Five titles and master classes by Kaludi Kaludov and Veselina Katsarova are on the schedule of the Opera and Ballet Art Festival in Stara Zagora

Five opera titles and master classes by Kaludi Kaludov and Veselina Katsarova are on the schedule of the 53rd Opera and Ballet Art Festival (FOBI) in Stara Zagora. This was indicated during a press conference by the director of the State Opera – Stara Zagora, Ognyan Draganov. According to tradition, at the opening of the forum on November 23, the hosts will premiere “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky.
“The FOBI program is extremely interesting. It does not include well-known titles from the repertoire of opera theaters not only in Bulgaria, but also abroad. We reach for works that rarely a person who loves opera and music can see,” Draganov also pointed out. And he emphasized that this festival is a unique phenomenon not only for Bulgaria, but also for the world.
The program also includes “The Flying Dutchman” of the Varna Opera, as well as “Valkyrie” of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. The Ruse Opera will take part in the 53rd edition of FOBI with the opera “Summer 893”. The cultural forum will offer only one ballet performance – “The Long Christmas Dinner & Women in D Minor”, by the State Opera-Plovdiv.
“For us, the soul of the festival has always been the accompanying events, because they directly bring together a lot of musicians and people involved in ballet,” Ognyan Draganov also pointed out.
“The management that has been running the opera in Stara Zagora for the last few years managed to get it back on its feet. And he managed to realize many productions, which benefits the people and contributes to the development of culture and spirituality”, the mayor of the city, Zhivko Todorov, welcomed the initiative. “PHOBI will offer a very ambitious, very rich programme. The municipality of Stara Zagora stands by its cultural calendar and supports the festival,” added Deputy Mayor Milena Zheleva.
Draganov pointed out that they are working on the possibility of FOBI becoming an international forum and recalled that in 2025, 100 years of the State Opera in Stara Zagora and 55 years of the Opera and Ballet Art Festival will be celebrated.
The forum will be opened with two premiere performances of the State Opera-Stara Zagora of the opera “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky on November 23 and 24. The director is Slavcho Nikolov, who will convey contemporary suggestions of the eternal themes of love, friendship, loyalty, embedded in the genius poems of Pushkin and the music of Tchaikovsky.
On November 25, the baritone Stoyan Popov and his 90th anniversary will be honored. State Opera – Burgas will present a documentary exhibition dedicated to his work. The author is the daughter of Stoyan Popov and a long-time editor in BNR – Svetlana Dimitrova. Together with the photos, footage from the Golden Fund of BNT and an anniversary album will be presented.
The romantic opera “The Flying Dutchman” by Richard Wagner will be presented on November 26 in the festival program, immediately after its premiere in Varna. Vera Nemirova’s production is an adaptation of the 2017 production at the Magdeburg Opera House, Germany.
On November 27, the “Symfonieta” ensemble, with the special participation of bassist Ivaylo Dzhurov, will present compositions by Pancho Vladigerov for the theatrical productions of the director Max Reinhardt. During the concert, the conductor Milko Kolarov, a student of Vladigerov, will talk about his meetings and the many lessons he learned from him. Before the event, in the foyer of the opera house, from 5:30 p.m., the house museum “Pancho Vladigerov” will present the film “Rhapsody Vladigerov”.
On November 29 is the concert of the participants in the master classes of Veselina Katsarova and Kaludi Kaludov, which take place from November 16 to 29 in the hall of the “Zachary Knyazheski” Regional Library.
On November 30, there will be a ballet evening with the Plovdiv Opera. Choreographer Radu Poklitaru will present “The Long Christmas Dinner”.
December 2 is a day for the creative assessment of the soprano Maria Klincheva, who is celebrating her 80th birthday. Her life and artistic biography is closely related to the first non-capital opera theater.
On December 5, 50 years after the first legendary production in its history, the State Opera – Ruse will once again present “Summer 893” by Parashkev Hadzhiev, dedicated to the 1130th anniversary of the conversion of the Bulgarian people. The director of the show is Plamen Beykov.
The finale of this year’s edition of FOBI is on December 9, when the Sofia Opera will present the performance “Valkyrie”, directed by Plamen Kartalov. Enthusiastic music criticism og defines as a pearl in the necklace of the monumental work, note the organizers.