On 26 November 2020 took place the premiere presentation for Bulgaria of the opera “Elektra” by Richard Strauss. After the series of performances, the audience will have the possibility to experience again the shaking drama of the daughter, obsessed by the revenge for the murder of her father. This is the next grandiose challenge, which Acad. Plamen Kartaloff proposed to the team of the theatre, which he manages. After the series of Wagner productions – the tetralogy “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, “Tristan und Isolde” and “Parsifal”, Richard Strauss is the dream of every opera stage director. Operas by Richard Strauss were staged before too. “Der Rosenkavalier” was presented in 1969, in 2000 was the concert performance of “Salome” with the participation of Anna Tomowa-Sintow, and in 2009 there was a new performance of “Salome”. But according to all specialists “Elektra” is the greatest temptation.
On 12 and 14 March and on 16 April “Elektra” will be again on the stage. The lead roles will perform Lilia Kehayova and Diana Guglina as Elektra, Gergana Rusekova and Mariana Zvetkova – Klytaemnestra, Radostina Nikolaeva and Tsvetana Bandalovska – Chrysothemis, Daniel Ostretsov – Aegisth, Veselin Mihaylov – Orest.
On the conductor’s stand again will be Evan Alexis Christ, who said: “Before arriving in Bulgaria, I have heard about Maestro Kartaloff’s fantastic productions in the last years ... For me “Elektra” is technically the most difficult for the orchestra and the ensemble. The singers here are at a very high level, beautiful, musical and strong voices with excellent skills in German. The orchestra has a wonderful technical virtuosity and musicality. I am happy to be a part of this!”
We shall remind also of the rest of the team – set design – Sven Jonke, Leo Kulash – costumes, Fredy Franzutti – choreography, lighting – Andrej Hajdinjak.
Debut in the role of Klytaemnestra will make Mariana Zvetkova. Strauss is among her favourite composers. She has performed Ariadne from “Ariadne auf Naxos” before. “Richard Strauss is not easy to perform. Required is not only one-month learning up of the role, but penetration. One must flow in one with the characters”, said she. In the audio file, please listen to what she shared in conversation with Angel Antonov.
Mariana Zvetkova shared further:
“The role of Klytaemnestra is a dream of mine since quite a long time. I am thankful to Acad. Kartaloff for including me in the team of his production. This is the first “Elektra” in Bulgaria and I am very happy to be a part of it. The character of Klytaemnestra in the production of the Sofia Opera is far away from all kinds of cheap tricks of evil-doer and sorceress. We are used to categorize the bad character as a witch. But Klytaemnestra is a 100% woman – with all pluses and minuses of female nature. Placed under the spotlight of the past, she is bleeding from her wounds and the more pain she has, the more pain she causes.”
https://bnr.bg/hristobotev/post/101434564