Opera Bulgaria

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

The soprano, Darina Takova, was born in Sofia and graduated from the School of Music and the State Academy of Music. Her vocal studies there were with Prof. Mati Pinkas and Mila Dyulgerova. Her debut was in 1991 singing the title role in Lucia Di Lammermoor with the Sofia National Opera.

After winning the International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Sofia in 1992, she went on to win awards at the Luisa Todi Competition in Portugal and the Francesco Vinas Competition in Barcelona in 1993. In 1994 she was victorious again, this time at the Toti dal Monte Competition in Treviso. In Italy she performed the Queen of the Night.

Touring with the Sofia National Opera in 1995 she sang the title role in Verdi's Luisa Miller in Germany and Switzerland. After singing in a production of The Golden Cockerel in Rome she took part in the Rome Summer Festival as Gilda. At the Geneva Opera Theater she sang in Arabella and Rigoletto.

In 1998 the soprano made her debut at La Scala as the Queen of the Night with Ricardo Muti conducting. This was followed by performances at La Scala in Donizetti's Lucrecia Borgia. Additional appearances in Italy in 1998 included Lucia di Lammermoor in Florence and Violetta in Rome. In Lausanne she appeared in Ariadne auf Naxos and in Covent Garden in The Golden Cockerel.

Her debut in the United States was in 1997 where she sang in California and Detroit.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Ljuba Welitsch (born Borissovo, July 10, 1913 - died Vienna, August 31, 1996) was a celebrated Bulgarian, later Austrian, opera soprano.

After studying in Vienna, she first appeared in Sofia in 1936. Engagements followed in Graz, Hamburg, Munich and finally at the Vienna State Opera.

Known for her red hair and exuberant vivacity, her most famous role was that of Salome which she performed under the composer, Richard Strauss, himself in 1944 on his 80th birthday. She sang the same role for her London debut in 1947 and her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera, New York on 4 February 1949. She also sang the title roles of Tosca and Aida, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Minnie in La fanciulla del West and Musetta in La bohème.

A great artist, she was also capable of extraordinary over-the-top exhibitions and her exploits at the Metropolitan in New York were legendary, including a raunchy Musetta that struck fear into her colleagues, and a Tosca performance when she repeatedly kicked the supposedly dead body of the Scarpia (Lawrence Tibbett) she had taken a personal dislike to.Her international career, already interrupted by the war, did not last long, although she actually continued singing until 1981. However when her voice deteriorated she started a second career in films (in America and Austria) and on Austrian television.

She was married twice and divorced twice, with no children. She is buried in Vienna's Zentralfriedhof.

Nicolai Ghiaurov (or Nikolai Gjaurov, Bulgarian: Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi. Ghiaurov was married to the Italian soprano Mirella Freni, with whom he frequently performed. The two singers lived in Modena.

Ghiaurov was born in the small mountain town Velingrad in southern Bulgaria. As a child, he learned to play the violin, piano and clarinet. He began his musical studies at the Sofia Musical Academy in 1949. From 1950 until 1955, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory.

Ghiaurov made his operatic debut in 1955 as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Sofia. He made his Italian operatic debut in 1957 in Teatro Comunale Bologna, before starting an international career with his rendition of Varlaam in the opera Boris Godunov at La Scala in 1960.

He made his US debut in Gounod's Faust in 1963 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he went on to sing twelve roles with the company, including the title roles in Boris Godunov, Don Quichotte, and Mefistofele.

Ghiaurov made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965 as Mephistopheles. He sang a total of eighty-one performances in ten roles there, last appearing there in 1996, as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. During the course of his career, he also performed at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, and Covent Garden.

In the late 1970's Ghiaurov sang the title role in the first complete stereo recording of Jules Massenet's opera Don Quichotte (Don Quixote).

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Ljuba Welitsch was born in Borissovo, Bulgaria on July 10, 1913.

When her musical talents were discovered she moved to Sofia, where her talents got her into the Academy of Music in Vienna. After singing small operatic roles in provintial opera houses, and believing that she needed a little extra something to make herself stand out, Welitsch dyed her hair flaming red...and people took notice. Welitsch pushed her high, lyric soprano into a register that wasn't completely appropriate for her, which brought about rather quick destruction of her voice. But in her prime (which, unfortunately, coincided with WWII) she became a legend. Singing at the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden in London, the Metropolitan in NY, she had to refuse La Scala in Milan because there was no time on her schedule.

Her most famous role was Richard Strauss' Salome, which sang for the first time for Strauss himself in 1944 in honor of his 80th birthday in Vienna. (Strauss coached her in the role.) Soon performances of "Salome" followed at Covent Garden (in a notorious production designed by Salvador Dali and staged by Peter Brook.) She took NY by storm in this opera in 1949, with tickets for performances being scalped at unheard of at that time $100 per seat. (She once sang Musetta in "La Boheme" at the Metropolitan. Doing her best to upstage everyone else she did all kinds of jumps and backflips...sans underwear. The general manager never let her sing the role again there.) In a famous performance of Puccini's "Tosca" at the Met in 1950 her partner was the legendary baritone Lawrence Tibbett, who stepped in at the last minute for an ailing colleague. Because the two had no rehearsals their violent confrontation in Act II was a virtual fight. She sang "Vissi, d'arte" on her knees - which is how she landed after Tibbett threw her - and when she stabed Tibbett's character at the end of the act, she stabbed him repeatedly and then kicked his "lifeless" body. The audience was very amused. By singing roles that were essentially too heavy for her, and by singing them a lot, Welitsch's voice began to deteriorate very rapidly. (Surgeries to remove nodes on her vocal cords, no doubt, contributed to the decline).

By the late 1950s the voice was in pieces. She retired from opera, but until her death in 1996 acted on the stage, films, and sang light roles in operettas. Welitsch died on September 1, 1996. She is buried at the City Cemetery in Vienna, in a special section called "Graves of Honor." Her neighbors there include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, and Richard Strauss.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Krassimira Stoyanova was born in Bulgaria and studied singing and violin at the Plodiv Music Academy and violin at the Conservatory Russe.

Mrs. Stoyanova made her professional debut in 1995 at the Opera National de Sofiya, where she sang a wide range of repertory: Rigoletto (Gilda), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Il Guarany (Cecilia), and Antonio Carlo Gomes' I Fosca (Delila), La Juive (Rachel), La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia) and Idomeneo (Ilia).

Her international career developed rapidly and took her to the following opera houses and theaters: Metropolitan Opera: La Traviata (Violetta), Nationaloper Helsinki: Le nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv: La Juive (Rachel) - new production, Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires: I Pagliacci (Nedda) - new production - , Carnegie Hall: Les Huguenots (Valentine), La Battaglia di Lignano (Lida), Hamburgische Staatsoper. La Traviata (Violetta), Royal Opera House Covent Garden: La Bohème (Mimi), Opernhaus Köln: La Juive (Rachel) Gala evening with Neil Shicoff, Ravenna Festival: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Riccardo Muti, Opernhaus Zürich: La Traviata (Violetta), Deutsche Oper Berlin: Idomeneo (Elettra), Le Nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), Konzerthaus Berlin: Rossini's Stabat Mater conducted by Maestro Marcus Creed with CD-recording, Rio de Janeiro: Carmen (Micaela), BAYERISCHE STAATSOPER MÜNCHEN: Carmen (Micaela), SALZBURGER FESTSPIELE: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia), Teatro Reggio di Torino: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Myung-Whung Chung, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Christoph Eschenbach, etc... .

Since 1998 Krassimira Stoyanova has been engaged at the Wiener Staatsoper - and has sung in the following operas: La Juive - with TV-production (Rachel), Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa), Carmen (Micaela), Les contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia), Turandot (Liù), I Pagliacci (Nedda), La Bohème (Mimi), etc...

The 2003/2004 season is presenting a new production of Verdi's Falstaff (Alice Ford) at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Le nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Turandot (Liù), I Pagliacci (Nedda) for Ms. Stoyanova. (More available on her website).

Krassimira Stoyanova was born in Bulgaria and studied singing and violin at the Plodiv Music Academy and violin at the Conservatory Russe.

Mrs. Stoyanova made her professional debut in 1995 at the Opera National de Sofiya, where she sang a wide range of repertory: Rigoletto (Gilda), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Il Guarany (Cecilia), and Antonio Carlo Gomes' I Fosca (Delila), La Juive (Rachel), La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia) and Idomeneo (Ilia).

Her international career developed rapidly and took her to the following opera houses and theaters: Metropolitan Opera: La Traviata (Violetta), Nationaloper Helsinki: Le nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv: La Juive (Rachel) - new production, Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires: I Pagliacci (Nedda) - new production - , Carnegie Hall: Les Huguenots (Valentine), La Battaglia di Lignano (Lida), Hamburgische Staatsoper. La Traviata (Violetta), Royal Opera House Covent Garden: La Bohème (Mimi), Opernhaus Köln: La Juive (Rachel) Gala evening with Neil Shicoff, Ravenna Festival: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Riccardo Muti, Opernhaus Zürich: La Traviata (Violetta), Deutsche Oper Berlin: Idomeneo (Elettra), Le Nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), Konzerthaus Berlin: Rossini's Stabat Mater conducted by Maestro Marcus Creed with CD-recording, Rio de Janeiro: Carmen (Micaela), BAYERISCHE STAATSOPER MÜNCHEN: Carmen (Micaela), SALZBURGER FESTSPIELE: Les Contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia), Teatro Reggio di Torino: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Myung-Whung Chung, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Christoph Eschenbach, etc... .

Since 1998 Krassimira Stoyanova has been engaged at the Wiener Staatsoper - and has sung in the following operas: La Juive - with TV-production (Rachel), Le Nozze di Figaro (Contessa), Carmen (Micaela), Les contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia), Turandot (Liù), I Pagliacci (Nedda), La Bohème (Mimi), etc...

The 2003/2004 season is presenting a new production of Verdi's Falstaff (Alice Ford) at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Le nozze di Figaro (Gräfin), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Turandot (Liù), I Pagliacci (Nedda) for Ms. Stoyanova. (More available on her website).

Vesselina Kasarova wurde in Stara Zagora (Bulgarien) geboren und begann im Alter von vier Jahren mit dem Klavierspiel. Nach dem Konzertdiplom studierte sie Gesang bei Ressa Koleva an der Musikakademie von Sofia und trat schon als Studentin an der dortigen Nationaloper in grösseren Rollen auf.Ein zweijähriger Festvertrag führte sie nach Beendigung ihres Studiums 1989 ans Opernhaus Zürich, wo sie innert kurzer Zeit zu einem Publikumsliebling avancierte und von der internationalen Fachwelt als grosse Entdeckung gefeiert wurde. Im selben Jahr gewann sie auch den ersten Preis beim deutschen Gesangswettbewerb ”Neue Stimmen” in Gütersloh.Im Mozartjahr 1991 debutierte Vesselina Kasarova bei den Salzburger Festspielen mit zwei Matinéen im Mozarteum (Betulia liberata KV 118) sowie als Annio in der von Sir Colin Davis geleiteten Wiederaufnahme von La clemenza di Tito. Weitere Rollen bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren Tancredi, Ombra felice, Zerlina, Farnace, Sesto und Marguerite (La damnation de Faust). Im Herbst des gleichen Jahres gab Vesselina Kasarova als Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) unter Donald Runnicles ihr vielbeachtetes Debut an der Wiener Staatsoper.Mit Partien von Mozart (Cherubino, Idamante, Sesto, Dorabella) und Rossini (Rosina, Tancredi, Isabella, Angelina) sowie als Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Giovanna Seymour (Anna Bolena), Charlotte (Werther) u.a. gastierte sie auch am Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Opernhaus Zürich, an der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille, Garnier), Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, in Amsterdam sowie beim Maggio Musicale Fiorentino und Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro und arbeitete mit Dirigenten wie Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Sir Colin Davis, Pinchas Steinberg, Donald Runnicles, Seji Ozawa, Semyon Bychkov, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, Marcello Viotti, Alberto Zedda, Franz Welser-Möst, Sir Roger Norrington, Eve Queler, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Ivor Bolton und Friedrich Haider.Liederabende und Konzerte führten Vesselina Kasarova nach München, Berlin, Rom, Paris, Wien, Dresden, an die Mailänder Scala, Wigmore Hall London, Carnegie Hall New York, Schubertiade Feldkirch und ans Festival de la Musique Montreux-Vevey.Für RCA Red Seal hat Vesselina Kasarova zahlreiche CDs eingespielt, die mehrfach ausgezeichnet wurden.

Nicolai Ghiaurov (or Nikolai Gjaurov, Bulgarian: Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi. Ghiaurov was married to the Italian soprano Mirella Freni, with whom he frequently performed. The two singers lived in Modena.

Ghiaurov was born in the small mountain town Velingrad in southern Bulgaria. As a child, he learned to play the violin, piano and clarinet. He began his musical studies at the Sofia Musical Academy in 1949. From 1950 until 1955, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory.

Ghiaurov made his operatic debut in 1955 as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Sofia. He made his Italian operatic debut in 1957 in Teatro Comunale Bologna, before starting an international career with his rendition of Varlaam in the opera Boris Godunov at La Scala in 1960.

He made his US debut in Gounod's Faust in 1963 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he went on to sing twelve roles with the company, including the title roles in Boris Godunov, Don Quichotte, and Mefistofele.

Ghiaurov made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965 as Mephistopheles. He sang a total of eighty-one performances in ten roles there, last appearing there in 1996, as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. During the course of his career, he also performed at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, and Covent Garden.

In the late 1970's Ghiaurov sang the title role in the first complete stereo recording of Jules Massenet's opera Don Quichotte (Don Quixote).

Nicolai Ghiaurov (or Nikolai Gjaurov, Bulgarian: Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi. Ghiaurov was married to the Italian soprano Mirella Freni, with whom he frequently performed. The two singers lived in Modena.

Ghiaurov was born in the small mountain town Velingrad in southern Bulgaria. As a child, he learned to play the violin, piano and clarinet. He began his musical studies at the Sofia Musical Academy in 1949. From 1950 until 1955, he studied at the Moscow Conservatory.

Ghiaurov made his operatic debut in 1955 as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Sofia. He made his Italian operatic debut in 1957 in Teatro Comunale Bologna, before starting an international career with his rendition of Varlaam in the opera Boris Godunov at La Scala in 1960.

He made his US debut in Gounod's Faust in 1963 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he went on to sing twelve roles with the company, including the title roles in Boris Godunov, Don Quichotte, and Mefistofele.

Ghiaurov made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1965 as Mephistopheles. He sang a total of eighty-one performances in ten roles there, last appearing there in 1996, as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. During the course of his career, he also performed at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, and Covent Garden.

In the late 1970's Ghiaurov sang the title role in the first complete stereo recording of Jules Massenet's opera Don Quichotte (Don Quixote).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).

Ghena Dimitrova is one of the fewest, or better say the very few, dramatical sopranos of the last 35 years; or better, is one of the fewest voices that are able to face with apparent astonishing tranquility the most difficult dramatical repertoire. Her voice, in fact, as she herself underlines with pleasure, is a voice essentially lyrical, that combined with prodigious light-soprano techniques and with a volume of exceptional power, gives her the possibility to be the uncontrasted heroine of her repertoire. A repertoire, that the Bulgarian soprano has conquisted pass by pass with iron will and discipline, reaching results that only apparently seem natural to her qualities, because even her personality, together with a uncontainable vocality and an imperious scenic imponence, is sweetly mild and profound; so that the great soprano feels closer to characters as Minnie from La fanciulla del West and Elisabeth from Don Carlo, and not to the roles most remarkably dramatical, that consecrated her to the celebrity.

Ghena Dimitrova is Bulgarian, born in Beglej on 06 May 1941, but already Italian for artistic affection and adoption; she started studying singing with maestro Christo Brambarov at the Sofia Conservatory, where she graduated. The official debut of the singer was in Sofia on 27 December 1967, and was almost a fortune debut, owed to the failing of two primadonnas, arrived exhausted and not able to face the Nabucco scene. The very young Ghena accepted the role of Abigaille, with all the unconsciousness, typical for the youth, and won. The triumph obtained in the role of the cruel queen would make Abigaille to become one of the characters symbols of the singer. In 1970 Ghena Dimitrova won a grant, that would have permitted her to perfection her studies in Italy, something the soprano has always desired. She arrived at the La Scala school, where she studied with Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari e Renata Carosio.

During the years 1971/72 the singer performed in the role of Leonora from “La Forza del Destino”, really in all France. In 1972 she won the Treviso competition, interpreting Amelia in “Un ballo in maschera”, which immediately opened to her the doors of the Parma Regio theater, where she interpreted the same opera with Jose Carreras and Pierro Cappuccilli, and subsequently (January 1973) those of La Scala, where she found herself interpreting the Verdi title together with Placido Domingo. (More available on her website).