site.btaSofia Opera to Stage Puccini's Tosca in Ankara, Istanbul

The Sofia Opera and Ballet House (SOBH) will make its first opera performances in Turkiye. Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca will be staged at the State Opera and Ballet in Ankara on November 8 and at the Atatürk Cultural Centre in Istanbul on November 11. SOBH’s tour, titled "Bulgaria Congratulates Turkey: Happy Centenary of the Republic!", is organized by the Bulgarian Embassy in Ankara with the support of the Bulgarian Culture Ministry. The event will take place under the patronage of Desislava Radeva, wife of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, and Emine Erdoğan, wife of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The funds raised at the charity event will be donated to help the areas in Southeastern Turkiye struck by devastating earthquakes in February 2023.

SOBH’s Tosca, directed by Plamen Kartaloff, will be conducted by Sunay Muratov, who has dual citizenship (Bulgarian and Turkish). The cast includes Radostina Nikolaeva who will appear as Floria Tosca), Kostadin Andreev (Mario Cavaradossi), and Ionuț Pascu (Baron Scarpia).

Tosca was a favourite opera of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - а visionary, reformist and friend of Bulgaria, who actively participated in Sofia’s cultural life and was a regular spectator of the performances of the Bulgarian Opera Society during his period as military attaché in the Bulgarian capital between 1913 and 1915.

The 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic will be celebrated on October 29.