Balgarianovinite.com Wednesday marks the 85th birth anniversary of world famous Bulgarian opera singer Ghena Dimitrova (1941-2005).
She mastered her vast repertoire step by step, with iron will and discipline, fearlessly handling operas that live in the dreams (and sometimes in the nightmares) of every soprano. In a class of her own, she tackled the most daunting heavyweight roles with disarming ease and astonishing tranquillity.
Dimitrova’s overpowering vocal prowess and fiery stamina contrasted with – or rather complemented – a kind and gentle disposition. Everywhere she was hailed as a stunning dramatic soprano.
Her unique, beautifully schooled lyrical voice combined untamed power with tonal splendour. She infused her intelligent renditions with an array of completely controlled dynamics to bring out the finer nuances of each role.
“Once on the stage, you should grip people’s souls,” the immensely popular prima said about her credo. Her audiences were enthralled, and her critics gushed out rave reviews.
Following is the original profile in English by which BTA’s External Service paid tribute to the diva on her passing in 2005:
“Ghena Dimitrova: The Singer Who Sang the Way People Talk
Sofia, June 12 (BTA) – Critics described her voice as ‘formidable’, ‘unequalled’, ‘the voice of the century’, ‘a voice that will knock your socks off’, and her stage presence as ‘regal’ and ‘arresting’. The singer herself was dubbed ‘the Bulgarian empress’, ‘the Bulgarian fireball’, ‘the Queen of Milan’, ‘a Sofia superstar’, and ‘one of the biggest vocal monuments of the world’s opera’.
She earned this praise for a blend of inherent lyrical beauty, superbly sustained by the refined technique of a soprano leggero, with an impressive dynamic range, culminating in an intensely powerful volume.
Ghena Dimitrova, the internationally acclaimed opera diva, died of cancer in Milan on the morning of June 11. She was 64.
Born to a peasant family in the village of Beglezh near Pleven (North Central Bulgaria) on May 6, 1941, she graduated the Sofia State Conservatoire under Prof. Hristo Brumbarov in 1965. A last-minute stand-in for an indisposed prima donna, she debuted as Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco at the Sofia Opera House on December 27, 1967. That was to become one of her signature roles. A scholarship she won in 1970 helped her to study at the La Scala School in 1971-1972 under Renato Pastorino, Enza Ferrari and Renata Carosio.
Between 1974 and 1979 she toured the leading theatres of South America, Spain, Italy, Russia, Germany, Austria (Vienna Staatsoper debut in 1978), Czechoslovakia and Hungary. She sang her first Turandot in Puccini’s eponymous opera, the role she considered her best achievement, at Arena di Verona in 1982, having debuted there in La Gioconda two years earlier. She first appeared in Covent Garden in 1984, as Turandot, also her debut at La Scala in 1983 and at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1988.
During the career Dimitrova sang 29 operatic parts, ranging from Aida and Amneris in Aida, Elisabeth and Eboli in Don Carlo, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Leonora in Il Trovatore and Amelia in Un Ballo in maschera by Verdi to the title roles in Puccini’s Tosca and Manon Lescaut, Bellini’s Norma and Ponchielli’s La Gioconda, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavaleria Rusticana, Mercedes in Bizet’s Carmen, Masha in Tchaikovsky’s Queen of Spades, and Yaroslavna in Borodin’s Prince Igor.
Dimitrova was famed for her industriousness. She was able to sing in seven operas in different parts of the world within ten days. She was able to work twelve hours a day. She could get from her seat and go on stage right away to stand in for an ill singer and save the performance. ‘My real life is on the stage. There is no rest as long as I can breathe. I’ll retire only when I’m booed out of the stage, ‘ the singer said in a BTA interview in 1996. She conducted eagerly awaited and much loved master classes in Rome, Budapest, Athens, and Sofia.
Her numberless honours include gold medals at the International Competition for Young Opera Singers, Sofia, 1970 and 1971; First place at the Treviso Competition, 1972; Silver Arena, Arena di Verona, 1980; Golden Archer, Fiuggi, 1981; Golden Verdi, Busseto, 1987; Puccini Prize, Torre del Lago, 1989 [for Turandot, Tosca and La Fanciulla del West]; Order of the Balkan Range, First Class, 1996.
Dimitrova lived in Monte Carlo, Vienna and Sofia. She held Bulgarian and Austrian citizenship. She was widowed [her husband was killed in a car crash in October 1991] and is survived by a single daughter, a student of cinematography at Sofia’s New Bulgarian University.
‘I’m proud that I’m Bulgarian, and whenever I’m giving an interview I never miss to mention that I’m Bulgarian and that I was born in the countryside, ‘ Ghena Dimitrova told BTA eleven years ago, explaining modestly that she was neither a myth nor a legend, but just a human being whom God had endowed with a beautiful voice.
For all the critics’ bombast, well deserved as it is, it was conductor Herbert von Karajan who captured her greatest forte: ‘I have finally lived to hear a voice that is strong and pure, to hear a singer who sings the way people talk. ‘ LG” 85th Birth Anniversary of World Famous Opera Singer Ghena Dimitrova 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-06 08:54:06 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law