The legendary mezzo-soprano received a commemorative medal “100 years Boris Christoff”

One more dream of the music lovers in our country realized last evening the famous mezzo-soprano Fiorenza Cossotto. She won the hearts of the audience with her performances of “Panis angelicus” by Cesar Franck and with the not less well-known canzonet “Non ti scordar di me” by Ernesto de Curtis on the stage of Sofia Opera and Ballet at the end of the gala concert of the participants in her first master class in Bulgaria.

Realized at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture and with its support, it included 13 participants from Bulgaria, the USA and Italy, as well as open lessons for young talents, who were not selected for participation in the course. For this activity of hers and for her contribution to the jubilee celebrations of the world-known Bulgarian bass Fiorenza Cossotto was awarded by the Ministry of Culture a commemorative medal “100 years Boris Christoff”. Several days ago the performer shared with great excitement memories from her meetings with the singer, considered for bass No.1 of the 20 century and about his especially warm attitude towards her. She keeps a cordial memory from her meetings on the stage and out of it with Ghena Dimitrova, Nicola Ghiuselev, she hasn’t forgotten and the great tenor Nikola Nikolov. “To all of them, who are in heaven and to the memory for them I shall dedicate my performance of “Panis angelicus”, said Cossotto one day before the gala concert of the participants in her master class. Together with them she co-experienced on the backstage each one of their performances, she was entranced and encouraged them before their appearance on the stage. On the conductor’s stand before the orchestra of Sofia Opera and Ballet this time were the conductors Stefan Linev and Nicoletta Conti, Cossotto’s assistants in her work with the young talents. Some of them, like the sopranos Silvia Teneva and Irina Zhekova and the mezzo-soprano Gergana Rusekova, the bass Alexander Nosikov and the baritone Krum Galabov are well-known to the Sofia audience. It received cordially also the performances of the younger Georgi Dimitrov, Maria Pavlova, Adelina Galova, Gergana Dudina, as well as of the American performers Kathryn Martinson and Aliana Whittaker and of the Italian Valeria Fincato.

The program of the concert included works by Verdi, Puccini, Mozart, Cilea, Bernstein, Tchaikovsky and Donizetti. Among the enthusiastic audience were the winner in the show “Bulgaria is looking for talent” of bTV Tomas Tomov, accompanied by his parents, his uncle and his younger brother. Several hours before the start of the concert the beginning 17-year old performer received precious advices and directions by the Dean of the Vocal faculty of the University in Pittsburgh Genko Geshev.