Alexandrina Milcheva
On April 23, the 70-year old Bulgarian mezzo, Alexandrina Milcheva, gave a full recital at the Sofia opera, including airs from: “Orpheus” (Gluck), “Dido and Eneas”(Purcell), “Faust” (Gounod), “Il Trovatore”, “Werther”(Massenet), “Adrienne Lecouvreur”(Cilea)and “Carmen.” These are some of her best known roles in Varna and Sofia, where she performed regularly between 1960 and 1989. As a winner of the 13th opera competition (1966) in Toulouse, France, her appearance in France, Germany and the Met was no surprise. But, it was on the stage of the Vienna Staatsoper, where for 12 years beginning in 1977 her brilliant voice qualities and talent met wide approval and recognition. Throughout the past years her voice seemed unaffected by time. The first airs posed no problems for her rich, warm and easy floating mezzo. The last three airs Milcheva sang with extraordinary control, brilliant tone and much youthful verve that overwhelmed the audience, especially after La Princess de Bouillon, such that it didn’t want to stop applauding. Currently, Alexandrina Milcheva is teaching young singers in Sofia and giving master classes, the next one being at the end of May.
Our correspondent in Bulgaria