History of Teatro Lirico D'Europa
Giorgio Lalov, Artistic Director
Teatro Lirico D’Europa was created in 1988 by the late Yves Josse, a former ballet divo and brilliant French arts promoter, and Giorgio Lalov, a young Bulgarian opera singer who made his debut at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, at the age of 25 while participating in Scala’s famous international training program for young singers.
The collaboration between Josse and Lalov was a huge success in a very short time, resulting in tours with over 250 performances a season throughout France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Sicily, and Portugal including performances for Opera Dijon, performances at Salle Pleyel-Paris, Pavillion Baltard-Paris, Okinawa Performing Arts Center-Okinawa, Japan, Tivoli Gardens-Copenhagen, Theatre Carre-Amsterdam, Congresshaus-Zurich, Switzerland, Theatre Trinidade-Lisbon, Portugal, Teatro Atlantida-Barcelona, Spain, Salida de La Compania-Madrid, Spain, Teatro Cervantes-Madrid, Spain, Teatro Bueno Vallejo-Madrid, Spain, Teatro Lope de Vega-Seville, Spain, Le Cirque Royale-Brussels, Belgium, and L’Atrium Theatre on the Island of Martinique to name only a few.
"In the past couple of years the company has presented TURANDOT, AIDA and NABUCCO in Boston. The physical productions and Lalov's staging were reassuringly traditional. Lalov's staging tells the story clearly. The solo and ensemble singing in all three operas was lusty, whole hearted-full throated and honest. Something personal and passionate that is often missing from evenings of opera.”
OPERA NEWS — Richard Dyer
Lalov created the sets and costumes for the productions and organized the chorus and orchestra in Bulgaria. He drew soloists for the productions from a huge reservoir of operatic talent in Bulgaria, central Europe and the USA. Josse booked the performances for the company from his office in Paris.
From the very beginning, the company established itself as highly competent in delivering traditional, full-scale productions featuring a full, professional orchestra and chorus, and professional opera singers who performed at the top national theatres in their native countries. The unusual chemistry of the company proved to be very popular with European audiences. Teatro Lirico D’Europa had completed over 2000 performances worldwide at the time of Josse’s passing in 1995.
Winter 2000 manifested a new beginning for Teatro Lirico D’Europa. The popular company had developed a firm history of success in Europe with a huge portfolio of hundreds of rave reviews for full scale opera productions that had been presented at 180 different venues including international summer festivals such as Festival Busetto, Festival San Giovanni Valdarno, and open air festivals in Spello, Montecatini Terme, Siena, Chianciano Terme, Cortona, Padova and Aimini in Italy.The company also had a fine collection of outstanding, professionally mastered live CD recordings. Winter 2000 marked the first major American tour for the company. The response to the debut tour from both press and theater management was very positive indeed. Teatro Lirico D’Europa has now completed over 700 performances in the USA at 120 different venues including multiple performances for over a dozen different regional opera companies and has recently added performances in South America to its list of touring regions. Winter 2019 will mark the 20th consecutive USA tour of Teatro Lirico D'Europa.
Giorgio Lalov conducting a master class for opera students at Cal Poly Tech
"I'm not alone in hoping that Giorgio Lalov, the talented singer turned creator of Teatro Lirico D'Europa stays well, healthy and continues to bring us such magnificent productions. We can only hope to see more from this company in years to come."
ILLINOIS TIMES — Ann Kerr