The opening of season 2024/2025 at the Sofia National Opera and Ballet will be one to remember! During the year of Giacomo Puccini, the Sofia Opera opened its new season with the last work of the great Italian composer: “Turandot”; the entire opera world honors the Bulgarian singer Gena Dimitrova, one of the greatest Turandot performers of all time. Maestro Daniel Oren, one of the greatest conductors of our time, visited Bulgaria for the first time. He was taught by legends such as Lenard Bernstein and Herbert von Karajan.
It was such an incredible experience to watch a live performance under the conductorship of Daniel Oren! I felt this for the first time during a “Madama Butterfly” performance, at the 100th year of Arena di Verona and now I did again, during the Sofia Opera season opening, with “Turandot”. You could say that the Maestro truly brings the entire performance to life. With his hand and body movements, his masterful look and singing and shouting at times, he “played” both the orchestra and the singers while building a unified music performance. Even during the moments when he dictated incredibly fast tempos, he didn’t lose control of the orchestra, not even for a second. Even during the loudest dynamics, he didn’t allow the orchestra to overshadow the singers. The latter’s dynamic palette is huge and the nuances of the quiet dynamics are outstanding. You watch the entire performance in one go and it gets you deeply excited and creates a unique experience; this is what art is supposed to do.
Every meeting with an artist such as Maestro Daniel Oren is unforgettable. That is why I was very excited when the Sofia Opera gave the Bulgarian music journalists the opportunity to meet him at the opera theater, just before the premiere of “Turandot”. Daniel Oren shared that to him music is as sacred as a prayer and I really felt it was true while watching performances conducted by him. I asked him what he prays about while practicing his art in a modern world of wars and separation and whether he prays for love and brotherhood among people.
“Indeed, in my eyes music can unite people. Not all people, for sure, as witnessed by the events unfolding in many parts of the world and in my home country. Even during rehearsals, I try to always talk about the spiritual with the orchestra and the choir. It is very nice you can still talk about God and religion in Bulgaria and that I met people who still believe in God! In other countries such as France it’s now forbidden to mention God. You have to use a different world and this pains me inside. My mother always used to pray to God. She told me: “Your mission is to unite people through music and as a Jew you have to do this all around the world!” Such was her will and I abided by it. It’s a part of me, this is my mission”, Daniel Oren said.
In the sound file you can hear more of Maestro Daniel Oren’s thoughts. Firstly, the score of “Turandot” in hand, he revealed to us his own vision of the opera concerning musically building the main characters. He reminisced of the performances he shared with Gena Dimitrova, of her exceptionally powerful voice and her incredible skill of applying a rich vocal palette, even for the lowest tones. He then spoke of Raina Kabaivanska, about his debut as a conductor together with her in “Manon Lescaut“ by Puccini. Since then, arose his great love for Puccini’s works and for the Bulgarian opera diva, as his partner on stage. He was quite excited after having met Raina Kabaivanska at the Sofia Opera during her master class and by the fact she would attend one of the showings of “Turandot”. “No other opera singer could perform as Liu like Raina Kabaivanska”, Daniel Oren added. To him Liu is angel and her arias are like prayers.
Soprano Rosa Feola visited the Sofia Opera for the first time for her performance as Liu in “Turandot”. She was awarded second place at the “Placido Domingo Operalia” contest in 2010; then, Sonja Yoncheva took first place. For both singers, this was the beginning of a big opera career. During season 2024/2025, Rosa Feola performed as Gilda in “Rigoletto” at the Paris Opera Bastille, as Alisa in “Falstaff” at La Scala, as Violet in “Traviata” at Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Michaela in “Carmen” at the Bavarian Staatsoper, as Susanna in “The Marriage of Figaro” at the Metropolitan Opera and many more but I believe this is already impressive enough. You can hear fragments of her performance during the new season opening at the Sofia Opera in the sound file.
Italian soprano Anna Pirozzi visited Bulgaria for the first time and performed as Turandot. During the last decade, she made a name for herself as the leading Italian dramatic soprano and in 2021 she performed for the hundredth time as Abigaile in “Nabucco” at Arena di Verona. Anna Pirozzi performed as Turandot for the first time in Israel, under the directorship of Zubin Meta. She reprised this role at the Paris Opera, at the King’s Opera in London Covent Garden, at the King’s theater in Madrid, at the Zurich Opera and at the Puccini festival in Tore del Lago. I won’t go into details about this great singer’s biography but I would like to share how exciting it is when world-famous opera stars enter our national opera theater in awe and speak so highly of our great Bulgarian opera singers!
“I am a great fan of Gena Dimitrova, I learned from her while preparing all my big dramatic soprano parts. I’m also a big fan of Raina Kabaivanska and of all the great Bulgarian bass singers. It’s an exceptional honor for me to perform here and I hope to meet your expectations! I love Gena Dimitrova very much! To be able to sing here and wear the same costumes she did and star in the same production: it’s not only incredibly exciting but also a huge responsibility”, Anna Pirozzi said.
You can hear fragments of her performance as Turandot during the new season opening at the Sofia Opera in the sound file.
Spanish tenor Jorge de Leon starred as Prince Kalaf. His career is also impressive: he performs at the most prestigious opera theaters in the world. For example, in 2023 and 2023, he portrayed Radames in the opera “Aida” by Verdi at the Dresden Semper Opera, at Arena di Verona and at the King’s theater in Madrid where he also performed as Kalaf; at the Metropolitan Opera and at the Vienna Staatsoper. We will remember his performance at the Sofia Opera with his vocal flexibility which is usually acknowledged by a burst of applause and bravos from the audience. Such was the case on the 27th of September. The audience was close to getting an encore of “Nessun Dorma!”
You can hear his performance of Kalaf’s aria during act III in the sound file.
Our Bulgarian lead opera singers also performed at a high level. The experienced bass Svetozar Rangelov delivered a convincing performance as the Tatarian king Timur. Baritone Atanas Mladenov and tenors Angel Antonov and Daniel Ostretsov portrayed artistically and masterfully the roles of the three courtiers Ping, Pang and Pong. Tenor Emil Pavlov performed as the Chinese emperor Altum and baritone Veselin Mihaylov: as the Mandarin.
The Sofia Opera orchestra and choir impressed us with a wonderful performance under the conductorship of Maestro Daniel Oren.
“I’ve visited the Sofia Opera many times and I know its orchestra is very good and gives the highest quality performances possible, guided by a master conductor such as Daniel Oren. The choir also sings really well. That is why I’m here tonight and why I also plan on seeing the second performance. I’m a doctor by profession and a musician by passion. I always travel to see opera performances when my work allows it and I’m deeply in love with Sofia. I love Wagner very much and you can see very good Wagner performances here”, Italian music lover Marco Chernosky shared for the music show “Casta diva”.
Speaking of performance, it’s time to note that during the opening of the new season at the Sofia Opera and Ballet we watched acad. Plamen Kartaloff’s wonderful classic production of “Turandot” which rightfully enjoys the highest praise by Maestro Daniel Oren, the visiting world-famous singers, music critics and the audience. This time, acad. Plamen Kartaloff, director of the Sofia Opera was also highly praised as a manager.
“Such a great performance! I wish to congratulate the entire ensemble for doing a wonderful job: the production team, the conductor and everyone else involved. The orchestra and choir were exceptional! I would also like to personally congratulate Maestro Kartaloff for having invited such big names to our theater! This is a proper season opening! All the best!”, the world-famous Bulgarian baritone Kiril Manolov said.
“To me, this was a lot more than just a season opening, it was a music holiday, through and through! The presence of a conductor such as Daniel Oren and of lead opera singers of such skill… it was a truly exceptional performance! I have to say the Sofia Opera orchestra and choir are in a fantastic form! They really sound incredible and the work they’ve done together with Maestro Oren far exceeds my expectations. I’m very, very happy”, Mila Mihova, young opera star and influencer, said.
“I have no words to express my admiration! I’m a big lover of music and I’m very happy my vacation coincided with this performance! The production is quite innovative and exceptionally good”, N.Pr. Maya Dobreva, Bulgarian ambassador in Moldova, said.
In the sound file, you can hear the entire press coverage on “Casta diva”, the music and stage arts show.
https://bnr.bg/post/102056740