Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society (Ruse, Bulgaria)
Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society
The Ruse Opera and Philharmonic Society is an opera company based in Ruse, Bulgaria, and founded in 1949. It took over the Rousse Opera Society, which had been created in 1914. The new company is one of the oldest state cultural institutions in Bulgaria. With a staff of schooled singers, a choir, the ballet, and the orchestra, there is maturity and the ability to perform a wide range of works.
The company's repertoire ranges from the classics (Mozart through Verdi and Puccini to Stravinsky and Shostakovich) and has included 195 different works for the stage, some of them having received their Bulgarian premieres at the Ruse.
Over the years numerous famous singers have sung on the Ruse opera stage, including Elena Nikolai, Todor Mazarov, Nicolai Ghiaurov, Raina Kabaivanska, Nicola Giuselev, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Ghena Dimitrova, Stefka Evstatieva, Orlin Anastassov, Valerie Popova, Gloria Lind, Alexandrina Milcheva, Vladimir Atlantov, Stefan Dimitrov, Ivan Konsulov, Ava Cooper, Peter Glossop, Zinaida Pali, Silvia Shash, Kaludi Kaludov, Mariana Zvetkova, and Nicolae Herlia. Since 1956, the company has toured in Romania and Italy, Spain, Holland, France, Ukraine, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Cyprus and Rhodes islands. Rousse Opera Theatre has also recorded a number of performances for Bulgarian Radio and for separate CD compilations.