site.btaRussian Tenor, Ukrainian Soprano Perform Opera Together in Stara Zagora

Just 500 km away from the ongoing war in Ukraine, a Ukrainian soprano and a Russian tenor brought to life the tragic love story from Puccini’s opera La bohème on the Stara Zagora State Opera stage Thursday. Ukrainian singer Tamara Kalinkina, who is playing the role of Mimi, and the Frankfurt Opera’s Russian soloist, Alexey Kosarev, who is playing Rodolfo, met on stage to show that art knows no boundaries and is independent from the political status quo, because it is eternal.  

The Stara Zagora State Opera director, Ognyan Draganov, said that this particular opera was exceptionally sentimental. “It carries a fraction of goodness and humanity, that hides deep in all of us.” While a Russian and a Ukrainian performing together on the same stage seems counter-intuitive today, Draganov is positive that, “Music is what unites us and gives us the power we need to move forward.”

Set in Paris, La bohème tells the story of the poor seamstress Mimi falling in love with the poet Rodolfo. Their romance is cut short by a deadly illness. Kalinkina’s energy and talent combined with Kosarev lyrical tenor had the Stara Zagora audience enchanted. 

The orchestra was under the baton of Romanian Matey Pop. Katalin Yonesku-Arbore was the scenographer and Tsvetanka Petkova-Stoynova was the costume artist. Music lovers and critics alike are awaiting Kalinkina’s future performances in Stara Zagora.