One of the best tenors of our time – Roberto Alania, arrives for a concert with the Sofia Philharmonic on May 26.
Under the baton of maestro Nayden Todorov and in the company of the no less famous soprano Alexandra Kujak, the most beloved arias and duets from operas by Puccini, Mascani, Leoncavallo, Chilea and Umberto Giordano will be heard in Hall 1 of the NDK.
The life of Roberto Alanya is more interesting than a novel. He was born in the suburbs of Paris, and his parents were from Sicily.
Everyone in his family sings, but he is considered not very talented and is often told to be quiet when his uncle sings. But music is a passion for Alanya and he perfected his vocal technique listening to recordings of the great tenors of the past, following the guidance of Rafael Ruiz.
For years Alanya spent her nights singing old tunes and playing the guitar in the cabaret. But his love is opera, and his idol is Luciano Pavarotti. When the great tenor arrives in Paris to sign autographs in a department store, the young Alanya slips through the crowd, manages to approach him and say a few words. An invitation to audition from the maestro follows. Alanya goes and wins a ticket to the finals of the Pavarotti competition in Philadelphia. He performs brilliantly and takes the grand prize. The year is 1988, and Alanya is twenty-four.
Today, in his almost 40-year career, the French-Sicilian tenor has over 60 roles in his repertoire: Alfredo, Calaf, Canio, Cavaradossi, Don Carlos, De Grio, Don José, Faust, Lohengrin, Manrico, Maurizio, Nemorino, Othello, Pinkerton, Radames, Rodolfo, Romeo, Samson, Touridoux, Werther… all in performances that make him the most famous French tenor in the world.
With recordings for Erato, Sony, EMI, Warner, Deutsche Grammophon, his discography is one of the richest in existence: duets, oratorios, operas, anthologies of great works, religious and popular songs.
“Credo”, “Viva Opéra”, “Airs de Berlioz”, “Bel canto”, “Robertissimo”, “Luis Mariano”, “Sicilian”, “Pasión” are some of his many albums reflecting the eclecticism of his career.
Among his signature discs is “My life is an Opera” (2014), a moving recital of arias and duets illustrating his career and life.
Going off the beaten track, constantly looking for new ideas – on disc, on stage and on tour, Alanya clearly reveals her desire to give more to her audience. He has repeatedly repeated his experience of creating brand new concert programs around the world, mixing different genres and demonstrating his unique ability to maintain his tenor voice, true to the style of what he sings.
In recent years, he has successfully partnered with the Polish soprano Aleksandra Kužakwho is also his wife.
She began her musical education at the age of 7, playing violin and piano. He studied opera singing at the conservatories in Wrocław and Hamburg. Kujak made her professional operatic debut at the age of 21 at the Wrocław State Opera as Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. Her mother and teacher Yolanta Zhmurko plays the role of the countess. Kujak is a laureate of singing competitions in Warsaw, Barcelona, Helsinki and Canton.
In 2004, Kujak made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Olympia in The Hoffmann Tales. In the same season she made her debut at the Royal Covent Garden Opera as Aspasia in Mithridates King of Pontus, after which she established a long-term collaboration with the opera house. The operatic prima also returns to the Met and plays central roles in several productions.
In February 2010, Kujak made her debut at La Scala in the role of Gilda.
Kujak has also appeared at the Staatsoper in Berlin (Queen of the Night, Mimi in Bohème, Cho-cho-san in Madame Butterfly), the Reggio Theater in Parma and the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse (Gilda), the Bavarian State Munich Opera (Cleopatra, Adele, Rosina, Fiorilla, Adina, Rachel in La Juive, Cho-cho San, Violetta), Vienna State Opera (Rosina, Adina, Susanna, Marie, Gilda, Violetta, Desdemona, Liu, Neda), Teatro Reggio in Turin (Violetta), Teatro Massimo in Palermo (Norina) and many others.
The concert is a joint production of the Sofia Philharmonic and the National Palace of Culture.
