Zvetelina Vassileva
Soprano
“Vassileva's dramatic soprano eloquently expresses Aïda's conflict, torn between love for Radames and loyalty to her homeland. If she seems to hold back a little in early scenes, her voice reveals its full radiance and power in her third act aria lamenting the fate of her people and her final tragic yet transcendant duet with Radames.”
– Houston Chronicle
Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva has emerged as a leading Eastern European artist and has made many important international debuts since her 1994 U.S. debut as Leonora in Il trovatore at the San Francisco Opera.
A Verdi specialist, Miss Vassileva’s repertoire also includes works by Slavic composers such as Borodin, Fibich, Glinka, Smetana and Tchaikovsky. Gaining prominence as a sought-after spinto soprano, her performances have garnered critical acclaim from audiences and the world’s leading opera critics. The London Sunday Times wrote of her debut in the title role of Fibich’s Sarka at the Wexford Festival, “Zvetelina Vassileva (is) a thrilling dramatic soprano who, by this time next year, ought to be the name on every opera impresario’s lips”, and the critic of The Times considered her to be “a discovery on the Gorchakova scale: beautiful, sword-like soprano tone allied to real musical sensibility”.
Miss Vassileva was Leonora in Il Trovatore in Messina and sang the title role of Aida in a new production with the Houston Grand Opera in 2007. She will be Aida once again with the Welsh National Opera in 2008.
Recent seasons for Miss Vassileva have included performances as Leonora in Il Trovatore and Musetta in La bohème at the Metropolitan Opera, Mimi in La bohème on tour in Japan with the National Opera Sofia, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera in Toronto and Thessaloniki, Greece, Leonora in Il Trovatore in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Santander, Spain and for Opera Pacific, and Violetta in La traviata , Nedda in I pagliacci , Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlo , and was soprano soloist in Verdi’s Missa da requiem for the Bulgarian National Opera in Sofia.
The 2005-2006 season began for Miss Vassileva with performances as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with the Kentucky Opera, followed by the title role of Tosca with Madison Opera. She closed the season on tour in Japan as Desdemona in Otello . Zvetelina Vassileva began the 2004-2005 season as Liu in a new production of Turandot with the Opera Pacific, followed by Desdemona with the National Opera Sofia.