Ivan Momirov

Twenty-one when he made his debut at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Ivan Momirov was also picked out by Ghena Dimitrova, who asked for him in her Nabucco galas at the National Opera in Sofia, and later received a special prize from José Carreras at the Julián Gayarre competition. Des Grieux in Manon at Monte Carlo in 2000 opened the international career: Covent Garden, the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome, the Mariinsky, and the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka. His repertoire includes Verdi and Puccini, and he has returned to the Bulgarian companies for Verdi — Simon Boccanegra, Il trovatore, La forza del destino. He had studied with Asen Selimski at the National Academy of Music in Sofia, and Vladimir in Prince Igor was among his first Berlin parts; a concert with Nicolai Ghiaurov at the Musikverein belongs to those same early years. Cavaradossi, Calaf and Werther are also his, and he has kept a working relation with the opera in Varna.