Today, a press conference was held on the visit of the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia with a performance of Verdi’s opera “Nabucco”, on the 13th of September. Present were N. Pr. Agnesa Russi-Popovska: the ambassador of the Republic of North Macedonia in Bulgaria; doctor Vasso Ristov: director of the culture and information center of the Republic of North Macedonia in Sofia; mister Oliver Arsovski: executive director of the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia; miss Bisera Chadlovska: conductor; mister Boris Borisov: deputy director of the Sofia Opera in charge of artistic manners as well the solo singers who will take part in the performance: Mariyan Yovanovski as Nabucco and Igor Durlovski as Zacharia.
Acad. prof. Plamen Kartaloff sent his special regards to the guests and journalists:
“The contract of artistic cooperation between the Bulgarian National Opera and the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia is a prime example of a fruitful exchange of ideas, projects and expanding the two theaters’ repertoire thanks to these visits.
The Sofia Opera’s participation in the prestigious May opera evenings on the 18th of May with Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” is an unforgettable foothold in history: it was the first time an opera by Wagner was performed in Bulgaria.
We’re proud that the performance was reviewed as the most outstanding part of this event: both by the audience and by miss Gordana Silyanovska-Davkova, president of the Republic of North Macedonia. After the show, she stated that “Art can achieve the impossible”.
The visit of the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia is a continuation of our intentions for these visits to become a tradition and a part of our mission for the art of opera to be a uniting bridge of creative initiatives in the name of art.
In the presence of journalists from many different medias, our guests from Skopje expressed their happiness from the opportunity to express themselves on the scene of the Sofia Opera. They noted that the cooperation between the two national institutions is an excellent example of exchanging ideas and projects.
Pr. Agnessa Russi-Popovski shared she’s very happy with her fellow countrymen’s visit in Sofia and expressed her gratitude to the Sofia Opera and the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia with the following words: “a wonderful proof of the bridge that is being built by those shaping the culture of both our countries”.
Doctor Vasso Ristov, director of the Culture and information center of the Republic of North Macedonia in Sofia especially noted that the contract between the Sofia Opera and the National Opera of the Republic of North Macedonia was signed in November 2023 when he had been the director of the theater; together with acad. Kartaloff, they have negotiated the conditions of their future cooperation.
Oliver Arsovski, the current director of the National Opera in Skopje, stated that the Republic of North Macedonia views the Sofia Opera as a world class theater and that they had accepted acad. Kartaloff’s invitation with great joy. Conductor Bisera Chadlovska expressed her hopes for her theater to show off its best qualities during the performance. She shared that it’s a great honor for her and her colleagues to have come to Bulgaria, especially because they’re visiting such an esteemed institution as the Sofia Opera.
The upcoming performance of “Nabucco” is set by an Italian team: Renato Bonayuto is the director, Flavio Arbetti is in charge of scenography and costumes are done by Artemio Kabassi. The main roles will be performed by Mariyan Yovanovski as Nabucco, Zlata Toshevska as Abigaile, Nikolina Yanevska as Fenena, Zoran Sotirov as Ismael and Igor Durlovski as Zacharia.
Oliver Arsovski’s closing statement was that more talk will be held on expanding this cooperation and cultural exchange which are in the best interest of both institutions.
