site.btaFamous Opera Singer Angelakova Passes Away

Sofia, May 21 (BTA) - Famous opera singer Hristina Angelakova has passed away, the Bulgarian National Radio said Sunday.

She was born in Isperih in 1944. Soon her parents moved to Shoumen , where she graduated from secondary school. After her graduation, Angelakova moved to Sofia and was enrolled in the Bulgarian State Conservatory (now Pancho Vladigerov National Academy of Music) in the class of Prof. Sima Ivanova. She graduated with a master's degree in 1969. Following lessons with Sima Ivanova in Bulgaria she travelled to Milan to study with Gina Cigna.

Her long career with the Sofia National Opera began in 1967 with her stage debut in "Xerxes" by Handel. During 1973 she was a prizewinner in the International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Sofia. Soon an international career developed at La Scala in Milan, the Deutscher Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera and in Brussels, Mexico and Venice. In 1987 she sang Amneris in a production of "Aida" at the Temple of Luxor. This role was repeated with the Deutscher Oper Berlin in 1988. Major roles in her career included: Amneris, Azucena, Ulrica, Eboli, Laura in Gioconda and in the Russian operas of Tchaikovsky and Glinka. Her repertoire extended from Gluck to Stravinsky.

Angelakova taught opera singing at the National Academy since 1985 and was the first woman to head the National Opera and Ballet.