Interview of Hristo Nikolov for newspaper "24 Chasa"/01.08.2020

- Mr. Kartaloff, do you think that the world of the opera will already not be the same after COVID-19, and what more exactly will change?

- It is understandable that the world of the opera won’t be the same. We are witnesses how at the opera theatres around the world started a reduction of the regular activity, narrowing of the repertoire, crazy adapting of works of art, even of Wagner’s majestic operas, to intolerable chamber formats, discharging of staff, cancellation of guest-performances.

But the interesting is that in this deadly crisis people are the same. Some of them, instead of humbling themselves, behave impudently and arrogantly, with pretensions. Even as if they want to make up for their lost work with extortion and greater claims.

- The boss of Metropolitan Opera (МЕТ) Peter Gelb said that obviously the grand opera and the principles of social distance are incompatible and because of that in New York they were preparing indoors spectacles not until for New Year. Didn’t you take too big risk with the spectacles, which started still on 16 June?

- For me the risk is uncurable passion for coping in times of greatest hardships. My examples are countless. But Peter Gelb gave another example too – with transition to online streaming of the MET repertoire from its rich archive during the years. And this showed that in spite of the closed doors of the legendary theatre, it actually opened itself to the audience from all over the world. The Sofia Opera, you know, did the same, without having arranged this with MET in advance. Still before МЕТ to stream its first spectacle online, we made an Internet premiere of the opera “Borislav – the great voivode of Tsar Ivan Asen II” by Maestro Georgi Atanasov. I chose this Bulgarian title, in order to give courage and cultural-historical impulse to our audience with one feat from our glorious history. This way we set the start of the long series of streaming of productions from the preserved diligently video archive of the Sofia Opera. We showed free over thirty productions via our Internet platforms, filmed by Rumen Kovachev’s producer company ТV 1 and our own collection.

Right away we were supported also by the General Director of the Bulgarian National Television Emil Koshlukov and his team with recordings from the Golden fund of BNT. Each Sunday evening BNТ 2 was broadcasting our opera and ballet productions and this will continue till the end of the summer.

After a three-month compulsory pause, we started performances, but we had the legal permission for limitation of the seats in the hall. The risk took all of us. At my special meetings with the teams of the orchestra, the chorus, the ballet and in first place with the artists, were heard one and the same desires: we want to work, we miss the audience, give us work. I was prepared for this thirst of the artists to come back to work and their welling up creative energy for appearances and meetings with the audience, towards the sense of their professions. During the quarantine I didn’t stay without tasks, which I set to myself by my own. We had to develop an artistic plan and organization for the expected summer season of the Sofia Opera.

- The spectacles in the open air are your registered mark. Why this time they were on Lake Pancharevo and in the Cinema Center?

- Our beautiful capital Sofia doesn’t have the privilege to have inherited historically an antique theatre or a Roman stadium, it even doesn’t dispose of a summer theatre. This couldn’t stop us to construct halls and stages in the open air by our own. It is known how we were transforming the centre of the capital into square theatres.

The festival evenings in the Park of the Academy of Defence this summer for the first time we extended with the two other splendid spaces for opera and ballet. One of them is already favourite for our audience at the romantic shore of Lake Pancharevo. The other one is the magical world of the Boyana Cinema Center.

Special attention now we pay also to the already cultivated by us numerous children’s audience. It kept its territory on the small stage of the Park. The ballet spectacles “Swan Lake”, “Zorba the Greek”, “Carmina Burana” are on the stage, romantically named by me “Muses of Water”, on which step the muses of all arts – ballet, opera and the exceptionally demanded musical “Mamma mia!”.

When we talk about lake and close to the water titles, I included specially “Das Rheingold”. For the first time in a new interpretation we present Wagner’s masterpiece in the open air.

Because of the same requirements of mine for opera spectacles, was also my choice in the Roman Square in the Cinema Center. I am thankful to the Chief producer Yariv Lerner that he accepted my idea in a flesh. Here is another new synthesis of majestic cinema sets and opera titles under the vault of the heavenly temple and the embrace of the Vitosha Mountain.

Although there are privations from economical point of view, we cannot pass without “Opera of the Peaks” on the Belogradchik Rocks, and also without the Wagner Mystery in the Magura Cave.

- The Corona crisis left undoubtedly many world-known names without engagements. Probably the Sofia Opera will take advantage of that, but reveal a little from the autumn season – who could we see on Sofia stage and in what?

- I have always valued the ensemble national theatre. Remember the words of the Director of “Opera Europa” about the Sofia Opera: “Here there is something, which in the most Western theatres is lost. The feeling of ensemble, of team. Your opera house has identity. Whereas the Western opera houses, which hire for their spectacles singers from all over the world, are getting more and more identical. Say where else in the world can be staged the whole “Der Ring des Nibelungen” with entirely national cast?”

It is also known that the Sofia Opera has been a constant source of singers for the Western opera houses – from the biggest to the smallest ones. Of course, greatest singers from the world stages are our dear guests. But guests, without having much time for rehearsals. And in the opera the rehearsal process is long, we cannot pass with two or three rehearsals like with the guests of some symphonic orchestra.

In the unbalanced standards for subsidies and lack of criteria and priorities for financing I don’t find sense for the moment to be spent means for one-time invitations. And the means now are not guaranteed for production and artistic expenses. The profit is from the actual everyday incomes only when there are performances, with which to cover the obligatory current expenses. Still the national opera theatre of Bulgaria is with the lowest standard for state financing, but also with best incomes and it is at first place in meeting the criteria and indicators in the system of music and stage arts.

- The pandemic found the Sofia Opera with almost ready ballet spectacle “1001 Nights”, with “Il barbiere di Siviglia” and with “Elektra”, which were rehearsed intensely. When these spectacles will be situated in time this autumn?

- At the moment our efforts are focused on the new summer stages, which we created. I admit that our occupation is enormous and I believe with conviction that now, when it is time to fight the fear and isolation, the fear that tomorrow there could be no audience, that the artist can find himself in the trap to be unnecessary and thrown away, my main task of manager is to organize a dynamical creative process for the artists, the orchestra, the ballet, the chorus, the technical staff, the production ateliers. We have stood the burden and this way the audience will also return to their favourite theatre and favourite artists.

We shall return to the already rehearsed and ready titles in the late autumn. When we know also the clear frames of the financing, we shall announce the programme. At the moment are guaranteed the salaries of the staff, for what we thank the efforts of the Minister of Culture Boil Banov. To this secureness and care we answer repeatedly with intensive and dynamic programme on six stages: at the Sofia Opera, in the Park of the Academy of Defence, on Lake Pancharevo, in the Roman Square in the Boyana Cinema Center, our stage at the Belogradchik Rocks and in the Magura Cave.

- But how exactly do you intend to bring back the audience in the halls at least to their previous level? During the pandemic people had the wonderful possibility to watch on their PCs everything most significant from the last years – every evening different spectacles of Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, the Bolshoi Theatre. It is true that the live spectacle is quite another experience, but don’t you think that this horn of plenty will raise too much the level of the expectations?

- These fans of the opera, who really understand and don’t go into extasies only over names and rich theatres with in advance provided means from the state and the solid support of sponsors, will see the difference, the advantages and the shortcomings at the comparisons “rich-poor”. Then only if they are honest in their esteems and free of the prejudices for native and foreign, will say what they have expected and found.

Our Bulgarian artists and productions, I hear, aren’t inferior, and sometimes even excel in interpretation and performances many of the productions shown in the Internet. Actually, the European platform “Opera Vision” is already streaming spectacles of ours. And there the comparative possibilities are very easy. Set for watching and hearing are parallelly several productions and theatres, as a competition. Soon we shall enter also in the American Internet spaces. Our spectacles in the Cinema Center were shot with high quality technique and already starts their paid streaming in the Amazon Prime channel, with which we reach the world audience.