Lilyana Bareva - Famous Opera Voices of Bulgaria: Lilyana Bareva (2020)

The soprano Lilyana Bareva is part of the history of Bulgarian opera art from the second half of the 20th century not only with her magnificent opera reincarnations, but also as a stylish and sophisticated chamber performer. After graduating in the class of the renowned Professor Lyudmila Prokopova, she had the chance to begin her creative career in 1943 at the Sofia Art Opera Theatre after a contest. Three years later, in 1946 she was already a part of the troupe of the Sofia Opera, where she debuted as Violetta Valéri in La traviata – a major role in her opera career, with 200 performances mainly at the Sofia Opera. She had more than 30 soprano parties in her repertoire from operas of various epochs and styles, which she performed brilliantly at every performance at the Sofia Opera. She also toured with participations at the Berlin State Opera but did not accept a permanent position there. Along with her intense participation in opera productions, Lilyana Bareva also devoted her time to chamber music – an art that was difficult and less known in Bulgaria at that time. As early as 1953, she began working on a repertoire with the pianist Peter Shtabekov and their first concert took place in 1957. For a period of over thirty years, they prepared more than 400 songs from Bach, Mozart, Haydn, the German Romantics and works by Bulgarian composers. Some of the composers dedicated their works to the duo. They had hundreds of concerts in Bulgaria and abroad, and everywhere they received high appraisal for their art from both the audience and the critics.