Opera singer Mariana Zvetkova about her meetings with Boris Christoff and the roots of inspiration

published on 4/1/14 12:24 PM

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La Scala in Milan, the opera theatres in Berlin, Munich, Dresden, Paris, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, Brussels, New York, Detroit, Tokyo are but a few of the prestigious opera stages Mariana Zvetkova has performed on. Her repertoire features leading roles from works by Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, Richard Strauss. She describes herself as a musician, an artiste, a lover of all arts. “If I hadn’t chosen to be an opera singer I would have been a painter. I dream of a brush and easel so I can devote myself to painting. But that will only happen once I have given up the stage,” she says.

“I am happy to have been able to meet interesting people on my way,” says Mariana Zvetkova. “I remember my first kindergarten teacher with her enormous accordion and Snezhina Yakimova – my first singing teacher at the music school. They were both dedicated to their work and did a lot to encourage and support me. Later, at the Music Academy I was in Iliya Yossifov’s class and he taught me a great deal. My meeting with Boris Christoff has marked my entire career. My time at Indiana University with my exceptional teacher, mentor and great friend Martina Arroyo… It has so often happened that my professional contacts on the stage have developed into different joint projects. One of them took me to South Korea where I have been teaching at the Catholic University for the past five years. I was invited by a colleague we sang together with in USA. I met the brilliant Bulgarian basso Boris Christoff in 1990 when he tutored me and we worked together intensively for 8-9 months. I saw him last on September 4, 1991. But he is part of my life to this day. I feel a bond with him and not just because I have learnt so much from him professionally, but because he “infected” me with a fighting spirit that has so often turned against me. To my mind the biggest punishment there can be is when a person or a whole nation accepts injustice. I know for a fact he was very honest and outspoken in his relations with his colleagues. To me he is a role model and an inspiration.”

“Four of us left for the Academy in Rome – Ventsislav Dinev, Petyo Konovski, Plamen Beykov and myself,” Mariana Zvetkova goes on to say. “By the time we graduated there were two of us. Boris Christoff did not teach vocalization – I think he insisted on Bulgarian singers studying at his academy so as to show them how to work with the lyrics, how to give their performance a personal touch, he taught them interpretation. I remember the famous aria of Lisa from Tchaikovsky’s opera

Mariana Tsvetkova and Plamen Beykov

"The Queen of Spades" and how he would explain to me that the last words must come out as a sob. I was very young then. And when I didn’t understand or could not attain the standard of performance required I would fly into a rage. He wanted us to work on Sundays, but living in that delightful city, we wanted to go and see the Vatican, museums, cathedrals. And he would be cross with us: “I’ll tell you what there is there! Stay here, we have to work!” He was never lavish on praise. But to me, the highest commendation would be when, after I have sung something, he looked at me with tears in his eyes. Again because I was so young I was not aware of the battle he was fighting – he had had a stroke. And every morning at 10.30 sharp he would be there waiting for us; after a brief pause at lunchtime, he would be there again, in the same place. I was astounded that he remembered each line by all characters from the operas he had sung – Don Carlos, the Force of Destiny… These experiences I have had with him, my memories with him are still an inspiration to me. I have learnt so much, even in moments of rage, from his drive to achieve everything he wanted from his students. We have many successful Bulgarian singers around the world, but what he did was to create an academy for Bulgarian singers. And he always said with pride: I am Bulgarian! It is worth thinking about, now that the country is going through difficult times and so many people are emigrating. I know that for a long time Boris Christoff was out of favour, that the authorities back then barred him from returning to Bulgaria to see his parents for the last time. Nonetheless, he taught us to live with the good times in our history, in the Bulgarian spirit. To be proud of being Bulgarian wherever we may be in the world.”

In 2014, we mark Boris Christoff’s centennial birth anniversary. To mark the centennial anniversary of their mentor, Mariana Tvetkova and Plamen Beykov gave several concerts; one of them was included in the March Music Days in Rousse.

The audio features the following works:

- Eliza’s aria from Wagner’s Tannhäuser;

- Lisa’s aria from Tchaikovski’s the Queen of Spades;

- Amelia’s aria from Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.

English version: Milena Daynova

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