The Sofia Opera opens its new season on 27 and 29 September with gala performances of "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini, dedicated to the year of the great Italian Maestro.
For the first time in Bulgaria, the world-famous conductor Daniel Oren, Anna Pirozzi in the role of Princess Turandot and Jorge de Leon in the role of Prince Calaf will guest-performers.
"I am very happy to make my debut at the Sofia Opera in September and to return in November after that. I'm excited to meet the orchestra and chorus on the occasion of two productions: "Turandot" by Giacomo Puccini and "Messa da Requiem" by Giuseppe Verdi," wrote Daniel Oren, one of the foremost contemporary interpreters of their work, in a special address.
Soprano Anna Pirozzi's most recent engagements have been at the Arena di Verona, where she performed Aida from Verdi's opera of the same name, and at the Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago, where she was Turandot.
And for tenor Jorge de León, Puccini and Verdi are among the most performed composers. In the new season he is to be Calaf again in "Turandot".
In the other roles will be the soloists of the Sofia Opera – Radostina Nikolaeva as Liù, Svetozar Rangelov as Timur, Emil Pavlov as Altum, Atanas Mladenov, Angel Antonov, Daniel Ostretsov as Ping, Pang, Pong and Veselin Mihaylov as Mandarin.
The premiere of "Turandot" directed by Plamen Kartaloff was in 1995. "Turandot" of the Sofia Opera was also presented as a co-production with "Thessaloniki – Cultural Capital of Europe", 1997. Another important event in the history of "Turandot" was Sofia Opera's first guest-performance in Japan in 2000. Three more invitations for the national opera to tour the same production followed – in 2008, 2015 and 2018.
The Japanese press noted:
"The Sofia National Opera does not rely solely on the famous magic of Bulgarian voices, but has the talent and potential to be one of the first opera theatres in the world – a modern theatre that organically weaves together singing, orchestra and modern staging, which turns everyone on stage – soloists, choristers and statisticians into actors. Not only do they sing their parts to perfection, but they also act – as in any dramatic theatre."
Good luck to the 2024/2025 season!