The Emil Chakarov Award 2025 goes to tenor Kostadin Andreev

Burgas, Bulgaria – With a culminating concert-spectacle and an official ceremony for the presentation of the prestigious "Emil Chakarov" Award, the State Opera - Burgas concluded its eventful summer creative season. On Thursday, September 4, the Summer Theater in the Sea Garden became a stage of passion and music with the premiere of "Zarzuela – Fire and Passion" – an event that finalized the Burgas Music Festivals "Emil Chakarov" 2025. These festivals, held for the eighteenth consecutive year by the Burgas Opera in collaboration with the Municipality of Burgas, once again confirmed their status as a highlight in the city's cultural calendar.

Emil Chakarov Prize for a notable tenor

The evening began with a solemn ceremony that attracted the attention of all attendees. The "Emil Chakarov" Award, named after the world-renowned conductor from Burgas, was presented to the famous Bulgarian tenor Kostadin Andreev, a soloist at the Sofia Opera and Ballet. Since its establishment in 2011, the prize has been awarded annually to deserving individuals in the field of musical-stage art. Previous laureates include violinist Mincho Minchev (2011), Kiril Manolov (2022), Mario Nikolov (2023), and Edelina Kaneva (2024), while in 2021 the award was not given due to the pandemic situation.

This year's prize winner, Kostadin Andreev, is a figure with deep ties to Burgas. It was on the stage of the State Opera - Burgas that he began his professional career in 1992, debuting in the role of Rodolfo from Puccini's opera "La Bohème". Since then, he has been a frequent and beloved guest on the Burgas stage, and his undeniable vocal qualities, combined with his naturalness and spontaneity, have always been warmly received by the audience. Andreev, who graduated in opera singing from the National Academy of Music in the class of Prof. Resa Koleva, has sung on the same stage many times with world opera greats such as Ghena Dimitrova, Raina Kabaivanska, Leo Nucci, and Anna Tomova-Sintova.

The tenor recently gave a brilliant performance at the impressive festival "Opera at the Sanctuary" on the open-air stage of Begliktash. Under the starry sky of the ancient Thracian sanctuary, he performed the iconic roles of Samson in "Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saëns, conducted by Prof. Dr. Grigor Palikarov, and Manrico in "Il Trovatore" by Giuseppe Verdi, under the baton of Prof. Dr. Ivaylo Krinchev. Both conductors are former winners of the "Emil Chakarov" award - in 2019 and 2020, respectively, which underlines the continuity and high level of the prize. In March of this year, Kostadin Andreev was also irresistible in the role of Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's "Tosca" on the Opera's stage.

"Zarzuela – Fire and Passion"

After the official part, the stage came alive with the rhythms and passions of the Spanish musical genre zarzuela. Under the baton of maestro Stratsimir Pavlov – also the author of the arrangements for another successful project of the Burgas Opera, "French Kiss" – the performance was a true emotional-visual feast. Zarzuela, which originated in Spain in the 17th century, combines singing, recitation, ballet, and characteristic Spanish dances. Its name, which translates to "bramble patch" ("zarza" - bramble), was given by the great playwright Calderón de la Barca, likely because of the "entangled plotlines of the characters, resembling a bramble bush, and because of the jokes inherent in the genre - like the thorns of the bramble". The genre reached its peak in the 19th century, and its melodies are so captivating that the audience often sings them outside the theater. One of the most famous contemporary zarzuela performers is the world-renowned tenor Plácido Domingo.

On the open-air stage in the Sea Garden, under the night sky, the soloists, orchestra, and ballet of the State Opera - Burgas created a remarkable symbiosis of feelings and rhythms. The vocal performances of the soloists Ilina Mihaylova, Deyan Vachkov, Reynaldo Droz, Mariya Tsvetkova-Madzharova, Nona Krastnikova, and Valeri Turmanov merged with the dynamic choreography of Marina Zmeeva-Markova. A explosive dynamic was felt on the stage, and the ballet artists, through the language of their bodies, completed the overall picture of this emotion-filled spectacle.

Concertmasters Vanya Zlateva and Hristo Belchev led the orchestra, and at the culmination of the evening, this year's winner of the "Emil Chakarov" award - Kostadin Andreev - joined in. In this brilliant program, which conquered with all the nuances of sensuality characteristic of Spanish music, the audience witnessed an unforgettable event.