Conductors Night at the Sofia Opera in the Theatre’s Night on 19 November
11 Nov 2016

Conductors Night at the Sofia Opera in the Theatre’s Night on 19 November

The Theatre’s Night, in which the Sofia Opera takes part for the fourth time, this year is dedicated to the conductors and will take place on 19 November, Saturday, from 10.00 to 22.00 h. The concept is to remind of symbolic for the theatre names of conductors, who left a bright trace with their work during its 125-year history, as well as to present their successors of today, who carry on this remarkable tradition.  

From 10.00 to 16.00 h will take place the already traditional and especially loved from the audience tours “Get to know the Opera”. The spectators will be acquainted with the theatre’s life behind the curtains, they will take a peep into the dressing rooms and into the rehearsal halls of the artists. The participants in the tours will be acquainted also with some secrets of the scenic make-up and costumes.

The visitors will have the chance to see several photo exhibitions. In the central foyer will be presented symbolic personalities, who were standing years long behind the conductor’s stand in the orchestra pit of the Sofia Opera. In the Marble foyer of the theatre, the citizen of Ruse Evgeniy Stanimirov presents caught by the camera moments of different opera productions of our first opera theatre. The photographer Svetoslav Nikolov, until recently member of the ballet company himself, reveals breath stopping moments from ballet spectacles, among which “Swan Lake”, “La Bayadère” and “Sleeping Beauty”.  

The Conductors Night offers live meetings with three names of this art. Francesco Rosa from Italy, who will conduct the upcoming premiere of “La forza del destino” by Verdi, will meet the audience, together with the director Pier Francesco Maestrini half an hour before the beginning of the connecting rehearsal at 11.00 h.

Workshop performance about the secrets of the art of conducting will give Maestro Zhorzh Dimitrov after the end of the spectacle “Die Zauberflöte for children” by Mozart at 11.00 h in the theatre’s Chamber hall.

To the art of conducting will is dedicated also the meeting-conversation with Maestro Grigor Palikarov at 14.00 h.

An account about the new Steinway grand piano, which the Sofia Opera received as a donation by the opera singer Dimitar Mihov and other surprises will expect the theatre’s guests during the event.

After 16.00 h it will move to the City Mark Art Centre, where upcoming are three film shows. At 17.30 h is envisaged the film show of “Path in the years”, about the life of our famous conductor Borislav Ivanov, who this year celebrated his 85th Anniversary. At 19.00 h will be the film show of “L’ítaliana in Algeri” by G. Rossini – a guest-performance of the Sofia Opera at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1981. The production is by Vili Tsankov, conductor is Mihail Angelov. Persormers ate Stefka Mineva, Asen Selimski, Pavel Gerdzhikov, Mincho Popov.

Ambassadors for the Theatres Night are the soprano Gabriela Georgieva and the baritone Atanas Mladenov.

Gabriela Georgieva is a graduate of the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. She specialized opera singing at the Boris Christoff Bulgarian Academy of Art in Rome. She took part in master classes of Caroline Dumas, Peter Dvorsky and Anna Tomowa-Sintow.

Since 2000, she has been working with Ghena Dimitrova, and later also with Kaludi Kaludov, who played a main role in her formation as a singer. Her career began in Varna in 2002 as Leonora from Verdi’s “Il trovatore”. In 2003, she made her debut at the Sofia Opera as Amelia from “Un ballo in maschera” by Verdi. Among her roles are Norma, Manon Lescaut, Macbeth, Aida. She has a rich opera and concert repertoire, recordings and international participations.

Atanas Mladenov graduated from the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music. He specialized Rossini’s music in Barcelona and opera singing at the Boris Christoff Bulgarian Academy of Art in Rome. He studied also at the G. Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. He took part in master classes of Raúl Giménez, Elena Filipova, Evgenia Dundekova.

He started working at the Sofia Opera and Ballet in 2012. He has sung in “Rigoletto” and “Il barbiere di Siviglia” in France, “La scala di seta” by Rossini in Pesaro, “Il matrimonio segreto” by Cimarosa in Cesena, Italy. In his repertoire are roles from “L’elisir d’amore”, “Lakmé”, “Rita”, “The Golden Apple” by P. Hadzhiev, Albert from ”Werther” by Massenet and Gunter in ”Götterdämmerung” by R. Wagner on the stage of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Among his last roles are Dandini from “La cenerentola”, Ping in “Turandot”, Kurwenal in “Tristan und Isolde” and Eugene Onegin.