Bulgarian great Valdimir Stoyanov will be appearing in the production of Verdi’s Otello being staged by Gaulitana: A Festival of Music on Saturday April 25th, 2020. The festival has engaged this world-renowned baritone for the extremely crucial role of Iago, thus complementing the Otello of Lithuanian tenor Kristian Benedikt. Indeed, the festival has made sure to invest in a duo which should do full justice to the vocal and dramatic exigencies of these two highly demanding roles.
Vladimir Stoyanov was mentored by the famous Bulgarian opera singer Nicola Ghiuselev, after which he commenced an impressive career, gaining international recognition as one of the leading baritones in the opera scene. He regularly appears in the most prestigious theatres worldwide, whether Milan’s La Scala, Milan, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, London’s Covent Garden, Paris’s Opéra, Berlin’s State Opera, or Vienna’s, to name a few. He has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Sejei Ozawa, Daniel Oren, Nello Santi, Riccardo Muti, Marco Armiliato, Chung, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Donato Renzetti, and Renato Palumbo, and directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Stefan Herheim, Ugo de Anna, Arno Bernard, and Stefani Mazzonis di Pralafera.
Stoyanov’s soft and extended baritone voice as well as his natural dramatic instinct made him very adapt to the Belcanto repertoire, especially Verdi’s repertoire. For this, he has been acclaimed by the critics. The New York Times has praised him for his “warm, attractive voice”, Opera News for his “gorgeous legato sound and remarkable breath control”, and opera-online.com highlights his “golden voice, distinguished by the nobility of the phrasing, the mastery of breath, and an impressive projection”. Bachtrack.com stated that “Stoyanov provided the Covent Garden audience with … baritone bliss”, while scherzo.es underlined that “the big winner of the night was the baritone Vladimir Stoyanov, one of the great Verdian voices of his string. His broad voice, rich in timbres, gathers all the complex nuances of the character, from the intense lyricism to the desperate introspection. Not surprisingly, the interpretation of the dramatic great final scene was very applauded, which is very meritorious as the background in this theatre refers us to mythical voices such as Leo Nucci, Renato Bruson or Piero Cappucilli”.
A particularly significant and pertinent review of his Iago is that by the schwaebische.de, namely that “Verdi actually wanted to call his opera … Iago. The new production at the Easter Festival in Baden-Baden would have justified this, because Vladimir Stoyanov creates the role of the darkling (obscurantist / reactionary) so gripping that he steals the show from the title character”.
Verdi’s Otello is being staged at Gozo’s Teatru Aurora, and online booking is open on www.teatruaurora.com .
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