Two April premieres feature on the playbill of the National Opera and Ballet, both addressed to children. This is not accidental, as there has been a great interest in such programs in the recent years.

One of the three children’s musicals of composer Alexander Vladigerov is the Wolf and the Seven Kids. The plot is based on the celebrated tale by the Brothers Grimm. The new show has been staged with an unexpected ending. Yulia Krasteva stage-director and libretto writer tells us that it follows the logic of the popular tale in which good and evil, truth and deception clash. “In our show however, we do not kill the beast, but rather send him to the zoo. This is a good way to neutralize evil and the message is that there should be harmony and understanding among people. The musical’s orchestration is based on classical jazz. It is our bridge to the world of present-day kids apart from the multimedia and special effects”, Yulia Krasteva specifies. The show’s set designer Pavlina Eusterhus says more:

"We had plenty of time to develop the idea and the concept for the show, but a very short time for the performance. I think we have made it: in the context of a fabled aesthetics. The set design is created at three levels: the young goats, their improvised “house”, in fact a log, and the fairy atmosphere where multimedia elements are key. At rehearsals we invited the kids of our colleagues to get an adequate feedback. I think the audience will be enchanted by this show.”

The second premiere at the Sofia Opera House is La fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter). Interestingly, this is one of the earliest ballet pieces to have reached the present day. Its first known performance was in 1789 in Bordeaux, France. One of the most famous versions of the work was created by German composer and conductor Peter Ludwig Hertel. The choreographer and stage-director of The Wayward Daughter in Sofia is Riolina Topalova:

"The story takes place in a fairy village. This is a comic ballet with the message of how parents’ evaluation about their own kids might be quite wrong. The greedy Marcelina is keen to get her daughter Lisa married to a rich guy. However, the girl is in love with a poor young man. Finally, love is victorious, and everyone agrees with the choice made by Lisa.”

The classical operetta Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood) is a gift to the lovers of Johann Strauss II’s music. Now it is on at the Music Theater in Sofia, apart from three other of his most popular works (Die Fledermaus, Eine Nacht in Venedig, and Der Zigeunerbaron). The interpretation of the premiere show is by Prof. Rumen Neykov:

"I worked hard to transform this text. I was keen to convey the spirit of the work. It is the last operetta by Johann Strauss II. Its first night was held a few months after his death in 1889. We tried to create a dynamic show without skipping music from the original score.”

Conductor Nayden Todorov has told us that he has had an emotional connection with Viennese Blood. "This is the first operetta that I came across as a student in Vienna and now I am back to the old times”, he explained.

The protagonist in the show is a German count, a Don Juan-type of man. This part is played by Marcho Apostolov:

"In fact he is a provincial womanizer who has found himself in the aristocratic Viennese society. With all his charm he is ridiculously trying to sell his simple tricks. The challenge for the signers seemed quite serious but we enjoyed the process. For us it was a compliment to work with conductor Nayden Todorov, as well as with Rumen Neykov. Prof. Neykov is in the know of the means of expressions that actors employ in this genre and it was quite clear what he wanted from us. Costume designer Tsvetanka Stoynova has done a great job too. Our costumes are so comfortable and we all look so beautiful dressed in them. And, last but not least, I really enjoy working with my talented colleagues from the company of the Musical Theater in Sofia”, Marcho Apostolov concludes.

English version: Daniela Konstantinova

The audio to this file features the following tracks
1-   A fragment from The Wolf and the Seven Kids by Alexander Vladigerov
2-   An aria of Gabriela from Act One of Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood) by Johann Strauss II, performed by Dobrina Ikonomova.
3-   Lippen schveigen, a duet from Wiener Blut by Johann Strauss II, performed by Iva Yonova and Christophor Yonov