site.btaSofia Opera and Ballet Promises "Repertoire Feast" in New Season

A repertoire feast of productions and artists will take place this season at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. The company announced its program to the media on Tuesday. In the 2025/26 season, the national stage will see new premieres of Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, and Macbeth by Verdi.

For the first time, there will be a production of the ballet Pride and Prejudice.

For the first time in Bulgaria, the children’s opera The Crying Red Demon by Kazuhiko Matsui will be staged.

In the new season, some of the most renowned foreign singers and conductors will join Bulgarian soloists, said Opera Director Acad. Plamen Kartaloff.

The traditional Sofia Wagner Opera Festival will take place from May 26 to June 14 with The Ring of the Nibelung, Lohengrin, and Tannhauser.

With a new digital platform, the theatre will bring into the homes of its audience three evenings of Tristan and Isolde, Parsifal, and The Flying Dutchman.

The traditional summer stages remain – Opera in the Park at the Military Academy Park, Muses on the Water at Pancharevo Lake, and Opera on the Square in front of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

One of Puccini’s most popular and beloved operas – Tosca – will open the new season on September 26 and 28. In the lead roles are Maria Jose Siri as Tosca, Ștefan Pop as Cavaradossi, and Claudio Sgura as Baron Scarpia. Also performing are Angel Hristov, Petar Buchkov, Emil Pavlov, Alexander Georgiev, Maria Pavlova, the orchestra and chorus under conductor Violeta Dimitrova, and the “Boys Choir of Sofia” led by Alexander Mitev. The production by Plamen Kartaloff has been part of the opera theatre’s repertoire for 14 years. It has been presented in Japan and Turkiye.

“I’ve tried to create a performance full of passion, revolution, and fire. Four of the characters die, but not for political reasons – they die in the name of love. The ending is unique – it doesn’t matter whether Tosca jumps into the abyss, what matters is that love dies,” said Plamen Kartaloff.

Conductor Daniel Oren said it was his first opera production, which he staged at age 22, in Rome, which is why the work is very important for him. Even before he was appointed as a conductor at the Rome Opera, his debut included Raina Kabaivanska. Tosca is one of the first female heroines in opera history. Unlike other heroines, she is not passive and does not live in a world where men decide everything. She fights for what she believes in and sees it through. She doesn’t compromise. She even kills, just to save her love. This is a woman ready to pay the full price for true love, the maestro added.