The Festival of the Opera and Ballet Arts under the Sign of the One Century Jubilee of the First Out-of-the-capital Opera in Bulgaria

The first part of the Festival’s program is a specific recapitulation and promise for new creative challenges. On 21 and 22 November, with the premiere of the opera “Andrea Chenier”, the Stara Zagora opera troupe for the first time in its one-century-long history, will encounter the work by Umberto Giordano. The storyline of the plot takes us to the dramatic events in France during the revolutionary social changes at the end of 18th century. The director is Ognyan Draganov. The basic task, which the conductor Pavel Balev sets to himself, is how to give more warmth to the “sound” of the revolution. “Our production of “Andrea Chenier” is being created in difficult time both for our country and the world, it describes another such difficult time, and the message which we can convey is that in the hardest moments mankind has never stopped existing, and always found the way to Hope and Salvation” – shares the artist Denis Ivanov and adds, “Maybe, this is the magnificence of Art – to be able to sober us and remind that “all this happened” and despite this, the world moved on and we have “today”, therefore inevitably there will be “tomorrow” as well, and our only care is how to make this “tomorrow” possible and if we succeed, let it be more beautiful…” 

On 25 November is the spectacle of the ballet by P.I. Tchaikovsky “Swan Lake”  - a signature title in the newest history of the Stara Zagora Opera Theater. The creative team skillfully combines in the ballet masterpiece the eternal expressive means of the classical dance with the topical suggestions of the contemporary world outlook. 

The concert with the challenging title ”A New Wind in the Opera” on 28 November will present specially prepared works for a wind ensemble and the orchestra of the Stara Zagora Opera. The musicians will perform works by Richard Strauss and Ludwig van Beethoven under the knowledgeable directorship of the conductor-bassoonist Gabor Meszaros – Professor of the “Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana” /“Conservatory of Italian Switzerland”/in Lugano /Switzerland/ and soloist of the Chamber Philharmonic of the Swiss canton Graubunden/. He is artistic director of the International Music Festival TICINI MUSIC, which gathers over 300 artists from all over the world every year. 

The choir of the Stara Zagora State Opera on 1 December will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dobri Hristov. The concert will be conducted by Miroslav Popsavov, Professor in Choir Conducting in the discipline “Church Music” at the National Music Academy “Prof. Pancho Vladigerov”. The other participants are the soloists of the Stara Zagora Opera Ivaylo Dzhurov, Emiliya Terzieva and Stoyan Buyukliev. The songs of the founder of the national music culture Dobri Hristov are bright, melodious, full of lyricism, primitive energy and brilliance. A collection of songs of the Bulgarian classic composer will be presented, edited by Prof. Milko Kolarov. 

The first guest-spectacle is on 29 November – the opera “Rusalka” by Antonin Dvorak, performed by the Varna State Opera. Through the tragic destiny of the heroine the opera highlights issues about the impossible relationship between the endless world of the elements of Nature and the world of people, marked by technological progress, alienation from Nature and consummation passion. 

On 2 December, the Plovdiv State Opera will present “The Magic Flute” by W. A. Mozart. This is the first opera production of the theater director Diana Dobreva. “Music has always been great inspiration to me, in the theater, in life, I can even say that this is the art that I feel closest to God, which moves the most along the vertical upwards”, shares Diana Dobreva. 

At  the last events, for the fist time in the history of the Festival, all the three national institutes for musical-scenic arts will participate: the Sofia Opera and Ballet, the National Musical Theater “Stefan Makedonski” and the Sophia Philharmonic Orchestra. 

On 3 December the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra will present a stylish symphonic program. When Brahms created his only Concerto for Violin, he entwined in it technical virtuosity, emotional depth and symphonic width. This eminent work will be presented by the young violinist Lora Markova – one of the brightest young names on the Bulgarian and international stages. Under the baton of Ivo Venkov, Professor in Conducting at the Royal Flemish Academy in Antwerp, the program will continue with the loved by the audience Symphony No. 4 “Italian” by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. 

On 4 December, the National Musical Theater “Stefan Makedonski” will present the specially created Concert-Spectacle “The King of the Waltz”, dedicated to the 200 years since the birth of Johann Strauss Jr. The bright melodies create an aristocratic Viennese atmosphere and entice in ¾ beat every listener. The program consists of little pearls, entwined in the music crown, a gift for us by Johann Strauss Jr. 

The final of the Festival in accordance with the established tradition ii the last few years is on 7 December with the newest Wagner’s title in the repertoire of our National Opera Theater – the opera “Tannhauser”. This production opened the Wagner Festival of the Sofia Opera in 2025. In the words of Acad. Plamen Kartalov “the music of “Tannhauser” is the music of the free man, free from prejudices and restrictions of the mind. Our production is like a purification, like a spiritual salvation and redemption”. 

This year’s edition of the festival includes also a rich parallel program. On 21 November will be validated a special postmark, dedicated to the 100th jubilee of the creation of the Opera Theater in the city. From 21 November to 7 December is the photo-documentary exhibition 100 Years in 100 Photos. The visitors will have the opportunity, via QR code, to look at more pictures and hear the voices of bright personalities and see video-fragments from signature productions in the history of the Stara Zagora Opera. On 27 and 28 November in the Regional Library “Zahariy Knyazheski” – Stara Zagora is the scientific conference “The Opera and the City”. There are over 20 confirmed submissions for participation by researchers and creators. In the framework of the Conference will be shown unique parts of recordings from the fund of the Bulgarian National Television. From 1 to 7 December is the exhibition, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Dobri Hristov. 

On 3 December Dr. Andrey Andreev will present “Chronicles of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. The edition is the fruit of many years of work of the author, who collected in three volumes hundreds of publications which trace the nearly 130-year-long history of the symphonic music in Bulgaria. The final in the accompanying events is on 5 December by Acad. Plamen Kaptalov with his intriguing author’s research “Opera and Nature”. 

The Festival of the opera and Ballet Arts is organized by the Stara Zagora State Opera with the financial support of Fund “Culture” – the Stara Zagora Municipality, Ministry of Culture and National Fund “Culture”, National Plan for Recovery and Resilience. 

Partners of the Festival are the Bulgarian National Television, Institute for Research of the Arts of the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Radio Stara Zagora, Regional Library “Zahariy Knyazheski”, Regional Library “Pencho Slaveykov” – Varna, National School of Music and Performing arts “Christina Morfova” – Stara Zagora and “Dobri Hristov” Foundation. 

The Festival is supported in project BG-RRP-11.020-0040 “100 Years Opera in Stara Zagora” under Procedure № BG-RRP-11.020 of the National Plan for Recovery and Resilience.