He was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 22/8/1922. At first he studied violin at the Bulgarian State Conservatory in Sofia and then he turned to singing studies, alongside Cristo Brambaroff, a baritone at the Sofia National Opera. In 1946, he won the first prize in the Geneva International Singing Competition, which led him to pursue further studies in Italy with Riccardo Stracciari, Apollo Granforte and Carlo Tagliabue. In 1948, he made his debut at La Scala in Milan, in the opera L'amour des trois oranges by Prokofiev. In 1951, Stravinsky chose him to interpret Father Trulove in the world première of his opera The Rake’s Progress. In the course of his career, he performed in major opera houses in Europe and America (Buenos Aires, Mexico City, etc.). His name was mainly associated with roles from the Italian and the Russian repertory. His repertoire includes, among others, the roles of: Osmin (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Méphistophélès (Faust), Philip II and The Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo). He was distinguished for his performance in the title role of Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky. He recorded the role of Raimondo in the opera Lucia di Lammermoor alongside Maria Callas, Giuseppe di Stefano and Tito Gobbi (ΕΜΙ, 1953). He collaborated with the GNO in the title role in Boris Godunov (Herodeion, Athens Festival, 1964) and as Mephistopheles (Mefistofele) (1966/67). He died in Switzerland on 17/3/1988. // Last update of the biography: December 2015 - The list of productions below is updated.