01 april 2024 Viva Puccini Grand Opera Gala On Friday At the Opera House
On Friday evening, April 5 at 7 p.m. in the hall of the State Opera - Burgas, the soloists, orchestra, and choir of the Burgas Opera will perform some of the most famous arias, duets, ensembles, and choruses from the works of the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. The sopranos Yoana Zhelezcheva, Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova, Nona Krastnikova, the tenors Andreya Mirchev, Vlaeriy Georgiev and Yani Nikolov, the baritone Valeri Turmanov and the bass Delyan Slavov will present on the stage of the Burgas Opera emblematic Puccini masterpieces known and loved by classical music fans, and and the wider audience. The conductor of the choir, which will bring a large-scale sound and nuances of drama, characteristic of Puccini's work, is Aleksander Chepanov, concertmaster - Vanya Zlateva. The opera gala is dedicated to the 165th anniversary of the birth and the 100th anniversary of the death of the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.
At the beginning of February this year, the composition of the Burgas Opera visited Razgrad and Shumen with one of the acclaimed masterpieces by Giacomo Puccini - "Madame Butterfly", respectively - with Nona Krastnikova and Ioana Zhelezcheva in the role of the famous geisha with a tragic fate. under the baton of the great Bulgarian conductor, honorary citizen of Burgas - Ivan Kojuharov.
Maestro Dimitar Kosev, chief conductor of the State Opera-Ruse, is behind the conductor's desk at the "Viva Puccini" opera gala on Friday.
Dimitar Kosev was born in the city of Ruse in 1992. The young conductor and pianist is a graduate of the National School of Arts "Prof. Veselin Stoyanov". Immediately after completing his secondary education, he was admitted to the Prayner Konservatorium – Vienna, Austria, majoring in Conducting and Piano. In 2014, at the age of 21, he graduated from the Conservatory with full honors. The young conductor has an impressive creative biography, he is the winner of the prestigious "Golden Feather" award for contribution to Bulgarian culture and art for 2019, the "Young Musician of the Year" award for 2020, awarded by the BNR, as well as several prestigious international and national awards. The Burgas public knows maestro Kosev from the concert of Mariana Popova with the orchestra of the State Opera - Burgas - during the Burgas Music Festival 2021. In November 2023, the young conductor was memorable behind the desk in Mozart's masterpiece "Don Giovanni". After the performance, the musicians admitted that despite the three-hour playing of the difficult score, they did not feel tired, as the orchestra sounded extremely balanced, with dynamics adequate to the action. At the end of February of this year, he conducted with great success in front of a large audience the operetta by Johann Strauss-son "The Bat", when the main roles were: Edelina Kaneva /guest/, Marcho Apostolov /guest/, Maria Tsvetkova- Madzharova, Yordan Hristozov, and others.
In the rich program of the opera gala "Viva Puccini!", dedicated to the two anniversaries, will sound:
Intermezzo from the opera "Manon Lescaut", performed by the orchestra of the State Opera - Burgas, Manon's aria "Sola perduta abbandonata" from the same opera will be performed by the soprano Nona Krastnikova. She will also perform an ensemble - Finale of Act III from the opera "Bohemia", together with Maria Tsvekova-Madjarova, Yani Nikolov, and Valeri Turmanov.
Joanna Zhelezcheva, soprano, will perform Cho-cho's Aria solo - "Un bel di vedremo" from Act II of the opera "Madame Butterfly", Aria of Tosca and Duet of Tosca and Cavaradossi from Act I of the opera "Tosca", together with tenor Valery Georgiev, and Princess Turandot's aria from the opera of the same name. Soprano Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova will perform the Finale of Act I from the opera "Turandot", together with tenor Valery Georgiev, Lyubomir Todorov and Milen Dinolov, baritone Valeri Turmanov, bass Delyan Slavov and the chorus of the Burgas Opera.
The program of the opera gala "Viva Puccini" will also feature: Pirkenton's aria from Act III of the opera "Madame Butterfly", performed by tenor Yani Nikolov, the ensemble "La morte di Liu" - from Act III of the opera "Turandot", presented by: soprano Maria Tsvetkova Madzharova, tenors Valery Georgiev, Milen Dinolov, baritone Valeri Turmanov, bass Delyan Slavov and choirs of the State Opera - Burgas. Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova will perform Mimi's Aria from Act I of the opera "Bohemia" and Mimi and Rodolphe's Duet from the same opera, together with tenor Andrey Mirchev. In the performance of the choir, the audience will hear "Caro a bocca chiusa" - from Act III of the opera "Madame Butterfly". At the end of the program, the Finale of Act III of the opera "Bohemia" will be presented, performed by: Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova, Nona Krastnokova, Yani Nikolov, and Valeri Turmanov. The brilliant coda of the "Viva Puccini" opera gala is Calaf's famous Aria from the opera "Turandot", which will be performed by Valery Georgiev together with the chorus of the Burgas Opera.
The scores of the genius Giacomo Puccini are distinguished by a lyrical musical concept - a sincere-warm melody, gushing emotionality, romantic notes, and drama. His music abounds in melodious arias, duets, and ensembles, in which the characters' images are reflected with psychological mastery. The orchestra also plays an important role in the overall performance, and leitmotifs appear in the fabric of the stage action depending on the mental states of the characters.
At the Viva Puccini Opera Gala on April 5, the conductor, soloists, orchestra, and chorus are expected to present exceptional professionalism and be united by the single energy characteristic of a high-ranking event, fully in sync with the philosophical concept of Puccini's music, which develops in depth the dramatic images, saturated with tragedy and over-condensed emotionality – in all registers. Artists and musicians will present the stirring scores with the necessary dose of artistic energy that turns the music into an impactful force with unparalleled emotional resonance.