Alidoro or the “Golden Ali” is obviously a name-symbol, personifying the mystical East. Modern still before the Rossini’s time, even to this day, the eastern way and method of perception of the world around us is a “magical” alternative of the western manner.

Rossini is obviously “above the things”, in the sense of post-magical, the kind of nature he gave also to his character Alidoro. Alidoro (teacher and advisor of the Prince) is a thinker, mystic, meditative, deep and silent. Rather a wise man of the “powers of the mind” (like Confucius), than a wise man of the “powers of the spirit” (like Laozi). At what the second ones he obviously doesn’t master, according to the wonderful sense of humour of our stage director Vera Petrova.

Alidoro uses everything known and unknown for his purpose – in this case “trionfa la bonta”, „the triumph of goodness”, which finally he succeeds, managing to curb the chaos of emotions, claims, egoism and vanity of our “western” society.

Pure musically Rossini was never feeling shy to write the most complex passages – coloraturas, to which he is capable for the naturally mobile light soprano, as well as for the most heavily mobile voice – the bass. Alidoro’s aria “There from Heaven” (“La del ciel”) is one of the most difficult works for bass or bass-baritone in the world opera literature. It is the reason for me, still in my student years, to fall in love musically in this character and generally in Rossini’s works of art. I am happy that with work, love and inspiration I manage to perform it at a good, world level. And I am thankful that I am invited to perform it. Because the Sofia Opera, respectively audience is looking for this title, and it is often included in its stage repertoire by its far-sighted Director, Academician Kartaloff.

My tasks for this season are again committed with the Bonn Opera and the Sofia Opera. In Bonn the Opera and Programme Director relies on rusty pearls from the opera literature, as well as on the quite modern ones. “Akhnaten” by Philip Glass, in which I will sing in Acadian, Aramean, Egyptian and German; “The Ghost Knight” by J. Reynolds, which his often compared to “Harry Potter” for opera stage; like the romantic-realistic masterpiece by Hermann Wolfgang von Waltershausen after Balzac “Oberest Schabert”; as well as the classical “Le nozze di Figaro”, Puccini’s “Triptych” and others.

At and with the Sofia Opera I will be on the stage with Alidoro in “La Cenerentola”, and I will be again Wotan, for eighth year in a series in the cast of the Bulgarian “Ring” by Maestro Kartaloff on the Sofia stage, as well as in the grandiose guest-performance on the historical stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Let’s wish us good luck!

Martin Tsonev

Bonn, 03.10.17