The world-famous soprano will perform in the classic opera by Giacomo Puccini
Gabriela Georgieva will also take on the role of the mystical Chinese princess
“Turandot” first premiered in 1926 at “La Scala” in Milano
On the 10th of January, Alexandrina Pendachanska will debut as Turandot in the opera by Giacomo Puccini of the same name, the Sofia Opera, the event host, announced.
My entire life is connected to this theater, including the unconscious part of it because I’ve had lunch at the Opera cafeteria while my mother Valeri Popova was rehearsing. I performed my first major roles here”, Alexandrina Pendachanska remembers. “Out of all the seventy roles I’ve performed, this is the one I’m looking forward to the most”, the soprano adds.
The following evening, Gabriela Georgieva will take on the role of the mystical Chinese princess: one of her best roles.
The role of Prince Kalaf will be performed in both performances by the tenor Jorge de Leon whom the audience applauded during this season’s opening, for his performance of the same role. Stanislava Momekova and Silvia Teneva will perform the role of Liu, the slave. Also starring: Svetoslav Rangelov, Atanas Mladenov, Angel Antonov, Daniel Ostretsov, Veselin Mihaylov, Angel Hristov. Grigor Palikarov will conduct Plamen Kartaloff’s production. Artist: Yoanna Manodelaki; choir conductor: Violeta Dimitrova.
“Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine the score of “Turandot” without its most famous aria “Nessun Dorma”, in this last opera by Puccini. On the premiere night of “Turandot”, on the 25th of April, 1926, Arturo Toscanini, the director of “La Scala” in Milano, interrupts the world premiere in the middle of Act III; the performance is ended and he announces that Puccini had stopped writing the score after this moment in the opera. In the following performance, the opera was finished by Franco Alfano and was performed in its entirety and so the entire story of “Turandot” was told”, spokesmen from the Sofia Opera state.
In their words, “Turandot” is one of the most impressive operas, a bright example for the growing interest for exotic stories during the first decades of the 20th century. The plot takes place in China where all candidates for thee hand of the beautiful but heartless princess Turandot must answer three riddles, with failing to do so leading to their demise.
Prince Kalaf accepts and accomplishes the challenge but Turandot refuses to marry him. Then, he in turn asks the princess an impossible to answer question with fatal consequences: should she manage to guess his name, he would die. The prince’s love-induced madness seals his fate.
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