Aria for the Rival

"Good singing, good life, good death" – this is the motto that opera prima Carlotta Berlumi follows in her life and professional path. And it seems she truly manages to fulfill it: gifted with a naturally beautiful voice, at 17 she wins a competition, and by twenty she is already singing in "Aida" at Milan's La Scala. Life is generous to her – showering her with talent, loyal admirers, and numerous lovers. But the appearance of another opera star seems to cast a shadow over her triumphant march through the opera stages – Maria Callas. When she meets her for the first time, Carlotta fails to assess the danger posed by the ambitious Greek woman. Later, however, she begins to discern in every professional and romantic failure the malevolent influence of Callas. Her rival is her complete opposite: with a voice like a "fire engine siren," with innovation in her stage behavior, with her model-like appearance. But the most inexplicable thing is the audience's behavior – spectators admire Carlotta, but some prefer to watch Callas and boo her instead of hearing Berlumi. A failure by Callas generates more interest than a triumph by Berlumi. What is the key to this mystery? In what does the magic consist with which Callas manages to seduce crowds around the world? To these questions Carlotta Berlumi tries to find an answer in the twilight of her days, when she has left only to fulfill the last part of her motto – "good death." Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, and director. His works have been translated into 45 languages, and his plays are performed in more than 50 countries. He is well known to Bulgarian audiences through numerous performances based on his plays and literary works. His novel "The Rival," also translated into Bulgarian, was published in France in 2023 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Maria Callas's birth. The author created a theatrical adaptation of it specifically for the project of the National Theatre "Ivan Vazov". Stoyan Radev is a Bulgarian theatre and film director. He graduated from NATFIZ "Krastyo Sarafov" in the directing class for dramatic theatre under Prof. Krassimir Spasov in 1998. He has over 50 theatrical productions, including "Solaris" (2000, TR Sfumato), "The Brothers Karamazov" (2005, DT Plovdiv), "A Doll's House" (2007, TBA), "The Thessaloniki Conspirators" (2014, NT "Ivan Vazov"), "Executioners" (2018, Theatre "Sofia"), "Attempt at Flight" (2018, NT "Ivan Vazov"), "Cyrano de Bergerac" (2021, TBA), "Golemanov" (2022, NT "Ivan Vazov"), "Mother Courage and Her Children" (2024, Satirical Theatre), "Hamlet" (2025, TBA), "Screams from the Underground" based on "Notes from Underground" (2026, Toplocentrala). He is the author of films and music videos. He is a recipient of the Askeer Award for Best Director (2021, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and "Angel's Cry") and for Best One-Person Show (2025, "Rupert's Birthday"). He was awarded IKAR for Best Director and Best Production (2026, "Berlin, Berlin"). Stoyan Radev is not working on a text by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt for the first time. In 2019 he staged "The Libertine" at Theatre "Sofia".