We’re overjoyed and delighted to share our audience’s impressions of the solemn opening of the 2024/2025 seasons with two performance of “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, on the 27th and 29th of September.
In Plamen Kartaloff’s wonderful production starred Anna Pirozzi as Turandot, Jorge de Leon as Prince Kalaf, Rosa Feola as Liu, Svetozar Rangelov as Timur, Daniel Ostretsov, Angel Antonov, Atanas Mladenov, Emil Pavlov, Veselin Mihaylov, a children’s formation led by Dimitar Kostantsaliev as well the Sofia Opera orchestra and choir with Violeta Dimitrova as choir conductor.
The world-famous maestro Daniel Oren conducted both performances. His energy and inspiration showed Puccini’s amazing music and Plamen Kartaloff’s vision in a new light.
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Here’s what our guest stars shared on their participation in the gala performances.
Daniel Oren
I’d like to very much thank Maestro Kartaloff for the invitation. We work quite well together. He is one of the few opera directors who truly love music. Sounds incredible but it’s sadly true nowadays. It felt amazing working with the orchestra: everyone showed such great passion and you can’t make music without passion. I collaborated very well with both the orchestra and choir. We have devoted ourselves to music, we are no mere workers. I am incredibly lucky to have conducted at the Sofia Opera!
Anna Pirozzi
Maestro Kartaloff has been inviting me for quite some time to perform at the Sofia Opera and now it finally happened. I very much enjoyed the production of “Turandot”: a classic opera. I praised the finale very highly because it didn’t end with a solemn wedding ceremony but with Turandot’s grief caused by Liu’s death. Yes, the princess found love but Liu’s incredible sacrifice shook Turandot: Liu’s spilled blood is her fault. In the end, Turandot isn’t such a bad person. I hope to receive more applause in Maestro Kartaloff’s production and with this finale. Thank you, Maestro!
Jorge de Leon
I extend my heartfelt thanks to Maestro Kartaloff for the invitation which I immediately accepted. I discovered a wonderful production which follows all of Puccini’s requirements and amazing colleagues who pour their soul into their work. Every time I perform this role, I feel joy but also the responsibility of handling “Nessun dorma”: one of the most famous arias but also a very difficult one. Everyone in the audience waits to hear this aria. Maestro Kartaloff’s fantastic finale got me very excited.
Rosa Feola
I’ve already experienced the joy of working with maestro Oren and immediately sensed a strong connection between us: we speak the same language. Maestro Kartaloff’s production is awe inspiring. He stays true to the score, the opera’s history, the music. Everything is done in an intelligent way and is yet easy to comprehend. It was a great joy for me to perform in Kartaloff’s traditional take of “Turandot”.
Svetozar Rangelov
I’m very glad we opened the new season with this production and ensemble. My joy of working with my colleagues, Maestro Oren and Maestro Kartaloff is enormous. We worked on the opera tact by tact, note by note. Opera and music are boundless artforms and you discover something new every time.
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Daniel Oren will return to Sofia on the 15th of November to conduct “Requiem” by Giuseppe Verdi. Together with him, four exceptional singers at the peak of their international careers will arrive to Bulgaria: Mariangela Sicilia (soprano), Ekaterina Semenchuk (mezzosoprano), Fabio Sartori (tenor) and Dmitriy Ulyanov (bass).
Also starring: the Sofia Opera choir under the conductorship of Violeta Dimitrova and the National Philharmonic Choir.
