RAINA KABAIVANSKA

Raina Kabaivanska was born in Bulgaria. Graduated opera singing and piano playing at the State Academy of Music. Specialised in Itay with Zita Fumagalli.

Her debut in 1961 at ‘La Scala’ sets the start of a brilliant career at the most significant opera theatres in the world: from Paris to Rome and Madrid, from Metropolitan in New York to Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, from Salzburg to Venice, from Covent Garden in London to Teatro San Carlo in Naples, from Philadelphia to Monaco and Hamburg, from Carnegie Hall in New York to Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

Her repertory has been enriched with works by Verdi /’Don Carlo’, ‘Otello’, ‘Falstaff’, ‘La Traviata’, ‘Il Trovatore’, ‘La Forza del Destino’, ‘I Vespri Siciliani’, ‘Ernani’, ‘Requiem’/ Puccini /in the parts of Madama Butterfly, Tosca, Manon Lescaut/, Wagner /‘Rienzi’/, Cilea /‘Adriana Lecouvreur’/, Donizetti /’Roberto Devereux’/, Leoncavallo /’Pagliacci’/, Gounod /’Faustus’/, Massenet /’Manon’/, Catallani /’La Wally’/, Tchaikovsky /’Queen of Spades‘/, ‘Evgeni Onegin’’/, Strauss /’Capriccio’/ Zandonai /’Francesca da Rimini’/ Spontini /‘La Vestalle’/, Gluck /‘Armide’/, Janacek ‘The Macropoulos Case’/, Lehar /’La Vedova Allegra /, Britten /.’Il Giro di Vite’/

‘The Human Voice’ by Poulenc, ‘The Woman in the Dark’ of Kurt Weil, ‘Janufa’ by Janacek are among the most recent works in Raina Kabaivanska’s repertory. Facing these new challenges is a proof of a personality, linked with continuous education, research and self-improvement.

A lot of recognitions and awards outline  her impressive career in regard of activiies and mastership: Bellini – 1965, Viotti d’Oro – 1970, Puccini – 1978, Illica – 1979, Monteverdi – 1980, the Award of Academia ‘Medicci’ – Lorenzo di Magnifico – Florence – 1990, the Grand Prix ‘A Life, Dedicated to the Music’ – Venice – 2000 and many others.

Raina Kabaivanska is a professor at the Academy of Music ‘Chigiana’ – Italy. Jury member of many prestigious competitions. Leads master classes for vocal performers from all over the world in Spain, Italy, France. She has established a foundation in Bulgaria, bearing her name, supporting the cultural and moral development of gifted Bulgarian children-orphans.

Raina Kabaivanska is Doctor Honoris Causa and a Professor of Honour at the New Bulgarian University.