Bulgaria Fr Kiril Popov, The Hermit of Rila: Soloists, Kids’s Vocal and Theatre Formation (Dimitar Kostantsaliev, director), Refrain and Orchestra of Sofia Opera / Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Kyprian (conductor). Patriarchal Cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky, Sofia, 26.7.2024. (GT)
The origins of this manufacturing lie within the discovery by Archpriest Kiril Popov of ‘The Hermit of Rila’ within the church archives and his suggestion as a musical poem to Plamen Kartaloff of Sofia Opera, who instantly requested him to write down the music for it. The orchestration by the Bulgarian composer and conductor Georgi Strezov contains Popov’s church hymns, as Popov writes: ‘Within the Orthodox Church, we now have a cappella efficiency of the chants through the service. Nonetheless, once we are exterior the temple, as on this case, the poem might be enhanced in music by the help of an orchestra. It was the very design of the creator, Tihomir Pavlov: a libretto for a musical poem.’ This efficiency commemorates the consecration of the Saint Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral 100 years in the past in Sofia.
The occasions of the sacred musical poem happen on the finish of the ninth and the primary half of the tenth century within the central Sredets area of the then Bulgarian kingdom. This was the golden age of Bulgaria, through the reigns of St Boris-Michael, Simeon the Nice and St Peter. The musical story of John of Rila and his rejection of society and his casting out as a hermit summons up parallels with the passions of Christ written within the Center Ages, most notably from the Oberammergau Ardour Performs (carried out each ten years), continued by such composers as Obrecht, Bach, Byrd, Guerrero, Victoria to Penderecki, and Pärt. Slightly than primarily based on Christ, the textual content by Tihomir Pavlov (1880 -1937) is taken from the lifetime of Saint John the wonderworker from Rila (876-946) when Bulgaria was based each as a state and unbiased church. Father Popov’s music displays totally different musical kinds hinting at Bulgarian and Russian Slavic sacred liturgies, particularly Rachmaninov, Grechaninov, Tchaikovsky and Taneyev in a superbly orchestrated cloth of sound which blended fantastically with the startling visible photos projected onto the cathedral of Saint Alexander Nevsky.
The narrative of St John of Rila invokes the wrestle between good and evil, and during which Pavlov’s sacred poem provided us sanctuary for nearly two hours. An vital connotation on this work is from the annals of the as soon as nice Kingdom of Bulgaria, invaded by international aggressors, most notably by Genghis Khan and his hordes, the Turkish khanates, the Hapsburg Empire and Nazi Germany. Right now’s Bulgaria enjoys an independence during which the nation and its folks can have a good time its sovereignty – and there’s a connection in Pavlov’s texts with Richard Wagner’s Ring, the place we see the repeated cycle of humankind enduring struggling and redemption.
Kartaloff’s units comprised two huge rock formations in entrance of the Cathedral – linked by a pathway that created an immense construction in entrance of the orchestra pit. One other innovation was a path between the viewers and the stage for the procession on horseback of the Tsar Petar and his entourage. Every rock formation has a number of caves on the precise; the summit bears a cross excessive above John’s hermit cave. The efficiency opened with the chiming of the Cathedral bells – making a distinctively lovely starting. The narrative follows the lifetime of the priest John from his youth to his casting out of society, and he takes refuge in a cave alone visited solely by his followers.
There seem scenes of violence the place devilish figures kill St John’s followers, and there’s the looks of the younger Luka – the son of John’s brother who opposes John. In his temporary look, we hear beautiful singing of Luka – a boy soprano, earlier than he’s killed by a snake on the mountain.
Act II finds John as an outdated man alone in his mountain refuge – but Tsar Petar arrives in a spectacular scene together with his entourage of seven horses. In an intensely gripping scene, the Tsar rises to the summit of the mountain the place items of gold are provided to John, but he refuses – he’s not to be purchased off, and the hermit sings that advantage is extra valued than wealth. The monks sing of their religion in John, but lastly the outdated man in a outstanding scene crosses the pathway and enters the good gates of the cathedral from which misty clouds emerge as St John enters into heaven.
The musical efficiency was enhanced by excellent singing of each soloists and choral; one had the impression that we have been within the theatre, so pure was the acoustic image created by the technicians. Of the singers, probably the most spectacular was the noble baritone of Atanas Mladenov because the younger John; who already impressed me in final 12 months’s Parsifal as Amfortas, and as Gunther on the ultimate day of the Ring; he has a superbly wealthy voice and a stage presence to match. John’s brother Veselin Mihaylov was one other stand out together with his beautiful baritone verifying his promise from his wonderful Wotan in final month’s Das Rheingold. Regardless of his restricted time on the stage, he’s a singer of nice potential. One among Mihaylov’s predecessors as a Wotan in Sofia – Nikolay Petrov because the Father Auxentius was masterly in his aged but magnificent baritone in a superb portrayal. The Tsar Petar of Angel Hristov was excellent in his darkly hued bass and commanding stage presence. The Orchestra of Sofia Opera have been excellent beneath the course of the Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Kyprian demonstrating vibrant harmonies from the woodwind teams and the percussion, and the wealthy verdant strings. Most memorable of all have been the heavenly choruses of the youngsters along with the lads’s and girls’s choruses.
An important asset to the drama on stage have been the projections by Vladimir Grancharov and his Elektrick.me staff of technicians onto the Alexander Nevsky cathedral – among the many spectacular have been the holy icons of John of Rila to the forks of lightning and of Bulgaria’s wildlife and the greenery of its woodlands. This lovely graphic imagery stored the viewers spellbound all through – an element that was enriched by Kartaloff in his current revived Ring cycle. The costumes designed by Marta Mironska have been vibrant and invoked the occasions of the interval of Bulgaria’s golden historical past. Total, the drama all through was masterly and secured magnificently by the stage manufacturing managers and employees led by Emil Aleksiev. The lighting by Emil Dinkov was wonderful as was the reasonable sound engineered by Plamen Yordanov. This was the primary of three successive evenings following the premiere of this work on the stage of Sofia Opera and at Stara Zagora final 12 months. After all, this spectacle is primarily for Bulgarians, but the religious magnificence and the spiritual ode of fine over evil appeals to everybody, by its magnificence and visible splendour. The present was filmed on Bulgarian tv and was extensively celebrated in Bulgaria as a nationwide occasion.
Gregor Tassie
Manufacturing:
Director – Plamen Kartaloff
Set designer – Nella Stoyanova
Costume designer – Marta Mironska
Lightning designer – Emil Dinkov
Sound designer – Plamen Yordanov
Artist designer – Christiyan Stoyanov
Assistant Administrators – Vera Beleva, Yulia Krasteva
Mission supervisor – Emil Aleksiev
Artistic staff chief – Monislav Zhelyazkov, Anastas Nedelchev, Irena Nikolic, Ivana Nikolic
3D Mapping and Digital scenography – Vladimir Granchanov, Electrical.me
Solid:
The Hermit of Rila as a younger man – Atanas Mladenov
The Hermit of Rila – Iriney Konstantinov
Tsar Petar – Angel Hristov
Luke, nephew of the Rila Hermit – Ivan Radev
A voice from the Heavens – Dimitar Stanchev
Father Auxentius – Nikolay Petrov
The brother of the Rila Hermit – Veselin Mihaylov
Robbers – Angel Antonov, Nikolay Voynov, Rosen Nenchev, Nikolay Panov
Pilgrims – Nikolay Voynov, Georgi Djanov, Krasimir Dinev
Prayer voice from the folks – Stefan Vladimirov
A monk – Kiril Konstantinov
A lady – Yuliana Todorova
A warrior – Ivan Alexandrov
A Royal messenger – Velislav Ninov
Soloists of the choruses – Evgeni Dimitrov, Nikolay Milev
Monastic brotherhood – Atanas Madzharov, Georgi Mikov, Emil Dakov, Christian Popov, Lubomir Angelov
Choir of Angels – Kids’s vocal and theatre formation
