Ghena is a stamp!

In my life i ve been lucky enough to have watched live many of my favourite singers. One of those, Ghena Dimitrova, i had the chance to watch on more than one occasions. But there's one night that i ll never forget as long as i live. A night in 1995 when young Parsifal arrived in Verona escorted by his father who, fed up by young Parsifal's insistence, had taken him on a trip to Milan and Verona in order to fulfill his needs (it's widely known that most teenagers at the age of 16 have the need of visiting opera houses all around the globe...). So, there i was, little Parsifalito in front of the Arena with a ticket in my hand that was reading "TURANDOT" and with a big smile on my face. Yes, one ticket only, my father would rather visit the trattorie of Verona than listening to la bulgara.

As you can imagine, little Parsifal spent a night at the stars listening to Ghena's immense voice next to Lando Bartolini's Calaf and Maria Chiara's Liu. As a relic of that night i keep a 30' videotape i shot with my Panasonic handycam in pretty good sound/image! You see, i was born a pirate!

And speaking of Ghena and piracy, what i have for you tonight, on one of my very last posts before leaving Athens for the Greek Air Force, is a very very very rare recording of Ghena singing Leonora and Turandot in Rio de Janeiro in 1978 and 1979.

Il Trovatore
1. Tacea la notte...Di Geloso amor
2. D'amor sull ali rosee...Miserere
3. Mira d acerbe lacrime (Final scene)
With Ruben Dominguez (Manrico)
Bianca Berini (Azuccena)
Benito di Bella (Di Luna)

Turandot
4. In questa reggia.....Straniero ascolta (unknown tenor)

Download HERE

And as always, enjoy!

PS. Great stamp, huh? Maybe i should write a post on stamps with opera stars...