Sofia, 19.01.2023 15:18 (BTА)
It's a huge struggle for roles at the moment, which is great – because there's a very serious competitive environment. This is what Marta Petkova told the media today on the occasion of the upcoming premiere of "Anna Karenina". Petkova is the Artistic director of the Sofia Opera Ballet, and she has been entrusted with the role of Karenina in the ballet of the same name, staged by the Croatian choreographer and director Leo Mujić.
"It was very important for the troupe to work with someone like Leo Mujić. I was stunned and shocked by my first meeting with him. I have worked all over the world, in very prestigious theatres. But the kind of work he gives, I've never met. I can say that the troupe loved him terribly much – truly. He's exceptionally patient working with each of our artists. He doesn't leave the room from 11:00 to 8:00 at night. So for me it was a very successful move – for the troupe to meet with him and increase the quality of their work", said Marta Petkova.
"I'm giving my all to make the best version of "Anna Karenina", Leo Mujić said. It's all a question of priorities – that's what the choreographer says about being able to "tell" the story in an hour and 45 minutes. "The inconvenience of the dance industry is that it doesn't talk", he adds. He says he has created an interactive tale in which every character is important.
"We have to take into account the time in which "Anna Karenina" was written, the latter part of the 19th century, when a lot of innovation was going on. The year the book was written, the first movie came out. A lot of other discoveries happen, Pompeii was discovered. I'm inspired by a room that's in the winter palace, the same period in which takes place the action of "Anna Karenina", said set designer Cvijeta Schwinn.
"What inspired me is that the ancient monuments were not actually white, but quite colourful. Also, it was important to consider which colours should be used so that the scenery didn't steal attention from the artists. That's how it worked for me – first I do the research, and then the sets for the scene. For a certain story that happens in a certain time period", she said.
"The spectacle "Anna Karenina" is returning to the opera stage after eight years", recalled the opera's director Plamen Kartaloff. He announced that a new cover was bought for the stage floor when ballet spectacles are presented there.
As BTA reported, there will be six premiere performances of "Anna Karenina" at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. The first is on 27 January, and the next – on 28 and 29 January, as well as on 2, 3 and 4 February, the opera announced. The ballet "Anna Karenina" is based on the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy, the music is by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
In the main roles are the prima ballerinas Marta Petkova and Katerina Petrova, the premier soloists Nikola Hadjitanev, Tsetso Ivanov and Emil Yordanov. In the spectacle will sound the violin of Stoimen Peev from "Sofia Quartet", the voices of Alexandrina Stoyanova Andreeva and Violeta Radomirska. Orchestra of the Sofia Opera and Ballet conducted by Andrei Galanov.
https://www.bta.bg/bg/news/lik/392682-marta-petkova-v-momenta-v-baleta-ima-ogromna-borba-za-roli