31 july 2025 "Troubadour" Is the Second Event of "Opera of the Sanctuary"

After the triumph of the first event of the "Opera of the Sanctuary" 2025 - the opera "Samson and Delilah", under the baton of Prof. Dr. Grigor Palikarov, the second festival event will be an exciting evening under the starry dome of Strandzha, in the sacred place, in the condensed rhythm of the musical and scenic perfection of Verdi's opera "Il Trovatore" - on August 2 at 8:30 p.m. One of Verdi's most popular operas tells the story of the troubadour Manrico, his mother, the gypsy Azucena, the tender young girl in love, Leonora, the powerful Count di Luna, and all the other characters, as their destinies intertwine in a tragic tale of love, sin, and redemption. The opera is marked by exciting dynamics and the tragic fate of its characters, captivating the senses and conveying messages that transcend time. The stage action and the rhythm of the score will merge with the natural energy, which is palpably strong in the sacred place, and the stage action.

The entire cast of the Burgas Opera: soloists, orchestra, choir, and ballet, under the baton of Maestro Krinchev, will tell through the means of syncretic opera art - a combination of music, text, artistic play, plastic, the sad story of a family curse, fateful rehabilitation, redemption, and death.

The conductor - Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Krinchev, chief conductor of the State Opera - Stara Zagora and a lecturer at the National Academy of Music "Pancho Vladigerov", winner of the "Emil Chakarov" award for 2020, as well as the artistic cast, are first-class. Maestro Krinchev also conducted the first performance of "Troubadour" on the stage of Begliktash in August 2021.

In the dramatic role of the troubadour Manrico, for whom the stars have destined a thorny fate, dotted with fateful obstacles, an encounter with pure love and the inevitable tragedy of redemption, the audience will once again have the pleasure and privilege of seeing and hearing the renowned tenor Kostadin Andreev /guest/, soloist of the Sofia Opera and Ballet, who has sung many times with Gena Dimitrova on the same stage. He was impeccable in the role of Samson in the first event of the "Opera of the Sanctuary" festival - in the epic opera "Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saens "Samson and Delilah".

The role of Leonora will be magnificently recreated by the soprano Maria Tsvetkova-Madzharova and is as if created for her role. The soloist of the Burgas Opera sang the role in her debut in 2020. on the stage of the Summer Theater in Burgas, in partnership with the world-renowned tenor Kamen Chanev, who passed away prematurely just a few months ago. In the summer of 2021, she entered the image of Begliktash on the stage, with another prominent Bulgarian tenor in the role of Manrico - Valery Georgiev. On August 2, there will be another brilliant incarnation in one of her favorite images, which she recreates in full, with all the nuances of feelings, with brilliant vocal technique, both in the bravura passages with heights, and in the muted dynamics representing the soulful groans, and in the expressive recitatives.

The eminent Bulgarian mezzo-soprano Daniela Dyakova is expected to be exceptional, as always, in one of her crown roles of Azucena. A riot of raging feelings, bitterness, pain, thirst for revenge, despair, repentance – she manages to recreate a rich emotional spectrum with all the nuances of drama, and it is palpable how every note and phrase passes through her essence completely, giving an impressive power to the perceptions. The space of the ancient Thracian sanctuary will be cut through again by the power of her conquering voice, in which all the pain of the tragic image was invested.

The role of Count Di Luna – Manrico’s rival in love, who ends in death before he finds out from Azucena that he was his brother, is played by the renowned Bulgarian baritone Alexander Krunev, who in the first event of the “Opera of the Sanctuary” – “Samson and Delilah” was extremely impressive in the role of the High Priest of Dagon, in partnership with Daniela Dyakova and Kostadin Andreev, with whom he will perform again on August 2. Krunev, respectfully, with a memorable individual stage presence, builds a role of the hard-hearted and powerful nobleman saturated with bright emotion.

Bass Kostadin Mechkov will enter the image of Ferrando, the narrator of the sad story of the switched children and their fateful blood relationship, of the son of Azucena thrown into the fire, and the fateful inexorability that pits two brothers against each other as enemies. Lina Peeva, who is also the assistant director of the production, will play the role of Leonora's confidant, Ines; Milen Dinolov-Ruits, Nikolay Nikolov - Old Gypsy, and  Valyu Totev - Herald.

The conductor of the choir and the five titles included in the festival program of "Opera of the Sanctuary" 2025 is Alexander Chepanov, ballet rehearser - Marina Zmeeva-Markova. All the specialists behind the scenes – assistant directors Lina Peeva and Petar Tiholov, subtitles by Srebrina Slavova, makeup and wigs by Kalina Popova, accompanist of “Troubadour” is Raina Popova – also have admiration for achieving optimal impact.

The dramatic plot of "Il Trovatore", subject to the exciting dynamics of the tragic fate of the characters, captivates the senses and carries messages beyond time and tells the sad story of the dictates of ancestral memory, the inevitable codes of Fate forging the path of life, the contradiction of human feelings pushing towards love and doom, the weight of the shackles of revenge, and the tragic end of a human feeling marked by beauty and sublimity, bearing the stigma of curse - in one of the most beautiful Verdi operas. On August 2, among the megalithic stone blocks of Begliktash, combined with the mysticism of nature, the audience will be absorbed by the beautiful combination of music, the mastery of the entire professional team of the Burgas Opera and the brilliant soloists, who will not only perform the vocal parts in an undeniably exciting and stable manner, but will also merge psychologically with the images, capturing the emotions of those present - as an influential force of the story being told.