Sunday, 8 October, Belgrade National Theatre at 8 P.M.
Festival opening
CALLAS 100 – Gala concert on the occasion of the birth centenary of Maria Callas
Orchestra and Choir of the National Theatre in Belgrade
Conductor: Dian Tchobanov
Vassiliki Karagianni, soprano
Andrea Carè, tenor
Program:
Vincenzo Bellini: Norma overture
Vincenzo Bellini: Norma, “Casta Diva”, Norma’s aria from Act I
Francesco Cilea: Arlesiana, “È la solita storia del pastore”, Federico’s aria from Act II
Ambroise Thomas: Hamlet, Ophelia's mad scene
Giuseppe Verdi: Luisa Miller, “Quando le sere al placido”, Rodolfo’s aria from Act II
Giacomo Puccini: Madame Butterfly, Humming chorus
Vincenzo Bellini: La Sonnambula, “Ah non credea mirarti ... Ah non giunge”, Amina’s aria from Act II
Giuseppe Verdi: Macbeth, “Oh figli…ah la paterna mano”, Macduff’s aria from Act IV
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviatta, Chorus and Gypsies Chorus
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviatta, “Parigi o cara“, Violetta’s and Alfredo Germont’s duet from Act III
Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut, Intermezzo from Act III
Umberto Giordano: Fedora, “Amor ti vieta“, Loris Ipanoff’s aria from Act II
Vincenzo Bellini: I Puritani, “Son vergin vezzosa”, Elvira’s aria from Act I
Giacomo Puccini: Tosca, “E lucevan le stelle”, Cavaradossi’s aria from Act III
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviatta, “Libiamo ne' lieti calici“, Violetta’s and Alfredo Germont’s duet from Act I
Tickets available at the box office of the National Theatre and online at https://www.narodnopozoriste.rs/sr/ulaznice
Greek coloratura soprano Vassiliki Karagianni was born in Patras and studied piano, accordion and music theory at the Conservatory in her hometown. She then went on to specialize in voice and graduated with distinction in Vocal Studies from the National Conservatory, branch of Glyfada, and continued her vocal training with Josef Metternich in Monaco. She has collaborated with the Greek National Opera from an early age, where she regularly performs some of the best-known coloratura soprano repertoire.
She has appeared in the world’s leading opera houses, including Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, London’s Royal Opera House, the Copenhagen Opera House, Tokyo’s Bunkamura Orchard Hall, Biwako Hall in Ōtsu, Japan, Tokio's Opera House, Komische Oper Berlin, Naples's Teatro di San Carlo, Florence State Opera, Lisbon's National Theatre of Saint Charles, Düsseldorf Opera and Soni Concert Hall in Tokyo.
In 2012, she made her debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan as Olympia in the opera The Tales of Hoffmann by Jacques Offenbach, receiving praise for her portrayal of the heroine. She has performed in concerts in major halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Cadogan Hall in London as well as Musashino Concert Hall in Tokyo. In October 2021, she performed the Olympic Anthem at the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games in the Ancient Olympia stadium.
Her extensive repertoire comprises roles such as Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, Stella in The Tales of Hoffmann, Amina in Vincenzo Bellini’s Sleepwalker (La Sonnambula), Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Violetta in Verdi’s Traviata, Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Konstanze and Blonde in Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio, Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, Zerbinetta in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne on Naxos, Rosina in Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Countess Adèle in Rossini’s Count Ory.
The internationally-renowned opera singer is the recipient of the Young Artist Award from the Greek Drama and Music Critics Association for her interpretation of Zerbinetta in the Greek National Opera’s production of Ariadne on Naxos as well as the Ilva Ligabue Special Award in Italy. Her discography includes releases such as The Barber of Seville by Giovanni Paisiello, Prayer, composed to the poetry of Constantine P. Cavafy by Athanasios Simoglou and The Monogram, composed to the poetry of Odysseas Elytis by Giorgios Kouroupos.
Among her future engagements are the role of Glauce in Cherubini's Medea – a co-production between the Metropolitan Opera, the Greek National Opera and the Chicago Opera, in Stavros Niarchos Hall, as well as the performance in Opera Gala, which will be held at Monte Carlo’s Opera on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Maria Callas.
Italian tenor Andrea Carè was born in Turin and studied there at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory. Afterward, he had the privilege of perfecting his vocal art with Luciano Pavarotti and Raina Kabaivanska.
After winning the International Spoleto Competition in 2005 he started his career performing in the most prestigious opera theatres of the world including Teatro аlla Scala (Milan), Royal Opera House (London), The Metropolitan Opera (New York), Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real (Madrid), Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona), Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), Hamburg Staatsoper, Royal Swedish Opera (Stockholm), La Fenice (Venice), Teatro dell’Opera (Rome), Teatro Regio (Turin and Parma), Teatro Comunale (Bologna), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, Teatro San Carlo (Naples), Teatro Petruzzelli (Bari), Canadian Opera Company (Toronto) and many others.
Andrea is considered by the critics one of the best performers in the role of Don José from Carmen. His vast repertoire includes the roles of Alfredo (La Traviata), Don Carlo (Don Carlo), Gustavo (Un ballo in maschera), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Radames (Aida), Macduff (Macbeth), Enzo Grimaldo (La Gioconda), Pollione (Norma), Loris Ipanov (Fedora), Sigurd (Sigurd), Ctirad (Šárka).
Andrea worked with many famous conductors such as Bruno Bartoletti, Riccardo Chailly, Gianandrea Noseda, Paolo Arrivabeni, Tugan Sokhiev, Nicola Luisotti, Jader Bignamini, Pinchas Steinberg, Patrick Fournillier, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Evelino Pidò, Massimo Zanetti, Roberto Abbado, Daniele Callegari, Valerio Galli, Giampaolo Bisanti and others.
Maestro Dian Tchobanov is the current general music director of the State Opera in Plovdiv and has been in the position since the 2013/2014 season. In addition, he has served as Guest Professor of Conducting at the Prof. Asen Diamandiev Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts in in the same city since 2023. Past posts have included Chief Conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (2004–2010), Resident Conductor of the Schönbrunn Palace Orchestra in Vienna (2004–2012), Chief Conductor of the State Opera in Stara Zagora (2007–2012), Resident Conductor of the Opera of the Croatian National Theatre (2009–2022) and Chief Conductor of the Croatian Chamber Orchestra (2012–2014).
He earned a master's degree from the Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music in Sofia and from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Professor Uroš Lajović. His conducting style was influenced by Sir Colin Davis, Fabio Luisi and Iván Fischer. He was awarded Doctor of Musical Arts in 2021.
Maestro Tchobanov was honoured with the second prize and the Lovro von Matačić special prize at the 2003 International Conductors Competition in Zagreb. Additionally, he was awarded a special prize at the 1998 Austro-Hungarian Conductors Competition in Budapest, and in 2014 the Plovdiv prize, the most prestigious award in the field of music in his hometown.
His conducting engagements have included appearances with the Neue Philharmonie Hamburg (in the Berliner Philharmonie hall), Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Arena di Verona Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra, Dohnanyi Budapest Orchestra, Budapest Concert Orchestra, Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, Schönbrunn Palace Orchestra in Vienna, Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra in Sofia, Cantus Ensemble in Zagreb, as well as cooperation with the Sofia National Opera and Ballet, Radio and Television of Serbia, National Theatre in Belgrade, Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, National Opera and Ballet in Skopje, Astana Opera, National Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Tirana.
Maestro Tchobanov has taken part in many famous festivals: 1999 Klangbogen in Vienna, 2000 Oder-Spree Opera in Neuzelle (Germany), Austrian Music Weeks in Bulgaria (2005–2010), Varna Summer International Festival (2006, 2007), 2009 Songs of Life in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 2015 March Music Days in Rousse, Rijeka Summer Nights, Music Biennale in Zagreb, Weinklang in Burgenland, Opera and Ballet Arts Festival in Stara Zagora, Opera Open in Plovdiv (2014–2020), International Festival of Chamber Music in Yekaterinburg (2016, 2018), 2017 Palermo Classica.
Other festival appearances include the 2017 Opatia Tribune, 2018 Mythos in Taormina, 2018 Zagreb Classic, where José Kura performed as a soloist, Tagliacozzo International Midsummer Festival (2018, 2019, 2020), May Opera Evenings in Skopje (2018, 2019), 2021 BELEF – Opera Gala at the closing of the festival, with the performance of Plácido Domingo, 2022 Silvester Festival in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia and 2023 Operalia International Festival in Astana.
He was a member of the jury at 2015 Lovro von Matačić International Conductors Competition in Zagreb, 2018 Antal Dorati International Conductors Competition in Budapest, 2019 International Conductors Competition in Almaty, 2021 Lake Como International Conductors Competition in Belanno, 2022 Nino Rota International Conductors Competition in Matera and 2023 Opera Plovdiv International Conductors Competition.
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