Alexandrina Milcheva

Alexandrina Milcheva stepped onto her first professional stage at the opera in Varna as Dorabella, and from 1968 the Sofia National Opera was her house. First prize at the international singing competition in Toulouse opened the way west: the Palais Garnier, La Scala, the San Carlo in Naples, the Verona Arena, the Bavarian State Opera, and over many seasons the Vienna State Opera, where she became a familiar guest. Her repertoire included mezzo parts — Carmen, Dalila, Charlotte in Werther, Eboli, Amneris, Azucena, and she sang for Karajan, Solti and Muti. Concert and recital work ran alongside the theatre: Mahler, Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky. In 1994 she founded her own singing school, and teaching has occupied her since. Born in Smyadovo in 1934, she marked her ninetieth birthday in Sofia in 2024. The Toulouse award dates from 1966, and her first Sofia role was the title part in Rossini's La Cenerentola. She spent a decade as a permanent soloist of the Vienna State Opera, appearing there in some 168 performances, and in 1978 Karajan engaged her for the Salzburg Festival as Azucena; her Italian career took hold in the 1980s after she sang Marfa in Khovanshchina at La Scala. Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre and the Teatro Colón were among the other houses that engaged her. Marina in Boris Godunov is among her Russian roles, and in recital she worked for many years with the pianist Svetla Protich; her school was named SACRA International Opera Academy.