Stoyanka Savova Nikolova (), best known by her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Elena Nicolai () (24 January 1905 – 24 October 1993), was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n operatic

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

Early life and training

Nicolai was born in the village of Tzerovo, Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. She spent her childhood in another Bulgarian town,

Panagurishte Panagyurishte (, also transliterated ''Panagjurište'', ) is a town in Pazardzhik Province, Southern Bulgaria, situated in a small valley in the Sredna Gora mountains. It is 91 km east of Sofia, 43 km north of Pazardzhik. The town is t ...

. At the age of 19, she moved to Milan to study opera, first with Vincenzo Pintorno and later with Ettore Pozzoli.

Roles sung

* Annina,

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel ''Les amours du cheva ...

* Laura, La Gioconda (opera) * La Cieca, La Gioconda (opera) * Nefte, Il figliuol prodigo (

List of operas by Ponchielli This is a complete list of the operas of the Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli (1834–1886). References ;Sources *Budden, Julien (1992), 'Ponchielli, Amilcare' in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' i ...

) * Principessa di Bouillon,

Adriana Lecouvreur ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' () is an opera in four acts by Francesco Cilea to an Italian libretto by Arturo Colautti, based on the 1849 play '' Adrienne Lecouvreur'' by Eugène Scribe and Ernest Legouvé. It was first performed on 6 November 1902 ...

* Rubria,

Nerone (Boito) ''Nerone'' (''Nero'') is an opera in four acts composed by Arrigo Boito, to a libretto in Italian written by the composer. The work is a series of scenes from Imperial Rome at the time of Emperor Nero depicting tensions between the Imperial rel ...

* Ortrud,

Lohengrin (opera) ''Lohengrin'' ( in German language, German), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 75, is a Romanticism, Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from me ...

* Dalila,

Samson and Delilah (opera) ''Samson and Delilah'' (), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on ...

* Brunnhilde, ''Die Walkure'' * Amneris, ''Aida'' * Eboli, ''Don Carlo'' * Azucena, ''Il Trovatore'' * Adalgisa, ''Norma'' * Leonora, ''La Favorita'' * Carmen, ''Carmen'' * Brangaene, ''Tristan und Isolde'' * Santuzza, ''Cavalleria Rusticana'' * Fedora, ''Fedora'' * Klytaemnestra, ''Elektra''

Recordings

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considere ...

- ''

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' (Stattkus-Verzeichnis, SV 318) (), or ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance music, Renaissance/early Baroque music, Baroque ''favola in musica'', or List of operas by Claudio Monteverdi, opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a li ...

'' (Silvia, 1939) conducted by

Ferrucio Calusio Ferrucio Calusio (1889 or 1890 – 3 June 1983) was an Argentine conductor. He began his career in the 1920s at La Scala in Milan, Italy as an assistant conductor to Arturo Toscanini. In 1927 he returned to his native country to join the conducting ...

, Italian HMV *

Cilea Cilea or CILEA may refer to: * Consorzio Interuniversitario Lombardo per l'Elaborazione Automatica, academic consortium in Italy * Francesco Cilea Francesco Cilea (; 23 July 1866 – 20 November 1950) was an Italian composer. Today he is part ...

- ''

'' (Principessa di Bouillon, 1949) conducted by Federico Del Cupolo, Colosseum * Mascagni - ''

Cavalleria rusticana ''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...

'' (Santuzza, 1953) conducted by

Franco Ghione Franco Ghione (1886–1964) was an Italian conductor and violinist. He graduated from the Parma Conservatory and became a violinist for the Parma Theatre and the Augusteo in Rome. He began a conducting career in 1913 and conducted in many oper ...

, Decca *

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

- ''

Don Carlo ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

'' (Principessa d'Eboli, 1954) conducted by

Gabriele Santini Gabriele Santini (20 January 1886, Perugia - 13 November 1964, Rome) was an Italian conductor, particularly associated with the Italian opera repertory. He studied in Perugia and Bologna, and made his debut in 1906, as assistant conductor to Gino ...

, HMV/EMI * Verdi - '' La forza del destino'' (Preziosilla, 1954) conducted by

Tullio Serafin Tullio Serafin (1 September 18782 February 1968) was an Italian conductor and former Musical Director at La Scala. Biography Tullio Serafin was a leading Italian opera conductor with a long career and a very broad repertoire who revived many 19t ...

, Columbia/EMI

Films

* Il boom, directed by

Vittorio De Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

(1963) * La mia signora (episode "I miei cari," directed by

Mauro Bolognini Mauro Bolognini (28 June 1922 – 14 May 2001) was an Italian film and stage director. Early years Bolognini was born in Pistoia, in the Tuscany region of Italy. After earning a master's degree in architecture at the University of Florence, Bol ...

) (1964) *

Sedotti e bidonati ''Sedotti e bidonati'' (Italian for "Seduced and cheated") is a 1964 comedy film written and directed by Giorgio Bianchi and starring the comic duo Franco and Ciccio. Plot Cast *Franco Franchi as Franco La Capra *Ciccio Ingrassia as Cicci ...

, directed by Giorgio Bianchi (1964) * Gli amanti latini (episode "L'irreparabile," directed by Mario Costa) (1965) *

I nostri mariti is a 1966 Italian comedy film directed by Luigi Filippo D'Amico, Dino Risi and Luigi Zampa. Cast * Alberto Sordi - Giovanni Lo Verso (segment "Il marito di Roberta") * Ugo Tognazzi - Carabiniere (segment "Il Marito di Attilia ovvero nei Secol ...

(episode "Il marito di Roberta," directed by

Luigi Filippo D'Amico Luigi Filippo D'Amico (9 October 1924 – 28 April 2007) was an Italian film director and screenwriter. His 1974 film '' Il domestico'' was shown as part of a retrospective on Italian comedy at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. Sel ...

) (1966) * Quando dico che ti amo, directed by Giorgio Bianchi (1967) * Il medico della mutua, directed by

Luigi Zampa Luigi Zampa (2 January 1905 – 16 August 1991) was an Italian film director. Biography Son of a worker, Zampa studied filmmaking from 1932 to 1937 at the Italian film school in Rome. He directed several Italian neorealism films in the 1940 ...

(1968)

Honours

Nicolai Peak Nicolai Peak (, ) is the ice-covered peak rising to 1342 mReference Elevat ...

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

is named after Elena Nicolai.

Bibliography

References

External links

Her page on the Stars of Bulgarian Opera site with mp3 audio clips of selected arias
* * 1905 births 1993 deaths Bulgarian emigrants to Italy 20th-century Bulgarian women opera singers Operatic mezzo-sopranos People from Panagyurishte Place of death missing Bulgarian mezzo-sopranos {{Bulgaria-opera-singer-stub