22 june 2023 "Un Ballo In Maschera" Opens The Festival "Scene of the Ages"

On July 8th at 9 p.m., on the picturesque stage of the historical fortress "Tsarevets" in the old capital city of Veliko Tarnovo, under the baton of the famous maestro Ivan Kozhuharov, the story will be presented, telling about the sanctity of feelings, which entwined its destructive power into a sad tale about love, jealousy, and redemption - with the opera "Masquerade Ball" by Giuseppe Verdi. The large-scale production of the State Opera - Burgas will be part of the program of the prestigious festival "Scene of the Ages" - 2023.

Secrets, conspiracies, internal struggles, redemption - all this, as a beautiful musical story about the power of feelings, will be presented by the magnificent soloists who will create memorable images, in sync with the orchestra, choir, and ballet, under the baton of the famous maestro Ivan Kozhuharov.

The artistic cast of the show is magnificent. The tenor Valery Georgiev, who is distinguished by a soft timbre and vocal stability, takes on the role of the noble Ricardo. In the image of Amelia - torn between love and duty, the magnificent soloist of the Burgas Opera, Ioana Zhelezcheva, who was memorable in the role on the open stage of the Thracian megalithic complex Begliktash in the summer of 2022, as part of the spectacular festival "Opera of the sanctuary." The famous baritone Maryan Jovanoski will be the ambitious Renato - Zhelezcheva partnered with him in an undeniably professional way on the stage of Begliktash last year. The wonderful soprano with coloratura heights of the voice Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova takes on the role of Oscar. Daniela Diakova will be the mysterious and fortune-teller Ulrika - the respectable mezzo-soprano was also part of the star cast of "Ball with Masks", presented to a large audience on the open stage of the Thracian sanctuary of Begliktash last year. As the two conspirators who entangle the plot intrigue, the Burgas audience will see the bass players Delyan Slavov - as Samuel, and Diman Panchev - as Tom. Baritone Valery Turmanov will be Silvano, Lyubomir Todorov - the Chief Judge, and Milen Dinolov - Amelia's servant. The scenography of "Ball with Masks" by Dimo Kostadinov is stylish and impressive for the overall impact of the performance, and the costumes of Lili Kostadinova are beautiful and in line with the character of the images, whose general vision they complement. The plastic is by Grisha Roglev. The conductor of the choir is Nevena Mihailova, the concertmaster is Hristo Belchev.

Attendees of the Masquerade Ball performance will be moved by the dramatic relationships between the characters, reflecting their sinful desires, marked by the path to painful realization - under the pressure of the dictates of public morality. The audience will witness the entanglement of fateful knots and the unraveling of human destinies. Verdi's operatic work contains secrets, conspiracies, internal struggles, and a quest for redemption typical of stage music - all of this woven into a beautiful musical narrative about the power of feelings, about the fate of meetings, relationships, and separations. The production of Verdi's opera, through the innovative directorial decisions of Assoc. Dr. Alexander Tekeliev will unfold its dramatic brilliance on the stage of Tsarevets on July 8.

The staging is impressive, and the synchronicity, as well as the overall balance between the individual connecting units in a large-scale spectacle, are at the height of the most demanding aesthetic criteria. The performance is an analog of life's masquerade ball, which contains the entire spectrum of emotions and feelings - tearing doubts, treacherous aspirations, a whirlpool of passions, pure love marked with doom, and dramatic denouements.