TURANDOT – Theatre of Varna (Bulgaria) August 14, 2015 ENGLISH VERSION
- Conductor: Grigor Palinkarov
- Stage director: Kuzman Popov
Cast:
- Turandot: Gabriella Georgieva
- Altoum: Stoyan Finjikov
- Timur: Eugeni Stanimirov
- Calaf: Bojko Svetanov
- Liù: Valeria Sepe
- Ping: Ivan Kabamitov
- Pang: Mark Fawler
- Pong: Plamen Dolapchiev
- one Mandarino: Svilen Nikolov
It was the 25 of April of 1926, the very first premier of Turandot at the Theatre of La Scala in Milan, when Maestro Arturo Toscanini suddenly stopped the performance with the words: “here stops the opera, because in this moment The Maestro has died”. Turandot was for a long time a subject of strong discussions among musicologists. Was the unfinished opera just an artistic error of the composer or a matter of the fact of death. We will never know the real reason. What we definitely know is, that opera was indeed finished by Maestro Franco Alfano (the conductor of the Turin Conservatory) commissioned by Arturo Toscanini and the son of the composer Antonio Puccini.
Performance was a success for the base Eugeni Stanimirov in the role of Timur, who made a very good impression with his worm timbre and excellent phrasing. Lot of interest arouse around a powerful baritone Svilen Nikolov and his interpretation of Mandarino. Altum was interpreted by the member of choir Stoyan Finjikov.
It was a 60th birthday of the tenor Bojko Svetanov in the role of Calaf. He maintained his voice in perfect shape and impressed with his refined style of interpretation.
Extraordinary interpretation of the title role gave Gabriella Georgieva with her impressive voice and extraordinary interpretation.
The real discovery was a young soprano from Naples, Italy Valeria Sepe in the role of Liu. Her rich and beautiful voice and masterful play of colors, mixed with her extraordinary stage presence. She definitely deserved standing ovations from the warm public of Varna after her famous “tu che di gel sei cinta”.
In general it was a great success for the whole cast of the production.
Varna team
