It must have been in the mid-90s that François Nouvion wrote the following on Doikov:
Doikov is Bulgarian and has sung Il Guarany and Fosca with the Sofia Opera. From the existing tapes of live performances, Doikov sounds like a
real spinto. Doikov seems to have the right stuff.
In RA format
Here is a review of Doikov's performances in São Paulo, by Eduardo Gabarra:
In the beginning of the week (email dated 5/4/98), I went to São Paulo to hear Fosca and Aida
with the company of the Bulgarian National Theatre. One of the attractions
was to be Rumen Doikov as Paolo and Radames. Unfortunately he sang only
in Fosca and showed a voice of quite good size, though not enormous by any
means, beautiful timbre, more so than it appears on the recordings, and a
fair amount of squillo. His musicality was unimpeachable but his acting was
close to non-existent. All in all he may be the best Verdi spinto tenor now
before the public (though who knows what may be hidden in Eastern Europe
and the former Soviet Union).
In Aida, Doikov was replaced by one Nikolai Raichev, a curious tenor,
who was in the alternate cast for Fosca. The voice is not very large or
beautiful except at the top, where it becomes ringing and squillante. A sort
of Todor Mazarov, though quite deficient in terms of musicality, phrasing,
etc.
Of course, Doikov was almost 50 at that time... and when I heard him in Tosca (not Fosca unfortunately) in Malta in 2004,
the squillo and the "right stuff" were no longer there. He still knew how to phrase, but vocally, his performance left a lot to be desired.
In RA format
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Rumen Doikov (who appeared sometimes, no doubt following a French transliteration, also as Roumen Doykov in the West) was born in Sofia on the
1st of May 1951. After singing in the famous children's chorus Bodra Smiana, he attended the State
Academy of Music as a student of Konstantin Karapetrov and graduated in 1977. In 1978, he joined the Sofia National Opera and made his debut
there in November 1979 as Hoffmann. He soon became the leading tenor of that company. In 1979, he continued his studies in Weimar
with Pavel Lisitsian, and in 1982 was a prize winner of the Santa Cecilia Singing Competition. His first international appearances were
in 1979 touring with the Sofia National Opera in Austria, France and Russia. Since then he appeared as a guest in Belgrade, Wiesbaden,
Brazil, Ukraine, Copenhagen, Malta, Russia and Turkey. Singing in Holland in 1995, he performed the role of Radames 43 times in 46 days.
In twenty years of singing, he sang in 118 performances of Aida and 136 of Rigoletto. His debut in the United States was in New Hampshire
as Calaf in Turandot on February 1st, 2000. His repertoire of at least 46 major roles included Radames, Manrico, Cavaradossi, Pinkerton, Pollione,
Alvaro, Otello and Grigorij in Boris Godunov.
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I wish to thank Vladimir Efimenko for the recording (Aida), picture and biographical notes (reference: University of Pittsburgh).
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