Dear friends!
On the 23rd, 24th and 26th of January, Giacomo Puccini’s thrilling music will tell the story of Mimi and Rudolf in the opera “La Boheme”. After the performance’s debut on the Sofia Opera stage last year, in the first performance you will again see the American-Filipino tenor Arthur Espiritu in the role of Rudolf, Silvia Teneva as Mimi, Jun Won Huang as Marcel, Mihail Motaylenko as Shonar and Nikolay Voinov as Colin. After the brilliant performance of “La Traviata” in December, you will again see Alexandrina Mihaylova on stage, this time in the role of Musetta.
In the following two performances, singers from the opera studio of Opera Tegu, South Korea, will perform: Sung Yup Han as Rudolf, Jun Mo Park as Colin, Ma Fei as Mimi and Ye Sol Park as Musetta. The participation of these young “opera ambassadors” from the faraway country of South Korea solidifies the good partnership between the Sofia Opera and the opera theater in Tegu.
Boyan Videnov will conduct the performance. He returns after his debut in “La Traviata” in 2023 and after the two incredible performances of “La Boheme” last year when Sonya Yoncheva performed in Bulgaria for the first time.
The production is handled by theatrical director Boiko Bogdanov and was reconstructed by Vera Petrova. With the participation of the vocal-theatrical formation “Talasamche” with director Dimitar Kostantsaliev; Sofia Opera choir conductor: Violeta Dimitrova.
Giacomo Puccini wrote “La Boheme” in eight months. He didn’t worry that the famous author of “Pagliacci” and his close friend Rugero Leoncavallo had also begun work on the script of Henri Murger’s “Scenes from bohemians’ lives”. The opera premiered on the 1st of February, 1896 in Torino under the conductorship of the young Arturo Toscanini. “La Boheme” immediately secured its spot in the world opera repertoire and became one of the most often set pieces.
In Bulgaria, “La Boheme” was performed for the first time in 1922. The opera quickly became popular and the score and the tragic love story were exceptionally well received by the audience.
We invite you to hear Puccini’s fantastic score during these three performances and to enjoy this beautiful classic production.
Yours,
The Sofia Opera