site.btaTop Tenor Roberto Alagna, Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak in Concert with Sofia Philharmonic on May 26

One of the best voices of our time, French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna, will appear on stage at Sofia's National Palace of Culture on May 26. Together with the other soloist in the show, the just as celebrated Polish-born soprano Aleksandra Kurzak, they will treat the audience to an assortment of best loved opera arias and duets. The Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Nayden Todorov, will be the other star performer at the concert.

The programme includes pieces from Puccini's Manon Lescaut, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, Giordano's Andrea Chenier, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.

In his nearly 40-year-long career, Alagna has compiled an eclectic repertoire of over 60 roles. Two contemporary operas have even been composed especially for him: Vladimir Cosma's Marius et Fanny (after Marcel Pagnol) and David Alagna's Le dernier jour d'un condamné (after Victor Hugo). He has recorded complete sets, duets, oratorios, operas, anthologies of great works, religious and popular songs. "Going off the beaten path, constantly exploring new grounds and ideas – on disc, on stage and on tour, Alagna clearly revealed his desire to give his audience more and to feed his appetite for permanent search and creation. He more than once reiterated the experience of creating brand-new concert programs across the world, blending various genres and showcasing his unique ability to keep his tenor instrument true to the style of what he is singing," reads a presentation of the artist by Sofia Philharmonic.

Kurzak made her professional opera debut at age 21 and has since appeared at Hamburg State Opera, The Metropolitan in New York, London's Covent Garden Milan's La Scala, Arena di Verona, and opera stages in Naples, Rome, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Zurich, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, to mention but a few.