This night, the Croatian national theater raises the curtains on the visiting Bulgarian production of “Die Walküre” with which the Sofia Opera is touring the international opera festival in Zagreb.
The Sofia Opera’s 15 year-long Wagner journey takes the Bulgarian artists to the Zagreb stage this night. Tendencies have changed and now our national theater gets invited abroad not to perform its traditional Italian repertoire but pieces from Wagner’s heavy artillery.
The talk of the qualities of our “Die Walküre” precedes our artists’ arrival.
Iva Hraste-Soco, director of the Croatian national theater:
“Judging by ticket sales, I would say expectations are very high because all seats were sold out around two weeks ago. We have no more tickets left and there is still interest in this performance. I believe expectations are high because the Zagreb audience loves Wagner, we have our own Wagnerian society and traditions in performing Wagner operas on our stage. This season, we’re setting our own production of “Tannhäuser” and I think the Sofia Opera’s visit with “Die Walküre” is a really good introduction to the new season.
Acad. Plamen Kartaloff consistently turned his Wagner productions into a convertible artistic product which is sought after and respected in Europe.
Acad. Plamen Kartaloff, director of the Sofia Opera and Ballet:
“We’re not talking about just singing, drama theater or a display of art, this performance has it all. The score must be polished and woven in such a way that the audience’s attention doesn’t waver for even a second.
The Bulgarian “Die Walküre” immediately turned into a magnet for more than just Wagner fans. World-famous singers see their own debut in our production as an incredible opportunity. Such is the case with Olafur Sigurdarson who has been performing in Wagner works for years at “La Scala” and Bayreuth but this year has already debuted as Wotan in the Bulgarian “Die Walküre”.
Olafur Sigurdarson: “Your production pays real respect to the score, the story and the characters and that’s why I decided it was going to be a wonderful opportunity to debut as Wotan with you, to try out the role. The Bulgarian Valkyries will appear on the Zagreb stage on their red steeds tonight with the confidence that they will leave this audience in awe as they do during every tour in Europe.