Petar Raichev

or Peter Raitscheff, as he was transliterated by the Germans

Picture of Petar Raichev as Eleazar
Petar Raichev as Eleazar

Picture of Petar Raichev

Picture of Petar Raichev

Picture of Petar Raichev as Werther
Raichev as Werther

Picture of Petar Raichev

Petar Raichev singsRigoletto: Parmi veder

Petar Raichev singsTosca: Recondita armonia

Petar Raichev singsTosca: E lucevan le stelle

Petar Raichev sings Turandot: Nessun dorma 1
In RA format

Petar Raichev sings Turandot: Nessun dorma 2
In RA format

Petar Raichev sings Mignon: Elle ne croyait pas, in Bulgarian
In RA format

Petar Raichev singsMignon: Ah non credevi tu

Petar Raichev singsRimpianto, in Bulgarian
In RA format

Petar Raichev singsLuisa Miller: Quando le sere al placido

Biographical notes

Petar Raichev was born on March 9th, 1887 near Sofia. At first he took private singing lessons with the well-known Bulgarian singer – bass and teacher – Ivan Vulpe, and then at the conservatory in Moscow with Umberto Masetti. In 1912, he consulted De Lucia in Naples. Petar Raichev made his debut in 1908 with the Bulgarian Opera Company. In 1912, Raichev sang successfully at the San Carlo. From 1913 to 1920, he was the soloist of the Petersburg Theatre of Musical Drama. From 1920, Raichev sang regularly in Europe (Italy, France, Yugoslavia), and quite often sang with Shaljapin. In 1934/35, he was a soloist and stage director at the Zagreb opera. From 1936, Raichev sang occasionally in Bulgaria, and from 1944 he was a stage director there. His acting was compared to Stanislavskij. Raichev was a professor at the Sofia conservatory. He died in Sofia on August 30th, 1960. Among his best roles were: José, Werther, Rodolfo, Canio, Calaf, Nemorino, Lenskij, Sinodal (in Demon by Rubinstein), and German.
I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the pictures, biographical notes and recordings (Mignon in Bulgarian, Rimpianto and Luisa Miller).
I wish to thank Anton Bieber for the recordings (Rigoletto, Mignon in Italian, 2x Tosca) and relative label scans.

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