Ghena Dimitrova - Interview and excerpts - Turandot (Milan, 1983)

Ghena Dimitrova, G. Puccini, Turandot (1983)
Interview (in French with English translation below) and excerpts from the Opera
Turandot: Ghena Dimitrova
Calaf: Nicola Martinucci
Liù: Katia Ricciarelli
Altoum: Sergio Bertocchi
Lorin Maazel, conductor
Orchestra and Choir of Teatro alla Scala (Milan, Italy, December 1983)
00:00 comments of the journalists
01:13 "O principi che a lunghe carovane..."
04:10 comments of the journalists
05:16 "Straniero, ascolta!"
13:14 comments of the journalists
14:07 INTERVIEW (English translation below)
18:32 comments of the journalists
22:19 "C'era negli occhi tuoi"
29:43 comments of the journalists
INTERVIEW
Journalist: Ghena Dimitrova, you had a spectacular triumph last night at the opening of La Scala in Milan in Turandot, a role that you have obviously already sung many times.
Ghena Dimitrova: Not much. Maybe I only did twenty performances. I had abandoned Turandot for five years, because everyone had asked me to perform Turandot, and so I was afraid of being labelled a soprano who only sings Turandot.
Journalist: And is it a bad label?
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, because I would also like to sing lyric roles, and I would also like to sing the Verdi roles with agilities, Norma, all these roles. And when a soprano only sings Turandot, everyone looks for her only for Turandot.
Journalist: Yes, because it is obviously a difficult role, and it is very difficult to find a singer who can sing Turandot entirely without straining herself, with all the notes, as you did yesterday night. After this triumph, are you going to perform Turandot much more frequently?
Ghena Dimitrova: No, no, because the voice becomes harsh, because it would be dangerous for the voice.
Journalist: But a singer like Birgit Nilsson, for instance, has been singing Turandot for many years and she has also been singing another repertory, because she has also been singing Lady Macbeth, she has also been singing Nabucco.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, but she has a different vocal technique. It is the German way of singing. It is a different technique. I do not have that strength and that vocal emission.
Journalist: Well, listen, yesterday night I got the opposite impression. I got the impression that your emission is of a very great strength, indeed.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, but it is not possible to sing many performances. Maybe she is used to it. I prefer belcanto roles.
Journalist: So you consider yourself as a singer of the Italian school.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, I studied here at La Scala for three years, and I am Maestro Brambarov’s student, who was Nicolai Ghiaurov’s teacher. He also studied here. And I prefer to sing the Italian repertoire.
Journalist: And in the Italian repertoire what are the roles that are dear to you?
Ghena Dimitrova: All the roles that I sang are dear to me. In my repertoire, I have fifteen Verdi roles, four Puccini roles (Turandot, Tosca, La Fanciulla del West, and Manon Lescaut), Giordano’s Andrea Chenier, Ponchielli’s Gioconda, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and Bellini’s Norma. I prefer all the Verdi roles.
Journalist: Ghena Dimitrova, I believe you have made a long career in France. We heard you a lot in France. Why?
Ghena Dimitrova: Because I started my career outside Bulgaria in France with twenty-four performances of La Forza del destino. It was a big tour which took place in 1972.
Journalist: In 1972.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, so I returned to all the theaters I went to on this tour to sing another repertoire. I did several things in Marseille - I performed Nabucco and Macbeth with a lot of success - in Rouen I did a lot of my repertoire, in Avignon, in Nice, in Bordeaux, in Strasbourg. I sang for twelve years in all the theaters, except for Paris.
Journalist: But the Paris Opera has announced that you will perform Macbeth next season.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, I will perform Turandot in Rouen, and I believe I will sing six or eight performances of Macbeth.
Journalist: At the Paris Opera.
Ghena Dimitrova: At the Opera. But before that I will sing Aida in May 1984 at Palais des Sports, and Macbeth afterwards.
Journalist: So you still have commitments in France, and important commitments.
Ghena Dimitrova: Yes, yes, now yes.

[@bodiloto]

La Regina bulgara .
Divina .
❤

[@josepacifico-mc9pr]

La REINA DE MILAN❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@vivianbelissima]

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[@cgclyde9040]

This is decent!! I think you will be interested in P R O M O S M.