site.btaSix Wagner Operas at Sofia Opera in July

The Sofia Opera will stage six productions by Richard Wagner between July 7 and 25 to mark the composer's 210th birthday (1813-1883). Those will include the tetralogy The Ring of the Nibelung, Parsifal and Tristan and Isolde under the baton of Constantin Trinks.

Rosen Gergov will conduct The Flying Dutchman by Lake Pancharevo on July 29 and 30 to conclude the festival.

The Ring of the Nibelung will have a new directorial vision created by Plamen Kartaloff. Hans Kudlich created the set design, and Hristiana Michaleva-Zorbalieva designed the costumes.

Guests of the events will enjoy the voices of Radostina Nikolaeva, Gergana Rusekova, Mariana Zvetkova, Silvana Pravcheva, Tsvetana Bandalovska, Lilia Kehayova, Alexandrina Stoyanova, Vesela Yaneva, Ayla Dobreva, Ina Kalinova, Tsveta Sarambelieva, Rada Toteva, Lyubov Metodieva, Angelina Mancheva, Yuliana Katinova, Kostadin Andreev and more.

Iordanka Derilova and Kamelia Kader will return to the Sofia stage as Brunnhilde and Waltraute respectively in Twilight of the Gods. Plamen Dimitrov will perform as Alberich in The Rhinegold, Siegfried and Twilight of the Gods.

Wotan in The Valkyrie will be performed by Thomas Hall. Krisztian Cser was invited to be the Wanderer in Siegfried. Anna Werle will be Brangaine in Tristan and Isolde. Kurt Rydl will perform as Daland, while Stanislav Trifonov will be the Dutchman in The Flying Dutchman.

Global recognition

Rainer Fineske, President of the International Association of Richard Wagner Societies, expressed his delight with the Sofia Opera and its director Plamen Kartaloff, who were able to forge a new Ring. Fineske also praised the Bulgarian singers and the productions that they help to stage.

Anna Tomowa-Sintow: The hard work was rewarded generously

Tomowa-Sintow said: "Knowing full well what they are up against, personally I am in awe of our wonderful, talented singers who have coped brilliantly with the big tasks. Their hard work has been generously rewarded. The success was brilliant, and Wagner's music is firmly on the stage of the National Opera in Sofia. The Bulgarian rendition of The Ring of the Nibelung has received high recognition and appreciation around the world, including in Germany, in the historic town of Fussen, which is closely connected with Wagner's work."