ninth edition

20/06-23/08

 

Theatre&Music Production Centre

State Opera Varna

International Music Festival Varna Summer

 

21.00 Summer Theatre – Varna

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20.06  SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN! ●●

musical to music by Nacio H. Brown and Arthur Freed

28.06  ZORRO ●●

musical to music by Gipsy Kings and John Cameron

02.07 CARMEN ●●

opera by Georges Bizet

04.07  CINDERELLA ●●

opera by Gioachino Rossini

07.07  TOSCA ●●

opera by Giacomo Puccini

12.07  DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER ●●

opera by Richard Wagner

07.08  LA GIOCONDA ●●

opera by Amilcare Ponchielli

09.08  SWAN LAKE ●●

ballet by P. I. Tchaikovsky

14.08  DIE CSÁRDÁSFÜRSTIN ●●

operetta by Emmerich Kálmán

17.08   SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN! ●●

musical to music by Nacio H. Brown and Arthur Freed

20.08  LA TRAVIATA ●●

opera by Giuseppe Verdi

21.08  ZORRO ●●

musical to music by Nacio H. Brown and Arthur Freed

23.08  OPERA GALA ●●

concert-spectacle

 

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Daniela Dimova – Director of Theatre & Music Production Centre Varna

 

For the ninth time the unique Summer Theatre in Varna will welcome special events of the opera, operetta, ballet and musical.

The State Opera Varna has diligently been preparing during the whole musical season to present to its numerous audience a variety of genres, styles, staging teams and performers with worldwide careers. Six premieres stand out among them.

The musical Singin’ in the Rain! is presented for the first time in Bulgaria, and the musical Zorro and the operas Cinderella and La Gioconda – for the first time in Varna.

Our fifth premiere, Der Fliegende Holländer, has been accomplished together with our friends from the National Opera in Belgrade.  

For the operetta fans we have prepared a remake of the impressive production of the unforgettable Vidin Daskalov Die Csárdásfürstinof 1996. 

An unforgettable summer is before us, in which the emotions and inspiration will help us to enjoy beauty, mastership and harmony. Good luck to all the participants and our loyal audience!  

 

 

 

 

 

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PRICES: 

 

Categories /prices in leva/	SINGLE EVENT	COLLECTION TOTAL●	COLLECTION CLASSICAL  ●	COLLECTION MUSICAL●
Economical	15	88	72	20
Third	20	110	90	30
Second	30	165	135	40
First	40	220	180	60
Special with catering for 10 leva	50	330	240	80
Special extra with catering for 25 leva	70	440	300	100
VIP with catering for 35 leva	100	550	440	130

 

TICKETS: Square “Nezavisimost” 1: Monday – Friday 9:00-13:30 and 14:30-20:00; Saturday 10:00–13:30 and 14:30-20:00; Sunday 11:00-16:00, tel: 052 665 022,

Festival and Congress Centre: every day from 10:00 to 21:00 /closed 14:00-14:30 and 16:30-17:00/ tel: 052 685 214,   Summer Theatre: every day: 10:00-13.00 and 14:00-18:30 tel. 052 612 803

BOOKINGS: tel: 052 665 020

ONLINE:  http://bgbileti.com/  http:// eventim.bg/  http://ticketsbg.com/  www.epaygo.bg

 

 

 

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02.07

CARMEN

opera in four acts by Georges Bizet

libretto by Henri Meihac and Ludovic Halevy based on the novella by Prosper Merimee

 

Conductor Ivan Kozhuharov

Director Kuzman Popov

Scenography Ivan Savov

Costumes Lora Marinova

Choreography Boryana Sechanova

Choirmaster Tsvetan Krumov

 

Carmen – Sanja Anastasia
Don Jose -  Ivaylo Mihaylov

Escamillo – Deyan Vachkov

micaela -  Irina Zhekova

Zuniga – Geo Chobanov

Morales  - Ilko Zahariev

Frasquita – Galina Velikova

Mercedes -  Silviya Angelova

Le Remendado -  Plamen Dolapchiev

Le Dancaire -  Teodor Petkov

With the participation of Varna’s Children-Youth Opera with conductor Gancho Ganchev

 

Sanja Anastasia guest-performs in the leading role. She studied music at the Universities for Music and Performing Arts in Graz and Vienna. Since 2008 she has been a permanent guest-soloist of the National Opera in Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the summer of 2013 she has been engaged in Arena di Verona, in the roles of Fenena in Nabucco in partnership with Placido Domingo, as Amneris in Aida, Ulrica in Un ballo in maschera and Carmen. In October 2018 she will perform the role of Amneris in Aida at the invitation of the Tokyo Nikikai Opera Foundation.

 

Duration 3 hours, with one interval. Performed in French with titles in Bulgarian and English.

 

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04.07             

International Music Festival Varna Summer

Premiere for Varna

CINDERELLA

comic melodrama in 2 acts, 4 scenes by Giachino Rossini

 

Conductor Nikoleta Konti

Director Yekta Kara

Scenography Efter Tunç

Costumes Şanda Zıpçı

Lighting Design Metin Koçtürk

Choirmaster TsvetanKrumov

 

DON RAMIRO – PabloCameselle

DANDINI – SvilenNikolov

DON MAGNIFICO – DelyanSlavov

CLORINDA – IrinaZhekova

TISBE – VyaraZhelezova

angelina – ValentinaKutsarova

alidoro – EvgeniyStanimirov

 

Jacopo Ferretti’s libretto follows the storyline of the eponymous fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Cinderella is considered one of the most refined vocal works of Rossini. The staging of Yekta Kara presents the classical title like a cartoon. The costumes and behavior of the performers relate to the epoch of Elvis Presley. Pablo Cameselle is highly appreciated as a tenor, performing Rossini, for his exclusive lightness in the upper register and his light tenor timbre. He was born in Buenos Aires in the family of a Spaniard and an Italian. He graduated from the Vienna Conservatory and has had great success on European and world stages. Valentina Kutsarova is from Varna. Since 1992 she has worked in Zurich, Linz and St. Gall, where she has performed the major mezzosoprano repertoire in operas by Massenet, Mozart, Humperdinck, Handel, Rossini, Johann Strauss, Offenbach, Bizet and others. She has participated in performances on the prestigious stages of Paris, Venice, Naples, and the festivals in Bregenz and Montpellier.

Duration 2:45 hours with one interval. Performed in Italian with titles in Bulgarian.

 

 

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07.07 

International Music Festival Varna Summer

TOSCA

musical drama in three acts by Giacomo Puccini

libretto Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica after the drama by Victorien Sardou

 

Conductor Dejan Savic

Director Kuzman Popov

Artist Mariya Dimanova  

Choirmaster Tsvetan Krumov

 

In the leading roles:

TOSCA – Dragana Radakovic                                        

CAVARADOSSI – Milen Bozhkov                                           

SCARPIA – Vuk Zekic                              

Dejan Savic graduated in Conducting from the Music Academy in Belgrade, acquired a master’s degree from the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. He was artistic director of the Baruh Brothers Serbian-Jewish Singing Society (1985 – 2000) and Pro Musica Chamber Ensemble, the Nis Symphony Orchestra (1989 – 1993), and in 1993 he became the chief conductor of the Belgrade Opera and Ballet. In 2007 he got the position of general director of the Nation Opera – Belgrade.  Dragana Radakovic guest-performs for the second time in Varna after her successful participation in Aida in the summer of 2017. Milen Bozhkov is from Varna. He graduated in the Vocal Faculty from NMA “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov” and specialized in the University of Music in Graz under the guidance of Prof. Ioanna Borovska and Krasimira Stoyanova. Vuk Zekic is one of the young generation of opera talents in Serbia. He graduated in Opera singing in the Faculty of musical arts in Belgrade. He won the special prize at the International Competition for opera singers "Città di Alcamo" (Italy 2008), awarded by the jury consisting of Richard Bonyan, Joan Sutherland, Lella Cuberli. Since 2010 he has been soloist in the troupe of the National Theatre in Belgrade.  

Duration 2:45 hours, with one interval. Performed in Italian with titles in Bulgarian and English.

 

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12.07 

International Music Festival Varna Summer

Premiere

DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER  

Romantic opera in 3 acts by Richard Wagner

 

Conductor Erich Binder

Director Ivana Dragutinovic-Maricic after the director’s conception of Dejan Miladinovic

Scenography Dejan Miladinovic

Costumes Katarina Garcic Nikolic

Choirmaster Tsvetan Krumov

 

DALAND - Lyudmil Petrov

SENTA, HIS DAUGHTER - Linka Stoyanova

ERIK, HUNTSMAN – Miroslav Hristov

MARY, SENTA’S NURSE – Boyka Vasileva

DALAND’S STEERSMAN – Arseniy Arsov

THE DUTCHMAN – Geo Chobanov

 

At the basis of the plot is the legend about the captain whose predicament at God’s will is to wander on his ship until he finds atonement for his sins through love. According to conductor Jan van Maanen, this is the work of a genius because no one before Wagner had managed to compose such stormy music, such terrific ghostly refrains and exhilarating songs in a single opera. The dark tones in his music recall the paintings of the eminent Dutch artists Rembrandt and Van Eyck, as well as the Swedish writer and artist Strindberg. The production is in partnership with the National Theatre for Opera and Ballet in Belgrade.

 

Duration 3 hours, with 2 intervals. Performed in German with titles in Bulgarian and English.

 

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07.08 

International Music Festival Varna Summer

Premiere for Varna

LA GIOCONDA  

Opera in 4 acts, 5 scenes by Amilcare Ponchielli

 

Conductor Grigor Palikarov

Director and Scenography Kuzman Popov

Costumes Asya Stoimenova

Choreography Rumyana Malcheva

Choirmaster Tsvetan Krumov

 

In the leading roles:

GIOCONDA, a street singer – Dimitrichka Raycheva  

THE BLIND WOMAN, her mother – Bouka Vasileva  

ALVISE, inquisitor – Evgeniy Stanimirov

LAURA, his wife – Daniela Dyakova

BARNABA, spy – Ventseslav Anastasov

ENZO GRIMALDO, prince – Valeriy Georgiev

 

At the basis of the libretto by Arrigo Boito is the drama Angelo, Tyrant of Padua by Victor Hugo. The action takes place in Venice in 17^th century. The musical dramaturgy includes colourful mass scenes and conflicts, full of passions and contrasts. After its premiere at the Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the opera La Gioconda has been an integral part of the repertoires of the leading world theatres. The production of the Opera in the Summer Theatre is the first in the history of the Varna Opera and is presented for the first time in Varna.

 

Duration 3 hours, with 2 intervals. Performed in Italian with titles in Bulgarian and English.

 

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09.08 

International Music Festival Varna Summer

SWAN LAKE  

ballet in four acts by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

 

Choreography Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov

Edition Sergei Bobrov

Costumes and Scenography Asya Stoimenova

Conductor Martin Georgiev

 

Orchestra and Ballet of the State Opera Varna and soloists from the State Theatre for Opera and Ballet in Krasnoyarsk.

 

The brilliant history of the most loved ballet spectacle in the world began in 1895 on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. The innovative choreographic edition by Lev Ivanov recreated not only the movements of real birds, but it also expressed strong emotions like love, fear, pain and anxiety, the spectacle reached a new psychological depth. In his turn Marius Petipa staged the waltz, mazurka and the rest of the dances for the scene in the palace. Sergei Bobrov is chief artistic director of the State Theatre for Opera and Ballet in Krasnoyarsk and of the Varna ballet troupe. In his edition he introduces new elements which are related to the modern tendencies of classical dance.

 

Duration 2 hours, with one interval.  

 

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14.08

Remake of the 1996 Vidin Daskalov Spectacle

DIE CSÁRDÁSFÜRSTIN

operetta in three acts by Imre Kalman, libretto by  Istvan Bekeffi and Dezso Keller

Conductor Tsvetan Krumov

Staging Vidin Daskalov

Director Aleksandar Mutafchiyski

Artists MariyaTrendafilova, Asya Stoimenova

Choreography Kalina Bogoeva, remake Gergana Karaivanova  

 

VEYLERSHEIM – Vladislav Vladimirov
CECILIA – Boyka Vasileva
EDWIN –  Emil Pavlov
STASI – Mariya Pavlova
BONI – Aleksandar Mutafchiyski
SYLVA – Ilina Mihaylova
ROHNSDORFF – Zakar Gostanyan
FERI – Lyudmil Petrov
NOTARY KIS – Anatoli Romanov  
MISKA – Plamen Georgiev  

 

The work of Imre Kalman is among the preferred titles in Varna.  As early as 1923, only several years after its premiere, Aleksandar Naumov, Bandmaster of the Navy Brass Orchestra, and the music teacher Krum Mumdzhiev staged with the participation of amateurs the first production of the operetta. In 1957, under the conductorship of Emil Glavanakov, director Bohos Efeyan and artist Mariana Popova, the first production of Die Csárdásfürstin was accomplished by the professional Varna opera troupe. Since then the title is invariably part of the repertoire of State Opera Varna. The star of the National Music Theatre and director Aleksandar Mutafchiyski, born in Varna and loved by the Varna audience, is considered by the music critics as a praiseworthy successor of the unforgettable Vidin Daskalov (1929 – 2001), who realized the most successful production of  Die Csárdásfürstin in 1996.

 

Duration 2:30 hours, with one interval. Performed in Bulgarian with titles in English and German.

 

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17.08

International Music Festival Varna Summer

Premiere for Bulgaria       

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN!

musical

Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, based on the classic Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc.
Music published by EMI, all rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
(Original Movie Choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen)
Produced by Arrangement With Maurice Rosenfield, Lois F. Rosenfield and Cindy Pritzker, Inc.
Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe)

With the special participation of Orlin Goranov and

Marian Bachev       

 

Staging Boris Pankin

Conductor Stratsimir Pavlov

Choreography Boryana Sechanova, Mariana Krancheva

Scenography Ivan Tokadzhiev

Costumes Anna-Maria Tokadzhievea

Multimedia Bureau for Spatial Solutions

 

The greatest film-musical of all times!

At the basis of the musical is the film comedy, directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanly Donen, with the participation of Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds. The film, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, presents Hollywood at the end of 1920s, when the era of the silent films is at its end. Today it has the status of a legend, topping the list of the American Film Institute of the Greatest Movie Comedies and ranks as the fifth-greatest American picture of all time. Singing in the Rain in its stage version, created by Broadway legends Betty Comden and Adolph Green, who also created the screenplay and are Oscar-winners, is equal to the standard of the film original with the great advantage that it happens live.

Duration two hours, with one interval. Performed in Bulgarian with titles in English.

 

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21.08

International Music Festival Varna Summer

Premiere for Varna

ZORRO

musical

Book and Lyrics Stephen Clark

Music The Gipsy Kings

Original Story Stephen Clark and Helen Edmundson

Co-Composer and Adaptor John Cameron

Executive Producers: John Gerz, Adam Kenwright and Isabel Allende

Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe)

 

Staging Petko Bonev
Conductor Stratsimir Pavlov
Choreography Stanislava Tomova
Stage fight Nikolay Derivolkov
Scenography and Costumes Asya Stoimenova
3D Мapping Polina Gerasimova
Translation Lilia Boneva

 

In the leading roles:

DIEGO DE LA VEGA (ZORRO) – VelinMihaylov, NeychoPetrov, NikolayDimitrov

LUISA PULIDO – IlinaMihaylova, MariyaPavlova, SofiaRuhova-Lulcheva

RAMON – KaloyanLulchev

INEZ – LiliyaIlieva, AntoanelaPetrova, KalinaZhekova

 

This legendary story about the fight of good against evil was an enduring inspiration for Gipsy Kings, the additional orchestrations, compositions and arrangements of John Cameron and the text of Stephen Clark, based on the famous novel of Isabel Allende El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda. The musical recreates the dramatic tale about the romantic hero Zorro in extraordinary singing and acting embodiments, spectacular fights with swords and incredible stunts – all this wrapped in the authentic colors of the traditional flamenco.

 

Duration 2 hours, with one interval. Performed in English with titles in Bulgarian.

 

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20.08

La traviata

opera in three acts, 4 scenes by Giuseppe Verdi

libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils La Dame aux Camelias

 

Conductor Paolo Olmi

Director, Scenographer and Costume Designer Kuzman Popov

Choirmaster Tsvetan Krumov

Ballet-master Zhelka Tabakova

 

In the leading role:

VIOLETTA – Ilina Mihaylova  
ALFREDO GERMONT –  Ivan Momirov
GIORGIO GERMONT – Plamen Dimitrov “The story of Violetta Valery is true to the reality of the historical time when it happens, rising to the tragic ballad of the tragic love. Marie Duplessis, Marguerite Gautier, Giuseppina Strepponi or Violetta Valery – does it matter which of them? – the story is about the one who calls herself “traviata’, i.e. the derailed, astray the right path, but who cherishes deep in her heart ‘a tender longing for happiness’. The story is about a night moth, marked by death, who in the noisy ecstasy of conquered Paris is dreaming of true love, aware that this is ‘Insanity!’ And… chooses insanity! Paradox…” Kuzman Popov – director

 

Duration 2:45 hours, with one interval. Performed in Italian with titles in Bulgarian and English.

 

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23.08

OPERA GALA

concert-spectacle

Conductors Borislav Ivanov  

With the special participation of Fabio Armiliato  

Director Kuzman Popov

Orchestra, Choir and Ballet of State Opera Varna

 

Fabio Armiliato is one of the leading tenors on the international music stage. Critics and audiences highly assess his voice in the upper register, his musicality and artistic achievements.  He was born in Genoa, where he graduated from the Niccolo Paganini Conservatory. He has participated in productions of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scalla in Milan, the Paris Opera, the Wiener Staatsoper and others. He is especially impressive when performing the roles of Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca. Fabio Armiliato is also one of leading actors in the Woody Alan film To Rome with Love.

 

Duration 2 hours with one interval.