The great Bulgarian soprano Stefka Evstatieva has passed away at the age of 78.
Ms. Evstatieva studied at the State Academy of Music at Sofia, and made her operatic debut as Amelia in BALLO IN MASCHERA in 1971. She joined the Sofia National Opera in 1978, and for the next several years she made appearances at Vienna, Munich, Verona, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Buenos Aires, La Scala, and Berlin.
Ms. Evstatieva made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1984 as Elisabetta in DON CARLO – a performance I attended. I was very impressed by her singing, and by her regal bearing. Her other Met roles were Maddalena de Coigny, Santuzza, and the BALLO Amelia.
Watch the soprano in a video of her “Pace, pace mio dio” from LA FORZA DEL DESTINO here, and her “La mamma morta” from ANDREA CHENIER here.
Oberon's Glade 