site.btaUPDATED Bulgarian, Albanian Presidents Attend Sofia Premiere of Callas and Onassis

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and his Albanian Counterpart Bajram Begaj, together with their wives Desislava Radeva and Armanda Begaj, attended the Sofia premiere of the operetta-musical Callas and Onassis. The event took place on the evening of December 13 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture.

The performance featured soloists, choir and ballet of the Varna State Opera, and orchestra and choir of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania.

"I am very happy to be here, together with the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania, because music knows no borders, no passports and no customs. We have this expression - you cannot celebrate without friends, and we are very happy that we are here precisely to celebrate the New Year," said Abigela Voshchina, director of the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet of Albania, before the start of the performance.

"Bulgaria and Albania have a long cultural relationship, and I hope it will continue and develop even more in the future. We will not stop until we make our theatres absolutely international through music and through the wonderful fast rhythm," she said.

The director of the Varna State Opera, Daniela Dimova, was awarded the Crystal Lyre Prize. She received the statuette in the category Management of Music and Dance Art from Stanislav Pochekanski, President of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and Dancers.

Callas and Onassis is set to music by composer Christos Papageorgiou, who lives and works in New York. It combines sirtaki, jazz, classical opera arias and a typical musical sound. 

The two main roles are given to Eva Perchemlieva and Marios Andreo. The performers sing in English, Greek and Italian. The dialogues are entirely in English.

The director is Petko Bonev. The conductor-stage director is Strassimir Pavlov. Set and costume designer is Asya Stoimenova. The choreography is by Anna Pampulova.