site.btaJanuary 2, 1891: Bulgaria's First Opera Performance Takes Place in Sofia

On January 2, 1891, Sofia's Drama and Opera Company gave its first opera performance.

The artists performed parts from Otto Nicolai's Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (The Merry Wives of Windsor) and Giuseppe Verdi's Il trovatore (The Troubadour). 

The story behind the foundations of Bulgarian opera can be found on National Opera and Ballet's website:

In 1890, three Bulgarian musicians Dragomir Kazakov, Ivan Slavkov and Angel Bukoreshtliev organized the first opera troupe in Bulgaria as a branch of the "Sofia Drama and Opera Troupe". Its bill included 12 whole operas and parts of 11 operas, performed by Bulgarian, Czech and Italian singers accompanied by piano, the Guards Orchestra, the orchestra of the Sixth Infantry Regiment and members of the Italian Singing Society. Those performances turned out to be surprisingly successful.

The operatic company was disbanded in 1892 amid financial difficulties.