Varna State Opera

The basis of the Varna Opera consisted of an opera troupe and a symphonic orchestra, founded on 1 April 1946. A year later, on 6 April 1947, the Varna Opera was created. Its first managing director was Stefan Nikolaev and its chief artistic director was the great Bulgarian tenor Petar Raychev (1887 – 1960). He was one of the first generation of Bulgarian singers with a world – renowned

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The basis of the Varna Opera consisted of an opera troupe and a symphonic orchestra, founded on 1 April 1946. A year later, on 6 April 1947, the Varna Opera was created. Its first managing director was Stefan Nikolaev and its chief artistic director was the great Bulgarian tenor Petar Raychev (1887 – 1960). He was one of the first generation of Bulgarian singers with a world – renowned career. Having graduated with honors from the Moscow Conservatory, he improved his vocal technique in Italy. He performed at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.

The premiere of The Bartered Bride by Bedrich Smetana, conducted by his son Ruslan Raychev on 7 September 1947, marked the beginning of the professional opera art in Varna. The troupe was joined by Choirmaster Dimitar Mladenov and Ballet – master Asen Manolov, artists Asen Popov and Vladimir Misin, a soloist group, a choir and a ballet. Till now the Varna Opera has staged over 200 productions, nearly 8,000 spectacles for an overall audience of almost three and a half million people. The repertoire is rich and diverse. It encompasses a significant part of the opera heritage of the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as contemporary works. Among the works performed for the first time in Varna are: Cosi fan tutte by W. A. Mozart (1960), Cert a Kaca by A. Dvorak (1961), Betrothal in a Monastery by S. Prokofiev (1962), Albert Herring (1964) and The Beggar’s Opera by B. Britten (1982), Norma by V. Bellini (1972), The Golden Cockerel by N. Rimsky – Korsakov (1973), Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss (1975), La cambiale di matrimonio (1977) and Il turco in Italia by G. Rossini (1988), Oedipus rex by I. Stravinsky (1995), ballets Spartacus by A. Khachaturian (1977), Arabian Nights by F. Amirov (1983), Le comte Ory by Rossini (2011) and many others.

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