“Prince Igor” and “Turandot” will be performed this autumn in the Land of the Rising Sun
25 May 2015

“Prince Igor” and “Turandot” will be performed this autumn in the Land of the Rising Sun

With performances of “Prince Igor” on 5 June at 19.00 h and “Turandot” on 7 June at 16.00 h the Sofia Opera will present the programme for its upcoming tour in Japan. The theatre will have guest-performances this autumn for the sixth time since 2000 in the Land of the Rising Sun. In both upcoming spectacles will sing the soloists, who will take part in the Japan tour in the period 6-21 October. It includes 6 performances of “Turandot” and 3 – of “Prince Igor” on different stages in the country.

In “Prince Igor” the director Plamen Kartaloff makes his own author’s dramaturgical concept, which finds a new meaning of the title by rejecting war and ending with the peace and the love of both young characters. In the spectacle participate the soloists: Biser Georgiev, Radostina Nikolaeva, Petar Kostov, Aleksandar Nosikov, Petar Buchkov, Tsveta Sarambelieva, Miroslav Andreev, Kostadin Mechkov, Plamen Papazikov, Vetka Petkova, Silvana Pravcheva. Conductor is Grigor Palikarov.

The Bulgarian-Greek production of “Turandot”, created in 1995 by Plamen Kartaloff, brought back 20 years ago on the stage of the Sofia Opera the great dramatic soprano Ghena Dimitrova and the conductor Metodi Matakiev. Yoanna Manoledaki is author of the costumes and the sets. The same production, with 187 participants, was presented in other different places during the next years. It was performed with great success in 2000 in Japan during the first guest-performance of our first opera there. It was revived by request of the Japanese impresario agency, which presents the Sofia Opera in Japan.

In “Turandot” on 7 June at 16.00 h the audience will hear: Gabriela Georgieva, Miroslav Andreev, Svetozar Rangelov, Kostadin Andreev, Silvana Pravcheva, Atanas Mladenov, Plamen Papazikov, Daniel Ostretsov, Nikolay Petrov. Conductor is Grigor Palikarov.

The special jubilee matinée at 11.00 h the same morning will mark the 20th jubilee of the production and 40 years of the debut of Ghena Dimitrova in the role of Turandot in Treviso, Italy, in 1975. At the matinée will be reminded marking moments of this role of the great dramatic soprano with fragments from her performances in Plamen Kartaloff’s production from 1995, as well as participations of the renowned soprano as the capricious Chinese princess at Arena di Verona and La Scala di Milano from 1983.  

The first guest-performance of the Sofia Opera in Japan was in 2000, when Plamen Kartaloff attracted for his productions of “Turandot” by Puccini and “La Gioconda” by Ponchielli the legends Ghena Dimitrova and Nicola Ghiuselev. The next guest-performances of our first opera theatre in this country were in 2002, 2005, 2008 and 2012.