Ljuben Minchev

He trained his voice at the academy of music in Sofia and made his debut, while still a student, at the National Opera in Sofia as Chekalinskij in Pikovaja dama. He undertook further studies with Alfredo Cecchi in Milano (1929–31), and with Cornelis Bronsgeest in Berlin (1938, after temporarily having to leave the Sofia Opera, together with some other singers, because of a quarrel with the theater's rather imperious manager).

He spent his entire career, into the 1950s, in Sofia, making guest appearances in opera and concert in Ljubljana, Belgrade, Zagreb, Breslau/Wrocław, Dresden, Frankfurt am Main, Bratislava, Bucharest and Tirana. Among his most successful parts were Don José, Canio, Andrea Chénier, Gritsko (Sorochinskaja jarmarka, Grigorij, Balduin (Tsar Kalojan by Pancho Vladigerov), Riccardo, Cavaradossi, Turiddu, Boito's Faust, but also Ernesto (!), Alfredo, Rodolfo and Edgardo. All in all, he sang 96 roles in more than 3000 performances. He was an excellent actor, and a great favorite with the Sofia opera lovers.

He was the father of the important Bulgarian composer and conductor Georgi Minchev.

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