Yesterday, a press conference was held at the Sofia Opera and Ballet regarding the premiere of the “Romeo and Juliet” ballet by Sergei Prokofiev.

Present were Marta Petkova: creative director of the Sofia Opera ballet troupe who is also performing the role of Juliet; Kaloyan Boyadzhiev: performance director and choreographer; Even Borsum: scenographer; Ingrid Nylander: costume designer; conductors Andrei Galanov and Igor Bogdanov; lead singers Vyara Ivancheva, Frederico Pinto and Nikola Hadzhitanev.

The creative team commented in front of the attending journalists that the audience will see a classic performance mixed with modern elements inspired by the tragedy and lyricism in Shakespeare’s play and in Prokofiev’s score. The costumes will be mostly darker-toned, with bordeaux, blue, grey and black as the main colors. The décors will be organized around a turning cross which gives the opportunity for creating new spaces on stage where the story will unfold.

Conductors Andrei Galanov and Igor Bogdanov reminded that Prokofiev’s ballet had a harsh fate: it premiered in Brno, (then) Czechoslovakia. Bolshoi theater declined to host the premiere due to the score and choreography being difficult to perform. The two conductors added that even though Prokofiev’s score is hard to perform, it inspires both them and the Sofia Opera orchestra.

There will be only four “Romeo and Juliet” performances, on the 7^th, 8^th, 9^th and 10^th of November. Starring: Marta Petkova, Frederico Pinto, Boryana Petrova, Nikola Hadzhitanev, Vyara Ivancheva, Emil Yordanov, Georgi Banchev, Vincenzo Caruana, Rumen Bonev, Alexandar Alexandrov.   

We expect you at “Romeo and Juliet”: the ballet premiere of the season and the most famous love story which has excited the world for over four centuries.