"Casanova" on 19 April on the Opera stage

News публикувана на: 13.04.2017

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On 19 April, at 19.00 State Opera Stara Zagora will present the musical "Casanova" to music by Georgi Kostov and lyrics by Yuri Dachev. Directed by Ognyan Draganov, conducted by Vladimir Boshnakov, set and costume design by Ivan Tokadzhiev. The soloists are Nikolai Motov, Michaela Berova, Khristofor Nedkov, Ignat Zhelev, Evgen Surmiyevich, Ivona Ivanova, Prolet Pencheva, Kremenna Raicheva, Lili Hodgeva, Kamelia Stoycheva, Emilia Djurova, Irina Radilova, Nina Dimitrova, Ivan Kolev. Orchestra and ballet of the State Opera-Stara Zagora participate.

What is the reason for the endless curiosity about the personality of the legendary 18th century hero Casanova, what provokes artists to return to his stories and to carry them with ease to different eras, what are the life lessons that are invariably present in every creative impulse on the theme of Casanova...

Love drama, farce or comedy - the musical "Casanova" through the eyes of the creators: the author of the text - playwright Yuri Dachev, composer Georgi Kostov and director Ognyan Draganov.

The author of the text - Yuri Dachev

"Few myths can hope for a secured future like that of Casanova. The explanation is so simple that it is perhaps unnecessary to point it out - love adventures will never cease to arouse curiosity. So too will new literary interpretations continue to join the scores of authors who have summoned Casanova onto screen, stage, and page. Casanova is nobody's. Just as he cannot be owned by just one woman, neither does he belong to just one era or genre. In working on the libretto 15 years ago, I followed the same pattern as many others - facts from Casanova's biography and particular events he wrote about in his memoirs are interwoven with fiction. Two things interested me - that the lover of all time, the symbol of male freedom, was constantly pursued: by lusty women, by voyeurs, by evil and inept law enforcers, by secret agents, by whomever. This vindictiveness of the neglected and the untalented in love is something that underlines Casanova's exceptionalism; it's funny, but it's more than that. The other is that Casanova, though possessed of inexhaustible talent for love, is but one man standing against a monstrous, rampant, insatiable insufficiency of love that all ages have known...

One of Casanova's biographers, Derek Parker, mentions that Casanova called his carriage "Solitude." I don't know if it's true or fiction, but I'm convinced we'll continue to look after it, eyes watering with smoldering and understandable, if not entirely justified, envy."

Composer Georgi Kostov

"After the successful presentation of the musical 'THE FOUR CLINCHES' the Director of the Musical Theatre - Prof. Svetozar Donev invited me to write a musical for adults and during a conversation with us and the playwright Yuri Dachev the idea to create a work based on the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova was born. The libretto was ready and then I started writing. But I kept hearing my song "To Crave You," which had become popular at that time. I said to myself, I don't have a more loving melody than that, and it became the light theme of the work, which was completed and staged in 2002 at the Musical Theatre."

Director Ognian Draganov

"In the musical Casanova, the protagonist is the famous lover Casanova, a legendary figure of the 18th century - a man of diverse interests - merchant, politician, diplomat, philosopher, poet, writer, who wrote several plays and over twenty books, most notably known as the great lover of Venice. In our story we look at this man from a slightly different angle. Every man dreams of embodying in his own life the man who has become a symbol - the male seducer Casanova. The director's gaze ironizes pure male vanity, passes through comedy and even reaches the grotesque in the finale. At the heart of the musical is the text, which is developed in the show in its second plan - quite ironically. A text that is based on Casanova's autobiographical work, namely "The Story of My Life", in which he immortalises his amorous adventures. There are many love scenes in the plot of the musical that are revealed in hyperbolized form. Love is not only expressed through the physical contact between the characters, it is revealed in a sought after deliberately exaggerated version. As in Mozart's Don Giovanni, so in Georgi Kostov's Casanova there is no scene in which a physical act takes place. There are alternating situations in which Casanova plans and arranges his trysts, and at the end of each - receives a refusal from the courted ladies. The protagonist Marcella is a nun secretly in love with him. Casanova makes a date with her as well, but in the end he is left alone with his violin to continue giving love through music. Last but not least, the predominant characters in the musical are musicians - Casanova is a musician, there are four violin heroines, a cellist, a chorus of nuns, a merchant, and a former musician. The desire of the creative team is that in this musical people have fun, the narrative is comedic and the show ends very quickly. It is about the love that all the ladies want to bestow on Casanova, and he in turn reciprocates with the same. On Valentine's Day, we hope to carry this sentiment to the audience in the auditorium and have a good time together.

The takeaway: every man wants to be a Casanova, but often times overestimates his capabilities.

I believe people will feel our 'wink' to the stories of this iconic 18th century hero."