The Sofia Opera and Ballet completed the 2021/2022 summer season extremely successfully from May 22 to September 4, 2022. Four months filled with opera and ballet premieres, new productions for children, outdoor performances.

In brief:
6 stages – Sofia Opera House, Chamber Hall, Pancharevo Lake, Belogradchik Rocks, Park of the Military Academy “G.S. Rakovski”, Ancient Theatre Plovdiv.

98 performances and over 43,000 spectators at limited capacity, 4 premieres, 23 opera performances, 22 ballet performances, 18 musicals, 2 concerts, 28 performances for children, 6 Concerts for babies.

Third summer festival “MUSES ON THE WATER” – Pancharevo Lake was from July 8 to September 4. The Pancharevo Lake became an inimitable natural setting for the performances – the operas “The Flying Dutchman” (premiere) by Richard Wagner, “La Cenerentola” by Gioacchino Rossini, “Carmen” by Georges Bizet, “Madama Butterfly” by Giacomo Puccini and “Eugene Onegin” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The ballets “A Midsummer Night's Dream” (premiere) by Felix Mendelssohn, “Swan Lake” by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, “A Thousand and One Nights” by Fikret Amirov, the musical “Mamma Mia!” by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.

13th summer festival “OPERA IN THE PARK” – at the Military Academy “G. S. Rakovski” from June 25 to July 31, 2022. The program is aimed entirely at children. In the peace and cool air of the Military Academy Park, children and parents had the opportunity to enjoy the already popular “Concerts for Babies”, children's operas and musicals “The Lost Princess” (premiere), “The Magic Flute”, “Hansel and Gretel”, “A story with ducks, a bear and a fox”, “The Enchanted Forest”, “Winnie the Pooh”, “The Three Little Pigs”, “Little Red Riding Hood”.

Seventh summer festival “OPERA OF THE PEAKS” – Belogradchik Rocks from August 5 to 21, 2022. The repertoire and stage solutions are tailored to the magical beauty of the unique natural phenomenon Belogradchik Rocks. The operas “Nabucco” and “Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi, “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini, the ballet “A Thousand and One Nights” by Fikret Amirov and the musical “Mamma Mia!” by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were presented.

The festivals were realized with the support of the Metropolitan Municipality – Calendar of cultural events for 2022, within the framework of the “Opera in the Park” program, Pancharevo district, Belogradchik municipality, Embassy of Italy in Sofia, sponsors Georgi Spasov, Dundee Precious Metals, Euroins, Elektrohold, Geotechmin, partners Arteks Engineering, Lomsko pivo, International Asset Bank, Our Home is Bulgaria foundation.

The Sofia Opera and Ballet under the leadership of the director Prof. Plamen Kartaloff, Member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, for yet another year brilliantly realized the repertoire of the Sofia Opera in open, daring territories, such as the stages in Pancharevo and Belogradchik. Outdoor performances not only attracted new audiences, but also offered connoisseurs a different experience and perception of favourite works. The performances were greeted by the audience with thunderous applause and rave reviews.

After an extremely successful summer season, the Sofia Opera will traditionally open the new opera and ballet season 2022/2023 with a Bulgarian work. On October 7, we festively raise the curtain with “Chatterers” – a satire opera based on the novella of the same name by Ivan Vazov. The production is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of the composer Lazar Nikolov.