Reflecting on Andrea Chénier, whose plot unfolds during the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century, the conductor describes the score as a musical provocation, asking himself: “Should I seek beautiful sound in the orchestra, in the singing? Should the sound of the Revolution be bright, appealingly rounded? More likely it must be raw, restless, vulnerable, insolent. It will be easy to implant harshness and roughness in the sound; the difficult part is to tame it and give it warmth…” Set designer Denis Ivanov adds: “Our production of Andrea Chénier is being created in a difficult time, both for our country and for the world; it depicts another such difficult time, and the message we can convey is that even in the darkest moments, humanity has never ceased to exist and has always found a path toward Hope and salvation.”

In the leading roles, the audience will have the pleasure of seeing and hearing bright stars of the Bulgarian opera stage, including Tania Ivanova and Kiril Manolov.

The concert “A New Wind in the Opera” features specially prepared works for wind ensemble with orchestra. It will be conducted by bassoonist Gabor Meszaros - professor at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana in Lugano. 

The first guest performance comes on November 29: the magnificent first Bulgarian staging of Dvořák’s Rusalka, presented this summer by the Varna State Opera. Next is the festival appearance of the Plovdiv State Opera with Mozart’s The Magic Flute — the first opera production by the renowned theatre director Diana Dobreva.

The Sofia Philharmonic takes part in the festivities with an elegant symphonic program conducted by Ivo Venkov - professor at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. The “Stefan Makedonski” National Music Theatre has been invited to present its specially created concert spectacle “The King of the Waltz,” dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Strauss II.

This edition of the only festival of its kind in Bulgaria, dedicated to musical and stage arts, also includes a rich parallel program: the issuance of a special postage stamp marking the centennial of the Stara Zagora Opera; the photographic documentary exhibition “100 Years in 100 Frames”; the scholarly conference “The Opera and the City”; an exhibition dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dobri Hristov; and the presentation of Chronicle of the Sofia Philharmonic by Dr. Andrey Andreev. The accompanying events conclude on December 5, when Acad. Plamen Kartalov presents his intriguing original study "Opera and Nature".

Photos: Stara Zagora State Opera