The Sofia National Opera and Ballet opens its new season with the premiere of Zachariy the Painter opera by Marin Goleminov. The two performances will be held on October 11 and 13. We can hardly cover all historical, aesthetic, moral and ethical topics this play brings fourth. On one hand, this is the personality of Zahariy Hristovich – painter from the Samokov Iconographic School and pioneer of modern Bulgarian art. He was left an orphan at an early age and was raised by his elder brother Dimitar Zograf – a celebrated icon painter who had an own workshop where Zahariy developed his talent of an icon painter (zograf), to become later better known as Zahary Zograf. Dimitar did not accept his younger brother’s rebellious spirit and Zahariy often found support by his spiritual teacher Neophyte of Rila and his brother’s wife Hristiania. Zahariy fell in love with Hristiania and her portrait became one of his most remarkable secular works of art. When Hristiania got typhoid fever, the doctors said no one should approach her. When Zahariy learned the bad news, he was the only one who dared visit her beloved one. The legend has it that this was the time when the two shared their feelings for the first time and Hristiania died in peace. Soon, Zahariy passed away as well. 

Marin Goleminov was fascinated by the intriguing story of the famous icon painter. He worked over his piece in 1970 and 1971, but he changed some details of the story. In his interpretation, Zahariy and Hristiania got engaged, but the icon painter departed on a long journey and she married his brother, although she loved him until the end of her life. The first performances of Zachary the Painter opera were held several decades ago in Sofia and Ruse. Chavdar Guyzelev is a scenographer of the new opera. He is son of the renowned Bulgarian opera singer Nikola Gyuzelev who was the first one in the part of Zahary Zograf.

I remember him singing and dancing on the stage in real time. It is a very exciting memory. In the new opera I bet on simplicity – the scaffolding (as an invariable part of life) and the step-ladder – a symbol of the ascent and descent, painter Chavdar Gyuzelev said at a meeting where Academician Plamen Kartalov, Director of the Sofia National Opera and Ballet, introduced the creative team.

He invited Zornitsa Sofia to become director of the opera Zachary the Painter. We know her mainly from the movies Mila from Mars and Voivode, although she first graduated from the National Academy of Art and held dozens of exhibitions in Bulgaria and abroad. Here is what she says about her first job as opera director:

I was guided by different thigs in my career such as my personal experience. I was twenty two-years-old when at my initiative the church in the Sofia Central Prison was restored and renovated. We worked with colleagues and prisoners. I was working on the scaffolding for one and a half years. This metaphor remained in me – the icon painter as a link between the “lower world” of people and the world of sublime things. This is a story of the genesis of creation, the sublimation of love energy into creative energy. I do not think love in this opera is tragic. The characters – they merge spiritually. Zahariy dies young, but leaves huge number and very affecting works of art. This is my interpretation of the plot. I loved the music of Marin Goleminov, because it is very expressive and is a challenge for the singers.

Young talents Valentin Vatev, Nikolay Voynov (in the part of Zahary Zograf), Veselin Mihailov (in the part of Dimitar), Silvia Teneva, Stefani Krasteva and Hristiana Ignatova (in the part of Hristiania) take part at the opera Zachariy the Painter, conductor – Velizar Genchev, costumes – Marta Mironska, choreography –Teodora Drumeva.

When I saw the whole team, all these young people gathered in one place, the whole energy and the way they interpret the plot and perceive the music, I knew that this would be a performance Marin Goleminov would surely love, Lili Goleminova, granddaughter of the celebrated Bulgarian composer told Radio Bulgaria. He liked to experiment and this team has the same style. Before the opera performance, the audience can see the exhibition dedicated to Marin Goleminov’s music and stage works. We found new documents and photos connected with the life and the career of my grandfather. They are displayed in the lobby of the opera house and some of the panels are related to the opera Zahariy the Painter.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov