In the year in which the entire musical world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Giacomo Puccini‘s death, the Burgas audience will have the opportunity to follow the dramatic-lyrical history of one of his emblematic operas – “Bohemia“, on October 23Wednesday, from 7 p.m., in the hall of State Opera – Burgas.
The Burgas Cultural Institute also dedicated other significant events to this anniversary, as well as to the 165th anniversary of the birth of the genius Italian composer: the large-scale opera gala “Viva Puccini” – in April in the Opera hall, and another Puccini masterpiece – “Tosca ” – in July on the stage of the Summer Theater, as part of the Burgas Music Festival “Emil Chakarov” 2024.
The prominent Bulgarian conductor with a worldwide career Ivan Kozhuharov stands behind the counter at Wednesday’s performance.
“Bohemia” is his element – as an embedded emotion and a brilliant conductor’s interpretation. The solo composition of “Bohemia” is also noteworthy. A very strong vocal and artistic presence was achieved by the soprano Nona Krastnikovaas the gentle girl Mimi, with a pure soul, devoted entirely to the idea of love, as the fundamental meaning and incentive of her life, which loses its happy shades, slowly but surely – with the progress of the incurable disease and the torments hovering in her amorous heart .
Her role is saturated with drama in lyrical highlights, nuanced with the overtones of tragic doom. Nona Krastnikova achieved a smooth gradation of emotions, being effective both in the quiet register reflecting the darkened shades of her pain, and in the crescendo of an emerging inner strength that is remarkable despite her outward vulnerability.
Memorable, bright, stylish, sweeping with stage charm and very strong incarnations in her contradictory sides of the personality is the soprano Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova, in the role of Musetta – a capricious beauty who, however, has a loving warm heart full of empathy.
As Rudolph, a poet, one of the friendly company of Parisian bohemian students, the Venezuelan tenor appears on the Burgas stage Reynaldo Droz – a guest. Droz is an alumnus of Raina Kabaivanska and winner of the 12th Anita Cercuetti International Opera Competition in Montecozzaro, Italy.
He has been a full-time soloist of the State Opera – Varna for several seasons. He performed as a soloist in productions of the Sofia Opera and Ballet and on other stages in Bulgaria.
In the image of the singer with frivolous behavior – the charming coquette with a compassionate heart – Musetta, will be Maria Tsvetkova-Madjarova – soprano. The baritone Mindaugas MishkinisLithuania – laureate of the Second National Competition for Young Opera Singers with International Participation “Stoyan Popov” 2023, is the other friend from the bohemian company – the artist Marcel. The participation in a performance of the State Opera – Burgas is part of his prize as a laureate of the competition. The baritone will debut in the role of Shonar, a musician Andrey Yurkovsky. Kostadin Mechkov, the bass, takes the stage as the philosopher Colin. In the role of the landlord, Benoit, we will see Jordan Hristozova baritone who will also portray the high-ranking rich man Alcindor. toy seller Perpignol will be the tenor Lubomir Todorovand in the images of Customs Officer/Sergeant, the bass will be presented Peter Tikholov.
He is the conductor of the show Ivan Kozhuharovdirector of the production – Alexander Tekelievartist – Radostin Chomakov, conductor of the choir – Alexander Chepanovassistant directors: Lina Peeva And Peter Tikholov.
All the soloists, orchestra players and artist-choristers were united by a single sense of tragic romantic doom, psychological depth, but without unnecessary pathos, invested in Puccini’s score, undeniably genius. The staging of Assoc. Dr. Alexander Tekeliev fully impresses the semantic-aesthetic points of the composer and the libretto, building the characters and weaving them into the action, with a polyphonic skill of embedded ideas in the layers of plot development.
“The great pain in the little soul” — this is the theme of Puccini’s operas,
as the composer wrote in a letter to Gabriele D’Annunzio in 1912.
Nothing in his work contains this message more clearly than the last act of “Bohemia”.
The composer worked with great desire on this operatic work of his. He completed the opera in just eight months. His words speak for his emotional interpenetration with the work: “When I began to describe the death of Mimi, and the dark chords came to me, playing them, I was overcome with such excitement that I had to get up, and alone in the silence of the night I wept uncontrollably.”
The first performance of the opera “Bohemia” took place on February 1, 1896 in Turin, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. Immediately, with a difference of only a few days, it was performed in many Italian theaters – Rome, Naples, Palermo, and in Palermo the entire first act was performed.
The score of “Bohemia” contains the most exciting features of Puccini’s lyrical musical concept – sincere-warm melody, gushing emotionality, romantic undertones and drama.
The stage action is woven from genre-comic scenes, alternating with lyrical episodes and moments saturated with drama, bordering on tragic doom, dark poetics, psychologism with condensed colors in the emotional spectrum, but without unnecessary pathos. The genius Puccini has woven in an immediate way the carefree laughter characteristic of the Parisian bohemia, running parallel to the ardent love feelings and torments, passing into the dark shades of inconsolable sorrow, foreshadowing a tragic end.
Puccini’s music abounds in melodious arias, duets and ensembles, in which the characters’ images are reflected with psychological skill.
An important role in the overall production is also assigned to the orchestra, and the leitmotifs appear in the fabric of the stage action depending on the mental states of the characters.
Tickets for “Bohemia” – at the Opera box office, the “Chasovnika” box office /in front of the “Bulgaria” hotel/, as well as in the Eventim networks – https://www.eventim.bg/bg/bileti/bohemi-burgas-opera-652454/event.html?ca=2 и Record – https://grabo.bg/burgas/opera-03v746d.
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