The opera "Tsar Kaloyan" with premiere at the Antique Forum "Augusta Traiana"
News публикувана на: 13.07.2025
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The first production of "King Kaloyan" by the Stara Zagora Opera in 1975.
On 17 and 18 July at 21.00 on the stage of the Antique Forum "Augusta Traiana" the Stara Zagora Opera will present its latest production of the opera "Tsar Kaloyan" by Pancho Vladigerov. The iconic Bulgarian work will come to life under the stars of Stara Zagora and will remind with its scale and original interpretation of events related to Bulgarian history, through the eyes of the genius of the composer Pancho Vladigerov, the librettist Nikolai Liliev and the magnificent source of the narrative - the theatrical play "Baldwin's Tower" by Fanny Popova-Mutafova. The Stara Zagora Opera chose to stage this particular Bulgarian opera title in the year when it celebrates its 100th anniversary, and the scenography was conceived and designed especially for the stage of the Augusta Traiana Ancient Forum. The Pancho Vladigerov House-Museum - Sofia, partner of the Stara Zagora Opera for the premiere performances of the opera "Tsar Kaloyan", will visit Stara Zagora with a special exhibition that traces the history of the work and the various productions over the years - from the premiere at the Sofia Opera in 1936 to today at home and abroad. The exposition will be on display on the Antique Street, next to the entrance to the Antique Forum for the public. The author of the exhibition is Nadia Sotirova, design Tsvetelina Panova. The official opening is at 7.30 p.m. on 17 July and the exhibition will be on display during the two opening nights. It will then travel to Veliko Tarnovo, where a performance of the opera Tsar Kaloyan will be presented on the historic stage of Tsarevets Hill on 25 July - as part of the tenth edition of the 2025 Summer Season of Opera Theatres "Stage of the Ages".
The premiere performances of the opera "Tsar Kaloyan" will be conducted by the chief conductor of the Stara Zagora Opera Maestro Ivaylo Krinchev, the director of the production is Vera Petrova, the author of the impressive costumes and stage design is Gendoni, choreography and sculpture Silvia Tomova, choirmasters Mladen Stanev and Stefania Ruseva with the participation of brilliant soloists, choir, ballet, orchestra of the State Opera-Stara Zagora, representatives of the Pre-Bulgarian School of Survival BagaTur. In the role of Tsar Kaloyan will debut the world baritone Kiril Manolov. The soloist of the Stara Zagora Opera Ivan Kabamitov, who will also be in the role of Tsar Kaloyan, had the chance to participate in the production of the Sofia Opera in 2009. The Stara Zagora-born, established soloist of the Sofia Opera Kostadin Andreev, whom the audience will see in the role of Baldwin, has in his creative biography appeared in two productions: in 1998 he was Baldwin in the spectacular performance of the opera "Tsar Kaloyan" - Opera on the Square, in 2009 - on the hill "Tsarevets" and then at the opening of the season of the Sofia Opera /the productions are by the Sofia Opera and Ballet, directed by Plamen Kartalov/ and now adds the new stage version of the Stara Zagora Opera. The role of Maria will alternate between Gergana Georgieva, Elena Petrova and Emilia Djurova. Audiences will also see tenor Boris Taskov as Baldwin, Momchil Karaivanov, Milko Mikhailov and Nikolay Motov as Boril, Tereza Brakalova as Zoya, Daniela Nineva as Kalya, Ivaylo Djurov as the Bulgarian Archbishop.
The opera "Tsar Kaloyan" by Pancho Vladigerov has a dramatic fate, but at the same time a happy one, because it is the first Bulgarian opera, which has been staged many times abroad in addition to Bulgaria. In Stara Zagora the opera "Tsar Kaloyan" was staged for the first time in 1975, 12 performances were played. Conductor Romeo Raichev, director Georgi Petrov, artists Petar Ruskov and Maria Trendafilova, choirmaster Bogdana Popova, Petar Lukanov (balletmaster); Borislav Doychev (Tsar Kaloyan), Maria Ventsislavova (Queen Maria), Mikhail Martinov (Baldwin), Minyo Minev (Despot Boril), Pravda Yankova (Zoya), Radichka Bogdanova (Kalya), Assen Popov (Fast Walker), Stoyan Gospodinov (Tulmach), Nikola Kutin (Archbishop), Stefan Bodurov (Servant), Nikolai Nozarov (Clement), Georgi Atanasov (Watchman), Maria Kasabova (Kumanka), Vasil Stanishev (Dominic); Maria Kolarova (solo ballet). The Stara Zagora Opera presents this performance of the opera "Tsar Kaloyan" also during its visit to Lodz, Poland.
On July 17 and 18, 2025 Stara Zagora residents and guests of the "City of Lime Trees" will have the opportunity to see a performance that carries an extraordinary creative charge. The production team turns to the symbols embedded in the life path, "the choices each of us faces, the struggle with personal demons that each historical legend offers to our attention. The scenographic element involving the falcons inspired our team to turn to the even deeper roots of the mythologies associated with the Slavic reading of creation, namely the legend of the three falcons that created the world.
Tsar Kaloyan, as the main character for all of us, walked his complex path of personal relationships and political struggles to achieve the inexplicable and impossible in times of extreme religious division, conquest of territories, and lust for power. Our creative team finds the importance of personal conscious choices in life to be the core message of the work - one that allows us to accept absolute responsibility for our actions, for the sake of not only our own small inner world, but also that of those around us. "God is in my soul, Father!" says Kaloyan.
Gendoni's set design brings out the levels of our universe in three clear fields: The Spiritual, the Divine, and the Unexplainable at the highest level of the forum, through the powerful presence of the icons and the three falcons; the level of Man, in the person of Kaloyan, who embraces, reads, and fulfills the mission at the highest spiritual level; and the lowest level of the whirlpool of our petty daily lives, in which we sink into the sleep of forgetfulness, forgetting the Universal Laws....Similarly, the directorial and choreographic fabric, brought out in a clean sculpture of extreme contrasts by Silvia Tomova, works with these three levels, using Kaloyan, Maria and Boril as symbols of the different opposing forces in nature." - director Vera Petrova opens the curtain.
"The musical language Vladigerov uses in the only opera he wrote is extremely rich and is influenced by the most modern compositional techniques, which he knew very well. The structure of the title is organized in large canvases in a symphonic-oratorio plan, similar to German opera in the works of Wagner and Richard Strauss, and creates with its scale an extraordinary sense of the greatness of this period of our history. The complexity of the melodic constructions, the multi-layered harmonic sequences and the masterful orchestration, skillfully interwoven with Bulgarian motifs create this unique "Vladigerian" language characteristic of his entire oeuvre..." - reveals conductor Ivaylo Krinchev.
The wealth of costumes will immerse the audience in the atmosphere of the troubled times in which Tsar Kaloyan lived - a real inspiration and challenge for the artist Gendoni, who throws himself with enthusiasm and his usual precision to detail to carve his costume-creations. More than 60 unique canvas patterns were created especially for the production, and in designing the costume patterns the artist drew on original murals from the time as well as archival photographs provided by the Regional History Museum-Veliko Tarnovo. The choreographer of the production, Sylvia Tomova, lets her imagination and talent run wild by creating spectacular dances that involve the entire multinational troupe of the Stara Zagora Opera.
A performance that captivates with its evocative story, exciting music, contemporary sound and sustained triumphant presence over the years.
"Tsar Kaloyan" - the performance of the Stara Zagora Opera, which will come to life for the first time on the stage of the Antique Forum "Augusta Traiana" on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the first out-of-town opera with a permanent troupe and awaits its fans!
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Composer's photo. Pancho Vladigerov House-Museum[/caption]
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Maria Ventsislavova and Borislav Doychev with Pancho Vladigerov /1975/[/caption]
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Costume of Tsar Kaloyan from the 1998 production by Maria Mironska.Sofia Opera and Ballet[/caption]
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Sketches from the production of Gendoni[/caption]
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Sketches from Gendoni's production[/caption]
