Dimitur Todorov Uzunov

(Dmiter Uzinov). Born Dec. 10, 1922, in Stara Zagora. Bulgarian lyrical and dramatic tenor. People’s Artist of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria (1962).

Uzunov studied under Kh. Brymbarov in Sofia and in 1948 became a soloist at the Sofia National Opera. He undertook his first main roles, Vakula in Tchaikovsky’s The Little Shoes and the False Dmitrii in Moussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, under the guidance of the Soviet stage director E. N. Sokovnin in Sofia. In 1954 he was a guest artist at the Bolshoi Theater of the USSR, where he sang Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. From 1972 to 1974 he was director of the Sofia National Opera.

Uzunov has performed in the major opera theaters of the world. His roles include Radames in Verdi’s Aida, Hermann in Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades, and the title role in Pipkov’s Momtchil. Uzunov received the Dimitrov Prize in 1959.