International premiere of "Carmen" at OPERA OPEN

The opera "Carmen" by Bizet returns to the Ancient Theatre with a premiere international production directed by Ursula Horner, featured in the program of the OPERA OPEN festival on July 6 at 9 PM. The leading roles include the fiery Serbian mezzo-soprano Ljubica Vranesh, Portuguese tenor Carlos Cardoso, who has a successful career on the European stage, and Polish bass Daniel Miroslav, known for his performances at prestigious opera festivals in Florence and Glyndebourne, England. They are joined by soloists from Opera Plovdiv: Evgenia Ralcheva, Evgeniy Arabadzhiev, Nikolay Bachev, Maria Anastasova, Vivien Georgiev, Momchil Karaivanov, and Mark Fowler, accompanied by the choir, ballet, and orchestra of Opera Plovdiv.

The director collaborates with the team that successfully staged "Tosca" at the Ancient Theatre: scenographer Maria Vetroska, costume designer Maria Pupuchevska, and lighting designer Vasko Lisichov. The performance, initially presented on an indoor stage, now unfolds in full scale at the Ancient Theatre. A focal point of the set is a 10-meter fallen bull's horn—a symbol of passion, admiration, love, and death.

"‘Carmen’ embodies all clichés associated with Romani women. She is wild and fearless, non-conformist, constantly in conflict with the law, and lives intensely in the present. But her name suggests that a heavy shadow hangs over her. In addition to the Latin meaning of 'carmen' (poetry, song, magic formula), the word 'karma' is also hidden within it. Derived from the ancient Indian Sanskrit language, it means 'deed' or 'effect'. Every physical or mental action leads to consequences," commented Horner.

The performance is conducted by Maestro Boyan Sudjic, who has been the musical director of the Music Production Department of Radio and Television Serbia (RTS) for more than a decade and is the principal conductor of RTS's Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

Tickets for "Carmen" are available at the Opera's box office, at the Opera Open summer box office on Main Street, at Eventim ticket outlets, online at eventim.bg, and grabo.bg.