Ghena Dimitrova

Taken at first for a mezzo, Ghena Dimitrova was recognised in Hristo Brambarov's class at the Sofia State Conservatoire as a dramatic soprano, and in 1967, at twenty-six, sang Abigaille at the Sofia National Opera. A prize at the fourth international competition for young opera singers in Sofia in 1970 brought a grant to study at La Scala's school, and from the end of that decade she appeared at La Scala, where she opened three seasons in the 1980s and sang Turandot in 1983, the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, the Metropolitan for ten consecutive seasons from 1987, and the Arena di Verona, to which she returned across two decades. Lady Macbeth at Salzburg, Odabella, Gioconda, Amelia, Aida, Santuzza, Amneris and Eboli filled out a working list of some thirty-two roles sung on five continents. She taught young singers, including Bayasgalan Dashnyam. Born in the village of Beglezh near Pleven in 1941, she died in Milan in 2005. Her recordings include Verdi's Nabucco under Giuseppe Sinopoli for Deutsche Grammophon.