Ghena Dimitrova, 64; Bulgarian Soprano Sang at Top Opera Houses

Bulgarian soprano Ghena Dimitrova, 64, who sang at La Scala in Milan, Italy, and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, died Saturday in a Milan hospital of undisclosed causes.

She was known for her performances in “Turandot,” which she sang in New York in 1987. At that time, Pulitzer Prize-winning music critic Manuela Hoelterhoff of the Wall Street Journal described Dimitrova as “a wonder.” She was also memorable in “Aida,” “Il Trovatore,” “Tosca,” “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “Manon Lescaut,” “Macbeth” and “Othello. A career highlight was her work as Abigaille in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Nabucco.”

Dimitrova was born May 6, 1941, in the Bulgarian village of Beglezh. She studied voice at the Sofia Music Academy and made her professional debut in 1965 at Sofia’s National Opera. The soprano also appeared on the stages of the Vienna State Opera, the Paris Opera, Berlin’s State Opera and at London’s Covent Garden.

Nina Chilova, Bulgarian culture minister, said Saturday that “Bulgaria lost a great voice and a great Bulgarian, who had promoted the country and its culture around the world.”