"I believe we will be delighted by his musical direction of these two productions, which are being staged together. This is a grand theatre of passion. I won’t go into the concept, but it is common for the two operas to be performed together. However, if you recall, we created a special version combining Cavalleria Rusticana with Gianni Schicchi for Japan at the Japanese partners's request. This provided a striking contrast between a bloody drama and a comedy, which was very interesting. I remember the Japanese audience enjoyed it immensely,” said Plamen Kartalov, who then introduced the soloists in the new production. These include Gabriela Georgieva, Gergana Rusekova and Liliya Kehayova as Santuzza and Daniel Damyanov, Kostadin Andreev and Martin Iliev as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana.

The cast of Pagliacci includes several distinguished guests. The renowned Georgian tenor with a European career, Zurab Zurabishvili, will sing Canio, while his young compatriot Marina Shakhdinarova has performed Nedda in the Italian cast of the production. Leoncavallo's work will also feature the intelligent and highly artistic Milla Mihova. Mihova is not a regular member of the Sofia Opera ensemble, but she made a magnificent debut on the theatre's stage last December in La Traviata. Earlier in 2025, she gave a brilliant performance as Alice Ford in Falstaff. Speaking exclusively to Radio Bulgaria, Milla Mihova said:

What would she say when comparing our National Opera Theatre with the European stages where she has performed?

'The professional level is the same, but emotionally, I feel a much closer connection with everyone here. In Germany, there’s always a certain distance. In Italy, it's completely different. Apart from the chorus and the orchestra, there are no permanent ensembles. So, whoever you happen to work with during the production period, you can of course build a very pleasant atmosphere, but it’s short-lived. Whereas here, you return to people you’ve worked with many times before, and it’s something altogether different.”

Nedda is the eighth or ninth role in Milla Mihova’s repertoire, and her third at the Sofia Opera. However, it is her first verismo role, which is a very interesting challenge. 'I have the most experience with bel canto and Verdi. But the orchestration of verismo is the real challenge here, because the orchestra is truly vast. The sound is very dense. This makes the physical demands much greater,” says Mihova, whose debut as Nedda is eagerly awaited.