Admirers of the opera will once again enjoy an exceptional operatic work – “TOSCA” by Giacomo Puccini, which will be presented on the Big Stage in the Dohodno zdanie on Sunday, June 8, at 7 p.m.
В главната роля ще се превъплъти световната оперна прима Zvetelina Vassileva. Многопластовият ѝ глас – слънчев, топъл и великолепно овладян, ще залее публиката в неделната вечер в дълбоко разтърсващата, знакова ария на Флория Тоска „Vissi d’arte“. Тя придава на ролята невероятни нюанси – страстна и властна, ревнива дива, отчаяна и молеща в страданието си жена, но и безмилостна убийца.
For over 30 years, Tzvetelina Vasileva has been presenting her art on stages around the world and in our country, and State Opera Ruse has the honor of having her as her soloist. The magnificent soprano has her own signature – both as a brilliant interpretation of difficult vocal parts, and as a construction of multi-layered dramatic images, and as a presentation of characteristic roles – with taste and an incomparable sense of style.
1. You have not sung on the Ruse stage since the beginning of the 75th anniversary season for our Opera Theater, when we enjoyed you in the performance of the opera “Turandot”. What happened during these months for you and how do you feel now?
I feel wonderful! Indeed, for the last time in Ruse I sang in Nina Naydenova’s remarkable production of “Turandot”. Good months have passed for me since then. I participated with the Sofia Philharmonic in “Requiem” – a landmark work by Verdi, under the baton of Maestro Michel Tabachnik. After that, I participated in three concerts related to the New Year holidays at the Sofia Opera, which are annual, and again at the Sofia Opera I had “Turandot”, which was accompanied by great success. The performance was conducted by Maestro Grigor Palikarov, and as Prince Calaf I was partnered by the great Spanish tenor Jorge de Leon. This is one of the great productions of Acad. Plamen Kartalov, but for me this performance was a very personal moment, because it was 30 years since my debut in “Turandot” as Liu at the IMF “Varna Summer” with Gena Dimitrova. The same year was also the premiere at the Sofia National Opera with Gena Dimitrova in a production by Acad. Plamen Kartalov. In general, this year I have many key anniversaries in my career as an opera singer. It's also been 25 years since my debut in "La Traviata" as Violetta Valery, in which I played the role of Violetta Valery on stage at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
2. What does this peculiar retrospection mean to you?
When you look back, you see that a lot of time has passed. Years pass, various events - life, social and so on. But the one constant is art. Those of us who are connected to it and it is part of our lives, not just work, see that a fragment of our professional path has passed with its challenges - good and not so much. But it seems that the good ones are always more, because they are related to the satisfaction of the opera artist. He always dedicates the art he makes to people, to the audience. Of course, the years are diverse, because a person goes through different stages of his life. In his younger years and in his more mature years, we learn many things. Even now I continue to learn… I am simply rediscovering life and seem to realize the most essential and beautiful things. Of course, we also go through personal losses and whatnot, but we must focus on the positive and the good. Our world is currently engulfed in very turbulent times – wars are being fought near us, associated with the loss of human lives, a social revolution is underway, and the emergence of Artificial Intelligence is staggering. All this puts us in front of many unknowns and we must come to terms with it. We cannot remain in the past and in the old. Whatever it costs us, we must adapt to the new, but not at any cost. It seems to me that acceptable compromises must be made in order for a person to be able to balance. To enjoy the good moments in the profession. To enjoy the sun, the scent of lime trees in Ruse now, if you will…
3. The performance of the opera “Tosca”, staged by the world-renowned opera artist, Ruse native Orlin Anastasov more than two years ago at the Ruse Opera, the audience will have the opportunity to watch again on June 8 at the Profitable Building. Has anything changed in your approach to the role during this time and will you add anything more to the image of Tosca this time?
Yes, there is always an upgrade when there are new performances, new performances. Even more so – now we will be with a different conductor, with maestro Dimitar Kosev. So, there will be new things. Both in “Turandot” and in “Tosca” there are performances by children. I love it when this happens. I remember how after the premiere of one of the performances of “Tosca” in the USA, one of the children who rehearsed could not participate. I experienced it a lot. As soon as the mother found out about my emotions, she brought me a CD with photos of the child as a gift, and with wishes for good luck at the premiere. I also remember another case. A little gentleman, dressed formally as for the premiere with a bow tie, was waiting for me with a huge bouquet in front of the dressing room. Imagine: a little boy appears and, as befits in such cases, he says very seriously – “Congratulations! Thank you for this incredible experience!” Coming from the essence of this child, it was quite shocking, even astonishing. Otherwise, “Tosca” is a Puccini opera, associated with the challenges of this composer. In addition to being technically difficult, you also have to have control over your emotions – from the first to the last act. Because there are many intense, dramatic moments, when there is a danger of becoming overly emotionally unbalanced and out of shape. There are too many heavy moments, like the one in the second act, where the scene of violence with Scarpia is quite stressful. Even purely physically, there are many gasps, which are an obstacle to voice extraction… Of course, Puccini’s powerful timbre orchestra, his dense orchestration, which can also be an obstacle for the soloists.
4. След спектакъла на „Тоска“ тази неделя, на 10 юни в зала „Филхармония“ Ви предстои един много интересен камерен концерт – “Романтичният Глинка”, композитор, който от години не е изпълняван на Русенска сцена, доколкото помня. С какво свързате Вие в кариерата си този титан на Руската музикална школа?
In principle, Glinka is one of the founders of Russian opera and Russian romance. He worked both in Russia and abroad, especially in Italy and Germany. Inevitably, this connects him with composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, i.e. with the Bel Canto vocal style. But I associate him most of all with my performance in the opera “Ruslan and Lyudmila” in San Francisco and, of course, with an incredible production at the Mariinsky Theater. Those were different times. Then the world-famous Valery Gergiev was an honorary conductor at the Metropolitan, and the Mariinsky Theater traveled all over the world with its stars. Glinka is the first Russian composer I performed, and even more so in my youth and in the best years of my career, for which I am grateful and happy. I sang the role of Gorislava, and Lyudmila was played by Anna Netrebko. That was when we first met her, and we were even friends for years. Then we got lost in time. I was at her concert in Sofia recently. A magnificent concert! She spared no expense. She embodies the concept of a “Star”. When we sang together in San Francisco and she performed Lyudmila, she was very young, and the production was a co-production between the Mariinsky Theater and the San Francisco Opera. An extremely impressive production! I remember that the set design and costumes were incredible. Fabulously beautiful! When the stage opened, people started clapping, it was so moving. At that time, I sang with Elena Zaremba, Vladimir Atlantov – all great stars of opera. So at this concert I will perform Gorislava’s aria from “Ruslan and Lyudmila”, based on Pushkin’s poem. I wanted to share that although Glinka is associated with bel canto, I think he had a hard time building the vocal parts. Especially in “Ruslan and Lyudmila” the roles are in a slightly higher tessitura and slightly in the transitional tones of all the voices. So much so that one does not have the opportunity to take a breath. And yet, you have to play… With the colleagues we sang in “Ruslan and Lyudmila” we later met in Houston and Baltimore… we had quite good acquaintances. And now I will sing with young colleagues on the Russian stage, who have established themselves as very good soloists. I have also performed Borodin and Tchaikovsky, but Glinka not so often, so I am very excited! I am looking forward to this concert, because it will be connected with the romance that I love so much.
5. What is coming up on the Ruse Opera’s schedule?
On September 5th, I will take part in the Gala Concert “40 Years of Audio-Visual Spectacle “Sound and Light” in the Old Capital of Tarnovgrad, where I will perform two arias from the operas “Maria Desislava” by Parashkev Hadzhiev” and “Tsar Kaloyan” by Pancho Vladigerov. The concert will feature the Choir and Orchestra of the State Opera – Ruse and the special participation of the kavaldist Teodosii Spasov.
Interview by Diana Dimitrova
Снимка: Архив на Държавна опера-Русе; Цветелина Василева в ролята на Флория Тоска в операта „TOSCA„, Джакомо Пучини
