Michail Svetlev

Michail Svetlev debuted in the United States in 1980 as Ricardo in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Maschera" in Washington, D.C. Further appearances included opera companies in San Francisco, Houston, Miami, Philadelphia, and Palm Beach.

Michail Svetlev made his debut in La Scala in Milan on December 7, 1979, with the tenor role of Dimitrii in Mussorgsky's "Boris Godunov." After that, he appeared repeatedly in La Scala and at the leading opera houses including Covent Garden in London, the Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Bonn, New York, Rome, Paris, Zurich, Lausanne, Toronto, Pretoria, Tel Aviv, Monte Carlo, Nice, Marseille, Mexico City, Las Vegas, Kopenhagen, Salzburg, Athens, and many others.

Svetlev's appearance in a German TV Show with Anneliese Rothenberger in 1977 had great impact on the beginning of his international career. This was followed by engagements in Amsterdam, Sofia, Strasbourg, Paris, and other European cities. His first appearance at the Vienna State Opera was in 1979 in the leading tenor role of Herman in Tschaikowsky's "Pique Dame."

During the 1970 student music festival in Bayreuth conducted by Pierre Boulez, Svetlev was discovered by Boulez's assistant, Bernhard Lang, General Music Director in Passau, Germany. This led to Svetlev's engagement there, where in 1971 he began his operatic career singing the leading tenor role of Manrico in Verdi's "Il Trovatore." A few months later, Svetlev began a 3-year contract with the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich, where he sang the leading opera tenor roles and operettas.

Upon completion of theology schooling at the Holy Seminary in Sofia, Bulgaria, he went on to study opera singing with noted Bulgarian and European pedagogues, including Stojan Kissjov and Anita Salta. He received the Silver Medal in Italy's International Vercelli Opera Competition in 1968 and became a member of the National Operetta Sofia the same year.

Michail Svetlev (Bulgarian: Михаил Светлев) is an internationally acclaimed opera tenor born 6 March 1943 in Sofia, Bulgaria. He is known for his interpretations of leading tenor roles in French, Italian, German and Russian operas, and an extensive repertoire of Neapolitan and Italian songs.