JOSE CARRERAS

Fest Team and Sofia Opera and Ballet present:

The legendary José Carreras on December 3 in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture

By the end of the year Bulgaria will once again welcome one of the most famous figures in contemporary opera, José Carreras. The concert of the legendary Catalan tenor will take place on 3rd December in Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture. José Carreras' concert is organized by Fest Team and Sofia Opera and Ballet.

José Carreras is one of the 'Three Tenors', an honor he shares with Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. Over the course of his career, Carreras recorded more than 50 full operas and 40 classical and popular recitals, and is a particular favorite of audiences for his Puccini and Verdi parts. José Carreras commented: “I am very happy to be able to return to one of my favorite audiences, the Bulgarian music fans, where I have already had many memorable performances, which we will recall with a full evening program December 3. My return to Sofia will surely be a celebration of music. I hope to see you there!”

With a remarkable career spanning nearly seven decades, Carreras is considered one of the most popular tenors of all time and one of those responsible for the genre gaining greater mass appeal among audiences. His musical history includes numerous awards and personal highs such as being the musical director for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in his native Barcelona and opening the 1992 Olympics. José Carreras also experienced a tremendous personal health catharsis, which he described and published in his autobiography José Carreras, Singing from the Soul, about his battle with leukemia. He created a foundation to fight the disease, which to this day is part of his life as a performer.

The conductor of the performance in Sofia will be David Giménez. The Barcelona born conductor studied piano and composition at the Conservatori del Liceu and since making his debut with the Hannover NDR Orchestra in 1994, he has appeared worldwide, leading the most prominent orchestras and soloists in venues like the Royal Albert Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Salle Pleyel, Vienna Konzerthaus, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, and at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. During his career, David Giménez has conducted orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the London Symphony, the Philharmonia, Münchner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris and Filarmonica della Scala. He is currently Principle Guest Conductor at the Filharmonia Podkarpacka in Rzeszow, Poland as well as the Artistic Director of the Sounds of Oradea Festival in Oradea, Romania.

The soprano who will take the stage of Hall 1 of the National Palace of Culture is Dianа Tugui.

The highly talented singer studied at the George Enescu Music University in Bucharest under the guidance of Professor Sanda Sandru. Her versatility and skill in singing operatic roles has earned her recognition, but she has also successfully approached other vocal genres, including symphonic, operetta, lied, and even musicals. She has collaborated with all philharmonics and opera theaters in her home country and has had numerous appearances on European stages in the past eighteen years. Diana Tugui is a recipient of several international awards, including the Jaume Aragall, Wilhem Stenhammar, Vox Artis, Ionel Perlea and Elena Teodorini awards. In 2015, she was crowned "Best Soprano" at the National Opera Gala, and in 2018, she received the "Lya Hubic" award also for best soprano.

José Carreras' team has chosen once againg for their concert in Sofia the orchestra with more than 130 years of history and worldwide recognition and popularity - that of the Sofia Opera and Ballet. With its chorus, orchestra and soloists, it has made numerous guest appearances in various countries in Europe, in Brazil, Japan, Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Cyprus, presenting the major productions of the classical opera and ballet repertoire. Throughout its history, the Sofia Opera and Ballet Orchestra has worked with the greatest operatic names as conductors and opera soloists - besides José Carreras, with Assen Naydenov, Ruslan Raichev, Mikhail Angelov, Adam Fischer, Anton Guadagno, Lothar Zagrosek, Konstantin Trinks, Anna Tomova Sintova, Raina Kabaivanska, Gena Dimitrova, Alexandrina Milcheva, Placido Domingo, Nikolay Gyaurov, Nikola Gyuzelev, Violeta Urmana , Ferruccio Furlanetto, Maria Gulegina, Kaludi Kaludov, Krasimira Stoyanova, Vladimir Stoyanov, Kiril Manolov and many others.