Peter Danailov to debut at the Astra

Bulgarian baritone Peter Danailov will be making his Malta debut as the lovable 'villain' of the piece, Rigoletto, in Verdi's opera at the Astra. Possessing a big voice, laced with the dark and menacing undertones, Danailov has hit the opera world as the quintessential Verdi baritone.

"A typical belcanto singer possessing a deep and unusual baritone timbre, full of nuances, which changes the expressiveness through its vocal interpretation from furious to lyric sounding". This is how the German critics extol the Bulgarian baritone.

In 1995 Peter Danailov graduates at the "P. Vladiguerov" State Music Academy in the class of Prof. Sabin Markov. The same year he makes his debut at the stage of the Burgas Opera in the role of Giorgio Germont in Verdi's opera La Traviata. Peter Danailov's first appearances at the professional stage are related to the Varna opera Theatre. In March 1998 he specializes in the master class of Ghena Dimitrova organized in Sofia. The same year he made his debut in the National Opera House in Sofia as Rodrigo in Don Carlos, De Serie in Giordano's Fedora, Figaro in Rossini's Barber of Seville, Valentine in Gounod Faust and Escamillo in Carmen. In 1999 Danailov performs the part of Prince Igor in Borodin's opera, in the co-production of the Sofia National Opera and Bolshoi Theatre - Moscow. Peter Danailov has been a guest many times in England, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, Switzerland and Greece. In 2000 he won the gold medal and the award of the audience at the International Competition for Young Opera Singers "Boris Christov" in Sofia.

Between 2003 and 2005 Peter Danailov performed as a soloist at the Opera Theatre in Bonn, Germany. On this stage he made his debut with a triumphant success in the roles of Macbeth in Verdi's opera; Shishkov in The Deadly Home by Leos Janacek; Don Carlos di Vargas in Verdi's La Forza del Destino and as Eugene Onegin in Tchaikovsky's opera.

He has been invited for two consecutive seasons (2005-2006, 2006-2007) to Staatsoper Hamburg, Germany for the roles of Giorgio Germont in Verdi's  La Traviata   and Sharpless in Puccini's Madame Butterfly. During the season 2006-2007 he performs Nabucco in Mannheim, as well as Rigoletto in Braunschweig, Germany. For seven consecutive seasons the Bulgarian baritone has been a guest soloist at the Opera Theatre in Klagenfurt, Austria for the performances of Don Carlos (Rodrigo), La Boheme (Marcello), L'Italiana in Algeri (Taddeo), Lucia di Lammermoor (Lord Ashton), and La Traviata (Giorgio Germont).

Danailov's participation will enhance the already outstanding cast for this Rigoletto and our opera loving public will be getting the chance of experiencing his outstanding voice and acting, for which he first made a name for himself in Europe's leading opera venues. Rigoletto will be staged twice at the Astra: Thursday 29 and Saturday 31 October. Both performances start at 19.30hrs.