Kabaivanska, Raina (Yakimova)

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Kabaivanska, Raina (Yakimova)

Kabaivanska, Raina (Yakimova), Bulgarian soprano; b. Burgas, Dec. 15, 1934. She studied at the Bulgarian State Cons, in Sofia. In 1957 she made her operatic debut at the National Opera as Tatiana. She studied with Zita Fumagalli-Riva in Milan and with Giulia Tess in Vercelli; then made her first appearance at La Scala as Agnese in Beatrice di Tenda (1961), and subsequently sang there regularly. In 1962 she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Desdemona; made her American debut at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as Nedda on Oct. 27, 1962; first sang at the Paris Opéra as Leonora in La forza del destino in 1975. She also made guest appearances in Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Vienna, and Buenos Aires. She was best known for her Verdi and Puccini roles.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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