By the end of the year Bulgaria will once again welcome one of the most famous figures in contemporary opera, José Carreras. The concert of the legendary Catalan tenor will take place on 3 December in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture, and tickets go on sale on 5 July at 10 H. José Carreras' concert is organised by Fest Team and Sofia Opera and Ballet. For more updates and news, the event in Facebook is here.
José Carreras is one of the "Three Tenors", a distinction he shares with Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. Over the course of his career, Carreras recorded more than 50 complete operas and 40 classical and popular recitals, and was a particular favourite with audiences for his Puccini and Verdi roles. José Carreras commented, "I am very happy to be able to return to one of my favourite audiences, the Bulgarian music lovers, where I have already had many unforgettable performances which we will recall with a full programme on 3 December. My return to Sofia will certainly be a celebration of music. I hope to see you there!"
With his remarkable career spanning nearly seven decades, Carreras is considered one of the most popular tenors of all time and one of those responsible for the genre gaining greater mass appeal among audiences. His musical history includes numerous awards and personal highs such as being the musical director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in his native Barcelona and opening the 1992 Olympics. José Carreras also experienced a tremendous personal health catharsis, which he described and published in his autobiography "José Carreras, Singing from the Soul", about his battle with leucaemia. He created a foundation to fight the disease, which to this day parallels his life as a performer.
The conductor of the spectacle in Sofia will be David Giménez. The Barcelona-born conductor studied piano and composition at the Conservatoire del Liceu and since his debut with the Hannover NDR Orchestra in 1994 has appeared all over the world, leading the most distinguished orchestras and soloists at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Salle Pleyel, the Wiener Konzerthaus, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York. During his career, David Giménez has conducted orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and the Filarmonica della Scala. He is currently conductor laureate of the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès in Barcelona.
The soprano, who will perform on the stage of Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture, is Diana Tugui. The extceptionally talented singer studied at the George Enescu University of Music in Bucharest under the direction of Professor Sanda Sandru. Her versatility and skill in singing operatic roles has won her acclaim, but she has also successfully performed in other vocal genres including symphonic, operetta, lyrical and even musicals. Diana Tugui has worked with every philharmonic orchestra and opera theatre in her homeland, and has made numerous appearances on European stages over the past eighteen years. She has won numerous international awards, including the Jaume Aragall, Wilhem Stenhammar, Vox Artis, Ionel Perlea and Elena Teodorini awards. In 2015, she was crowned "Best Soprano" at the Gala Evening of the National Opera, and in 2018 she received the "Lya Hubic" Award, also for Best Soprano.
José Carreras' team chose for their concert in Sofia to reunite with the legendary artist the orchestra with over 130 years of history and worldwide recognition and popularity – the one of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. With its chorus, orchestra and soloists, it has made numerous guest appearances in various countries in Europe, in Brazil, Japan, Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Cyprus, presenting the major productions of the classical opera and ballet repertoire. Throughout its history, the Sofia Opera and Ballet Orchestra has worked with the greatest operatic names as conductors and opera soloists – besides José Carreras, with Assen Naydenov, Ruslan Raychev, Mihail Angelov, Adam Fischer, Anton Guadagno, Lothar Zagrosek, Constantin Trinks, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Raina Kabaivanska, Ghena Dimitrova, Alexandrina Milcheva, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Nicola Ghyuzelev, Violeta Urmana, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Maria Ghulegina, Kaludi Kaludov, Krassimira Stoyanova, Vladimir Stoyanov, Kiril Manolov and many others.
Tickets for José Carreras' concert go on sale on 5 July at 10 h and are priced from BGN 120 to 300 in the Ticketstation and Eventim.bg network.
Information about all upcoming Fest Team events can be found at festteam.bg, ticketstation.bg and on social networks.