Breaking down barriers left and right: here's a Bulgarian opera for you. Oddly enough, Bulgaria was very late to the party, not producing their first one until 1900. This page seems to imply that this is because Bulgarian was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, but the Ottomans weren't anti-opera. Well, maybe when you're being dominated like that, you have other things to think about. Regardless, here we are. According to wikipedia, Vladigerov was "arguably the most influential Bulgarian composer of all time." I'm afraid I wouldn't have much to contribute to that argument one way or the other, but maybe he's a good dude to start with in any case. This is his only opera.
You want the story? Here's the story: it's Crusader Times. The new tsar of Bulgaria has just been crowned, and already he's clomping off to fight the Latins in Constantinople. His troops are victorious and they capture the emperor, Baldwin. But Kaloyan, being the chivalrous type, returns his sword and allows him to live freely among the Bulgarians--though he's still a prisoner, obvz. The tsar's wife, Maria, conceives a passion for Baldwin, but he rejects her because of his friendship with Kaloyan and because he's still mourning his dead wife. The tsar's scheming nephew Boril knows that Maria has the hots for Baldwin, which she worries could ruin her, so she tries to get ahead of things by telling her husband that he, Baldwin, had tried to seduce her. Kaloyan initially refuses to believe this, but then gets the idea that there was a conspiracy against him and that Baldwin was in charge and therefore it must be true, and orders him executed. His innocence is proven mere moments later, and Kaloyan tries to stop the execution, but it's TOO LATE. You know, if tsarist Bulgaria had had even the slightest bit of due process, this whole tragedy could very easily have been avoided.
That's the end of the opera. Historically, Baldwin was indeed captured and treated with respect but executed, although in reality it was because he was in fact trying to foment a rebellion. The thing with Maria is totally made up, as far as I can see. Kaloyan was killed in battle months later, and Boril ended up marrying Maria and becoming tsar himself, albeit not a terribly distinguished one. So it goes.
This was a kind of new sort of opera-watching experience for me, because this video is unsubtitled, and there's no libretto or anything that I could find. However, I DID find a fairly detailed synopsis, which I figured would probably be enough. And it is, more or less. I could basically follow the story, but I do have to admit, not being able to follow it line-by-line was suboptimal.
Did I like it? Well, it's divided into two hour-long chunks (with a credit scroll in the middle); the impression I get is that it was shown in installments on Bulgarian television, though I'm not sure of that. I liked the first better than the second; all the folk dances are in the first half, and they're really great--not that the rest of the music isn't good: romantic stuff, somewhat reminding me of Rimsky-Korsakov. Still, I think the opera as a whole does suffer from a general lack of drama, and I don't think it's just the lack of subtitles making me say that. I don't know; clearly, it's a tragedy, but emotions didn't feel heightened to me in a way you'd expect. I don't NOT recommend it, but I think for most people who aren't maniacs like me, it would be better to hope that someday it gets a proper release with proper subs.
Still, a Bulgarian opera, man. We're moving on up.
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