On 30 April, the Sofia Opera presented the second premiere evening of the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" by Richard Strauss!
In the spectacle took part the soloists Nikolay Pavlov, Lilia Kehayova, Diana Vasileva, Radostina Nikolaeva, Kostadin Andreev, Atanas Mladenov, Rosen Nenchev, Emil Pavlov, Svetozar Rangelov, Stefan Vladimirov, Ilia Iliev, Krasimir Dinev, Angel Hristov, Hrisimir Damyanov, Lyubov Metodiva, Ayla Dobreva, Tsvetelina Kotseva, Irina Zheleva and Silvana Pravcheva, who charmed the audience! Enthusiastic applause was heard in the hall for the second night in a row!
Conductor: Evan-Alexis Christ
Director: Vera Nemirova
Here is what shared our audience:
"Our family is from Russia and so far we have often attended opera performances at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. We are well acquainted with the work of Richard Strauss and today we are especially happy to have seen "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Sofia Opera! Your spectacle fascinated us – brilliant directing, interesting concept, great voices and each role was filled with the most refined professionalism! We liked the modern style in which the performance was decided and we are very impressed by your orchestra, which was so inspired by Evan-Alexis Christ!"
Peter and Zhana Bogdanovi from St. Petersburg
"In the opera "Ariadne auf Naxos" I see two opposites that merge in a very interesting way – sadness merges magically with joy and happiness! In my opinion, this is the genius of Richard Strauss – to show sadness in such a dimension that at one point it spills over into happiness, showing that happiness is stronger than sadness! I am very enthusiastic about the wonderful direction of Vera Nemirova, who in this spectacle too demonstrates a very original vision and interesting approaches in artistic solutions! The artists and the orchestra were great and the audience deservedly rewarded them with unceasing applause!
Borislav Dimitrov, President of the Opera Bulgaria Club
"I have participated in this opera and I can very objectively assess what work has been done and how everything is very refined!A certain artistic style has been realized in the production, to which the staging decisions are subordinated and all the artists perform their roles with great inspiration!This spirit and these emotions were transferred to the audience and they spontaneously reacted to each more impressive performance of the soloists!The artists and the orchestra deservedly received a standing ovation after the finale!"
Mihail Mihaylov, opera singer
"Today we are delighted with this spectacle, in which we highly appreciate the work of the director! In this performance we enjoyed many interesting modern approaches in the dramaturgical decisions and the rich vision of Vera Nemirova! We are impressed by the interesting scenography and the original costumes! The artists performed brilliantly – great vocals and very interesting mise-en-scène! For the captivating performance of this very complex work, there is of no doubt the great contribution of the conductor Evan-Alexis Christ, who managed to inspire the orchestra to endow us with his magnificent music!"
Zhivko Georgiev and Penka Mincheva
"We are extremely impressed by this original production, in which we can feel the contribution of Anna Tomowa-Sintow – undoubtedly contributed much to the preparation of artists to perform their roles vocally and dramaturgically in the style of Richard Strauss!" So far, we have watched some operas by this composer in foreign TV shows, but today's performance surprised us with the original creative solutions! Our singers showed great vocal data, demonstrated the highest professionalism, supported by the wonderful performance of the orchestra! We often visit your spectacles and we are very happy that for several years now the Sofia Opera has been on the rise and has long since reached, and in some respects even exceeds the level of the world opera houses! That is why today we applauded the entire artistic team of the Sofia Opera!"
Mariana Mageva and Nedyalka Teseva from Kazanlak
"We are delighted with this original and realized in a modern style production! We appreciate the work and creative achievement of the artists to perform their roles in brilliant German! The direction is aesthetically extravagant enough and through the dynamic mise-en-scenes it gives a special vitality to the spectacle! The spectators who are inclined to perceive the different will be satisfied by the inspired acting of the performers, whose vocals amazed us today! It is joyful to see so many young artists on the stage who put a lot of spirit and emotion into their roles! All of them and the magnificent orchestra were rewarded today with such long applause!"
Elena Dragoeva
"I will allow myself to address my words of praise to the Sofia Opera for the fact that there are many productions in innovative style that are presented to us recently! We are impressed by the original direction of these spectacles and the creative achievements of our performers, who demonstrate exceptional voice data and the highest professionalism! Today the artists were rewarded with applause in a full hall, which is an expected reward for them, since due to the pandemic, the access of spectators was very limited! It is also gratifying that so far many prominent directors, soloists and conductors have been invited to be guests, which allowed your orchestra to gain vast experience and offer us the most appropriate and fascinating interpretation of even the most complex operas! We are proud that the Sofia Opera has gained the name and fame of a world-class theatre during these years! We have got acquainted with the program for your next performances and we will warmly recommend them to relatives and acquaintances, as your performances are a wonderful opportunity for spiritual and aesthetic enrichment! Thank you!"
Natalia Gerasimova
