirova /1941-2021/, who made her debut in 1970 in Varna with the production of her future husband in the title role. "The Countess Maritza by Imre Kalman also marked the beginning of Vera Nemirova's brilliant directing career at the Volksoper, Vienna in 2002.
Her interpretation, which the festival audience will see on 3 December, is unusual but also highly topical. The action is transported from the dilapidated mansion where the libretto is set to the theatre. Its Countess Maritza is a star who, having made a name for herself on the world's great stages, returns to the run-down theatre of her home town to revive it. The original musicians of the ensemble Gypsy Brass Band /Angel Tichaliyev/ create a special colour to the action.
Opera divas of Bellini, Verdi and Puccini in a dance performance by Ballet Arabesque
On 4 December, one of Ballet Arabesque's latest productions will be presented, based on an idea and choreography by Mariana Kruncheva, bringing together four of the most popular operas ever created - Norma, Tosca, La Traviata and Madame Butterfly.
What connects them is the choice and fate of the protagonists and the transformation of these heroines into a symbol of female devotion: Madame Butterfly, Violetta from La Traviata, Tosca and Norma.
Stara Zagora Opera in a book by Rumyana Apostolova
On 5 December, on Sunday afternoon /16 hours/, is the premiere of the book by Rumiana Apostolova /1947-2001/ "The first out-of-town opera theatre". Although the manuscript dates from the mid-1980s, its publication is only now. Rumyana Apostolova is remembered not only in Stara Zagora for her authorship of numerous publications - books, studies and articles on the art of opera. The author presents in an intriguing way personal conversations with the people who created and contributed to the impressive creative biography of the first Bulgarian non-stublic opera theatre in Stara Zagora. The book also provides an in-depth look at the audiences whose devotion to the art made the city's glorious musical traditions possible.
The presentation of the book will also be accompanied by a screening of unique footage preserved by long-time director and director of the Stara Zagora Opera Theatre Rumen Neykov.
The dance mystery "Pilate's Dream" based on Bulgakov's immortal novel "The Master and Margarita" on 8 December
Composer Stefan Dimitrov, internationally renowned choreographer Vasily Medvedev and the troupe of the Stara Zagora Opera unite their creative potential in the realization of the large-scale production, which premiered on 16 October in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture.
The theme of the performance is inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. On this basis, the surreal atmosphere unfolds and crystallizes the main elements of the narrative. The titles of the two acts - Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light) and Misericordia Pro Nobis (Mercy for Us) - invite associations with other literary classics such as Goethe's Faust, for example, and place the work in the context of European musical heritage. The atmosphere in Bulgakov's novel is re-created in the language of our modern world. The vivid melodic interpretation embodies the diverse ideas of good and evil, light and darkness, and the roots of these forces.
100 years of the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music with discussion, exhibition and concert
The last day of the festival, 10 December, is dedicated to the anniversary of the first music university in Bulgaria. In the large meeting hall of the Municipality of Stara at 13:00 is the discussion "Musical and performing arts today - contemporary projections in the training, creativity and career development of performers.
At 6 pm in the foyer of the Opera is the opening of the exhibition "The musical memory of Bulgaria - glory and tradition, and at 7 pm is the closing concert "Voices from the future" with the participants in the master class of Veselina Katsarova. The programme is with the special participation of the doyen among the Bulgarian conductors, Borislav Ivanov, his 90th anniversary will be celebrated.
State Opera Stara Zagora is approved and certified as a SAFE ENVIRONMENT by the Centre for Testing and European Certification /CEC/
All anti-epidemic measures will be observed during the events!
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