Irena Petkova is a Bulgarian opera singer. The mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano

A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...

 Irena Petkova was born in Bourgas, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. She graduated from the Pancho Vladigerov State Music Academy, Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 under professor Lilly Stefanova.

Since 1990 she has solo performed for the Bourgas Opera, where she made her stage debut in the title role of Bizet's Carmen

Carmen

Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...

. In 1992 she was awarded the Margarita Mihova scholarship for best mezzo-soprano vocal performance as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Since 1993 she has been soloist for the Sofia National Opera.

Irena Petkova's repertoire includes aria

Aria

An aria in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. The term is now used almost exclusively to describe a self-contained piece for one voice usually with orchestral accompaniment...

s, songs and other vocal pieces belonging to different periods and styles - among them works by Mozart, Verdi, Gluck, Rossini and Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani...

. Irena Petkova has been on concert tours with the Bourgas Opera and the Sofia National Opera to Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 and Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

.

Recordings

• Mozart Opera Arias for Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra – Irena Petkova (mezzo-soprano), Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra
  Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra
  The Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra is a Bulgarian orchestra whose origins date back to 1945. It is rooted in the hundred-year-old orchestral traditions of the largest cultural center of Thrace.-Recordings:...
  
  , Nayden Todorov
  Nayden Todorov
  Nayden Todorov is a Bulgarian conductor.- Positions :*Plovdiv Youth Orchestra *Vratza Philharmonic Orchestra *Sofia Festival Orchestra...
  
   (conductor), 1999. Label: Music Minus One
  Music Minus One
  Music Minus One is a company that produces sheet music that comes with compact discs where the work is recorded without the soloist part . This can be used for practice. There is also a second version on the CD, where the tempo is 20% reduced...
  
  . ISBN 1596155523