"We are an ambassador of contemporary Bulgarian musical culture," said Academician Plamen Kartaloff
"In 2022 the Sofia Opera staged over 300 performances – half of which were for our youngest audience. Over 100 000 spectators visited us. The audience has overflowed into our halls in recent months. It is very important to lead it – to be able to anticipate the leadership that a modern opera house has. It should not be an expectation only of traditional titles, but also something new", said the Director of the Sofia Opera, Academician Plamen Kartaloff, on the air of "The Day ON AIR".
He announced that next year the institution is preparing a festival with the works of Richard Wagner, which the guest himself described as an extremely ambitious task.
"The Sofia Opera is an ambassador of contemporary Bulgarian musical culture – not only with its tours in Germany, the Bolshoi Theatre, Brazil and Japan, but also by working for its local audience," Kartaloff said, promising that the upcoming festival will include even better productions than the previous ones.
He told Bulgaria ON AIR that there is no shortage of young audiences in the halls.
"With the open-air spectacles, we democratized the art of opera and gave space to those who are embarrassed to enter the opera house in tuxedos. Through the proliferation of open-air opera performances, we are given the opportunity to politically justify our point", the guest said.
Acad. Kartaloff noted that "art is a form of knowledge".
"Education must begin with those who will lead the state. When they have never been to the theatre, opera or ballet – how will they lead the state?" he concluded.
Watch the full conversation in the video.