Headline, March 09 2021/ ''' '' SOFIA'S OPERA SWANS '' ''' : STUDENTS

''' '' SOFIA'S OPERA

 SWANS '' ''' : STUDENTS

THE GREAT STUDENTS OF SOFIA : put on their very best prom suits to go see and delight in La Traviata. And just to remind these Great Students:

Readers : ! Bulgaria is 8th in the third row from the top !.

BULGARIA FIRST EASED PANDEMIC restrictions in June and allowed Operas, concert halls and cinemas to reopen at 30% capacity, leading the Sofia Opera to arrange plastic and fabric flower bouquets as placeholders on the majority of the crimson plush seats.

''We perform in front of 250 spectators, but it's better than not playing or performing,'' shares Sofia Opera director Plamen Kartaloff expects the opera to remain open.

'' I AM HUNGRY FOR MUSIC, AND the risk, why think about it? It's not riskier here than in the supermarket or the subway,'' says 81-year - old Petya Petkova, who attended Verdi's La Traviata with her daughter last week.

Despite the disinfectant, social distancing and staff checking people's temperature, a festive spirit reigns at the historic opera house in the Bulgarian capital, a stark contrast to its silenced counterparts in Paris, Vienna, or Milan, reports AFP.

WITH AN ORCHESTRA SPREAD OUT across the entire parterre, audiences limited to the balconies, and no breaks but plenty of disinfectant, the Sofia Opera is one of the few music verities still hosting live performances in Europe.

Across the continent, a third wave of Covid-19 infections is keeping opera houses and other cultural venues closed - loud singing poses a particular risk as the virus spreads through droplets - but in Bulgaria, classical music plays on, from Tosca to LaTraviata.

Acoustic challenges

Tragedy has touched the operatic community, and not just on stage: In November, Bulgarian tenor Kamen Chanev did of Covid-19 three weeks after debuted Otello in the central Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora.

Remembering him, soprano Stanislava Momekova, 36, becomes serious. ''That's because the risk of this profession - it holds us like a drug, it's stronger than fear,'' says Monekova.

For American conductor Evans-Alexis Christ, who saw his performances in Germany cancelled, bringing La Traviata to the stage feels rewarding, despite a number of acoustic challenges.

From the pit, the orchestra had to move to the parterre, where musicians now sit far apart from one another. The singers on the stage are even farther away. ''We are acoustically louder for the audience than normal so the orchestra has to play very quietly and listen even more to the singers,'' notes Christ.

But overall, I think everyone is very happy, also the musicians and the singers who are able to perform,'' he adds, praising the discipline of musicians, who, with the exception of singers and tube instruments, perform with masks on.

Luring younger audience / students

To Christ, the Opera in Sofia and in Madrid, which has also kept its doors open are, are proof that it's still possible to play for a live audience.

''My feeling is that people are incredibly hungry, they want to hear music,'' Christ mentions, as he hopes to make a difference'' for the 250 people in the audience that night. Thanks to Karaloff's ingenuity, the Sofia Opera has found a number of ways to perform amid the pandemic.

Swan Lake was staged on the pontoon of a lake near Sofia, while other operas reverberated through an old Roman fortress.

Some musical theater performances were limited to adults with children, a way to focus on the audience of the future, Kartaloff says. As clubs and bars have mostly remained closed, Bulgaria's opera halls have become more alluring to younger audiences, including students who put on their prom suits to see La Traviata.

''It's a huge pleasure to have the chance to attend a nice event such as the opera,'' shares 38-year-old Nikolay Onufriev, who's only been to the opera once before.

''It's a way to escape from the grey, everyday life that we have amid the coronavirus pandemic, and for me, this is something big.''

The Honor and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Students and the State-Of-The-World, continues. The World Students Society thanks author The Express Tribune.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all prepare and register for Great Global Elections on The World Students Society : wssciw.blogspot.com and Twitter - !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011:

 ''' Sofia - Shine '''

Good Night and God Bless

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