The Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society is an opera company based in

Ruse, Bulgaria Ruse (also transliterated as Rousse, Russe; bg, Русе ) is the fifth largest city in Bulgaria. Ruse is in the northeastern part of the country, on the right bank of the Danube, opposite the Romanian city of Giurgiu, approximately south of ...

, and founded in 1949. It took over the Rousse Opera Society, which had been created in 1914. The new company is one of the oldest state cultural institutions in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

. With a staff of schooled singers, a choir, the ballet, and the orchestra, there is maturity and the ability to perform a wide range of works. The company's repertoire ranges from the classics (

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

through

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

and

Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long lin ...

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

and

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

) and has included 195 different works for the stage, some of them having received their Bulgarian premieres at the Ruse. Over the years numerous famous singers have sung on the Ruse opera stage, including Elena Nikolai, Todor Mazarov,

Nicolai Ghiaurov Nicolai Ghiaurov (or ''Nikolai Gjaurov'', ''Nikolay Gyaurov'', bg, Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous basses of the postwar period. He was admired for hi ...

Raina Kabaivanska Raina Yakimova Kabaivanska ( bg, Райна Якимова Кабаиванска); born 15 December 1934) is a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the leading Spinto soprano, lirico-spinto sopranos of her generation, particularly associated with V ...

, Nicola Giuselev,

Anna Tomowa-Sintow Anna Tomowa-Sintow ( bg, Анна Томова-Синтова, by official transliteration ''Anna Tomova-Sintova''; born 22 September 1941, in Stara Zagora) is a Bulgarian soprano who has sung to great acclaim in all the major opera houses around ...

Ghena Dimitrova Ghena Dimitrova ( bg, Гeна Димитpова, 6 May 1941 – 11 June 2005) was a Bulgarian operatic soprano. Her voice was known for its power and extension used in operatic roles such as Turandot in a career spanning four decades. Early car ...

, Stefka Evstatieva, Orlin Anastassov, Valerie Popova, Gloria Lind, Alexandrina Milcheva, Vladimir Atlantov, Stefan Dimitrov, Ivan Konsulov, Ava Cooper, Peter Glossop, Zinaida Pali, Silvia Shash, Kaludi Kaludov, Mariana Zvetkova, and Nicolae Herlia. Since 1956, the company has toured in Romania and Italy, Spain, Holland, France, Ukraine, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Cyprus and Rhodes islands. Rousse Opera Theatre has also recorded a number of performances for Bulgarian Radio and for separate CD compilations.

Repertoire

Operas not frequently performed and which are now part of the standard repertoire have included: * Rossini - ''La Gazza Ladra'' * Rossini - ''L`Italiana in Algeri'' * Verdi - ''Stiffelio'' * Glinka - ''Ivan Sussanin'' * Mozart - ''Bastien and Bastiene'' * Smetana - ''Prodana Nevesta'' * Gershwin - ''Blue Monday'' * Gershwin - ''Porgi and Bess'' * Stravinsky - ''Oedipus Rex''

Ballet

Choreographers such as Asen Gavrilov, Asen Manolov, Peter Loukanov, Hikmet Mehmedov, Antal Fodor, Giancarlo Vantagio, Alain Bernard worked here.

The Opera and Philharmonic Society

The Rousse Opera and Philharmonic Society was established in 1999, joining the Rousse Opera Theatre and Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra. It presents opera and ballet as well as symphonic works. The Opera and Philharmonic Society uses two halls: a Concert Hall, equipped with a recording studio, and an Opera House. Both halls have more than 600 seats each. The Opera and Philharmonic Society possesses the technical means for producing theatrical scenery.

General Music Director

The General Music Director of both the Opera House and the Rousse Philharmonic Orchestra, Plamen Beykov, graduated from the Royal College of Music in London, further advanced his art of vocal performance under the supervision of Boris Christoff in Rome, and also studied Musical Stage Direction at the National Academy of Music in Sofia. For more than ten seasons he was as a soloist/artist-in-residence at Ruse State Opera. He has performed at prestigious venues in Spain, Russia and Japan. Plamen Beykov also directed various productions for the opera theaters in Ruse and Stara Zagora.

References

External links

Opera and Philharmonic Society Rousse
{{authority control Opera houses in Bulgaria Performing groups established in 1949 Ballet venues Ballet companies Bulgarian opera companies Buildings and structures in Ruse, Bulgaria Tourist attractions in Ruse Province 1949 establishments in Bulgaria