We present The Great Bulgarians: Ghena Dimitrova, a powerful personality with an unforgettable voice that awed the world of opera, in a feature written by Prof. Boyanka Arnaudova.

Back in 1967 was the first time I heard that voice, writes Boyanka Aranudova. It was so overwhelming and overflowing with emotion, so vast and rich in timbers. And unforgettable too! Its robust and varied vibrations transformed into waves of feelings with a great many nuances and moods. No wonder listeners can vividly imagine her heroines by just listening to Ghena Dimitrova. And this is not typical of opera singers. However, Ghena Dimitrova had that rare gift she polished with remarkable patience as years went by, and augmented it with a sophisticated musicality and with passionate acting. This matchless combination took her quickly up to the summit of opera art, as her importance and reputation gained recognition worldwide.
The great Ghena Dimitrova launched her carrier after graduating the Music Academy in Sofia where she had had the chance of studying under the guidance of Bulgaria’s foremost vocal pedagogue Prof. Hristo Brumbarov. Aged just 26 and with the status of an intern at the Sofia Opera House, with only few minor parts, she soon moved on to her veritable and absolutely brilliant debut as she presented one of Verdi’s hardest soprano parts, Abigail from Nabucco. With this part she won the Grand Prix at the International Competition for Young Opera Singers in 1970. Her extraordinary talent impressed the reputable international jury including famous opera singers, stage-directors and directors of big theaters. This part paved her road to a specialized training in Italy and from then on, to the big stages in both Europe and America. The singer would often say, “Abigail is my battle horse”. 

Ghena Dimitrova’s fate was unusual. She was born in a peasant family but emerged as an exceptional interpreter of Verdi and Puccini, and her name was a synonym of prestige in opera. In the aftermath of 1973 when she appeared for the first time at La Scala in Milan, Ghena Dimitrova braced for a very hard period in her life when she employed her iron will and worked to exhaustion. Night after night she sang in the best opera theaters in Italy, France, Germany and South America, and had permanent contracts with La Scala in Milan, Covent Garden in London, the Vienna Staatsoper and the Metropolitan in New York. At the end of the 1970s Ghena Dimitrova was already one of the most demanded singers in the world that brought box-office success to all theaters she appeared at. Her performance invariably got ecstatic reviews, and her voice awed audiences across the world’s five continents. 

During her career of more than 25 years Ghena Dimtrova sang 32 parts for dramatic soprano, predominantly from the Italian repertoire. She was a great Verdi singer with 16 parts from his works, and her favorites included Lady Macbeth, Amneris, Leonora from Il trovatore, Amelia from Un ballo in maschera etc. Her voice had incredible glamour in the high register but also in the lower tunes so typical of the mezzo-soprano. In this way she was hugely successful singing the mezzo-soprano part of the pharaoh’s daughter Amneris in Aida. In the United States she experimented with the part of Eboli from Don Carlos after she had for a few seasons been acclaimed as Queen Elisabeth.

After 1982 Ghena Dimitrova was already part of the leading opera theater in the world, La Scala in Milan. She starred there in the course of several seasons, joined major events, and La Scala’s tours of Japan and other countries. Ghena partnered on stage with the greatest tenors, Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, and with leading stage-directors and conductors such as Streller, Abbado, Mutti, Maazel and others. Her singing tours covered extensive routes – from Sofia to New York, from Milan to Buenos Aires, from Tokyo to Moscow and from Munich to Cairo. She emerged as the most preferred performer of Abigail from Nabucco, Princess Turandot, Aida, La Gioconda, the Girl of the West and Santuca. For many seasons she sang at Arena di Verona and Salzburg, and has been awarded as a remarkable singer of Verdi and Puccini. At the end of her life Ghena Dimitrova dedicated her time to young singers and has helped a few of them take the road to stardom. She was an open-hearted person with an outstanding presence and a unique talent and has become part of the history of world opera with her exceptional achievements.

Translated by Daniela Konstantinova