Emanuil
ManolovAfter the liberation of Bulgaria from Turkish domination in 1878 Manolov studied for about two years at the Moscow Conservatory, returning to Bulgaria in 1885.
He composed the first Bulgarian opera, Siromachkinya (The Poor Woman), to his own libretto after a poem by Ivan Vazov. Although unfinished, the opera was performed by an amateur company in Kazanlak in December 1900; the score was later completed by others and staged by the Bulgarian Opera Society in Sofia on November 25, 1910. We are delighted to offer a performance of the opera on this disc.
The Poor Woman is in a conventional Italian style and its melodies show the influence of urban folk romances.