The romantic opera "Lohengrin" marked the beginning of the Wagner Festival at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. This was announced by the press centre of the Sofia Opera and Ballet.
90 years after its first performance in 1934, "Lohengrin" found its exquisite vision and philosophy in the new production by Plamen Kartaloff.
The performance was received with great enthusiasm by the audience. On several occasions the spectacle was interrupted by spontaneous applause – something that is out of the tradition when Wagner operas are performed. The frenetic applause and shouts of "Bravo!" marked the success of an amazing production, performed by the Sofia Opera ensemble in the best possible way.
Wagnerians from Portugal, USA, Germany, Austria, Brazil commented excitedly on the impressive staging and set design, the interpretation of the soloists and the orchestra. They were especially intrigued by the fact that the singing ensemble is entirely Bulgarian.
The music critics and notable connoisseurs of Richard Wagner's work Klaus Billand, Gregor Tassie, Andrea Merli, Stephan Knies (“Opernwelt”), Roland Dippel (“Das Orchester” and “Oper und Tanz”), Dirk Schauss (“Online Merker”), Ursula Koschar (“Der Neue Merker”), John DiGaetani (“Wagneriana”), Helmut Pitsch (“Opera Online”) came especially for the opening of the festival.
Special guests included Harry Leutscher, the president of the International Wagnerian societies association; James Holman, the president of the Wagnerian society in Washington and acclaimed expert on Wagner’s works; Ortse Itzkovski, director of the National opera in Skopje; Vasso Ristov, director of the Culture and Information center of the Republic of North Macedonia in Sofia; Daniel Magdal, artistic director of the National Opera in Bucharest; Jorge Coli and Martinko Alves, professors at the “Juiz de Fora“ university in Brazil; Milen Mittev, general director of the Bulgarian National Radio and Mario Angelov, director of the BNR Music house. Among the audience you could also see journalists from BTA, BNT, the “24 Hours” newspaper and many other medias.
The spectators were fascinated by the premiere and expressed their admiration for what they saw. The philosophical construction of "Lohengrin" as an idea and vision of director Plamen Kartaloff far exceeds the idea of how this opera should be staged. The three main elements of the stage – the sacred tree that changes as the scenic situations are built, the two amphitheatrical pitches for the choruses and the arena for the unfolding of the action – were sculpted in perfect harmony and support the smooth flow of the action from picture to picture. Music experts commented on the connection between the operas "Lohengrin" and "Parsifal" which can be traced during the overture, and the Holy Grail's suggestive impact. Such a directorial reading has never been done in the history of the work's stage interpretation.
Some guests commented that this was the best production of "Lohengrin" they had seen. The stage design of the spectacle, conceived by director Plamen Kartaloff, was created by Hans Kudlich and artists Nella and Kristian Stoyanov, the costumes were designed by Italian designer Mario Dice, and the lighting art was by Zach Blane.
