Bantcho Bantchevsky was a Bulgarian-born American singer, singing coach, and translator.
16 Facts About Bantcho Bantchevsky
1.
2.
Bantcho Bantchevsky died by suicide at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City during a nationally broadcast performance.
3.
Bantcho Bantchevsky found a career for himself performing on Rakovska Street in Sofia, known as "Bulgaria's Broadway", and became well known during the 1930s; however, he chose to leave Bulgaria.
4.
Bantcho Bantchevsky spent the 1940s finding work around Europe, singing opera in Czechoslovakia and Vienna, and becoming a member of the Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff.
5.
Bantcho Bantchevsky appeared in films and plays in Berlin, including a small part in a performance of Macbeth.
6.
Bantcho Bantchevsky found it difficult to gain stage work in New York, as he found himself competing against younger, native-born performers.
7.
Bantcho Bantchevsky turned instead to coaching, writing political satire for Radio Free Europe.
8.
Bantcho Bantchevsky sang in the choir of New York's Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
9.
Bantcho Bantchevsky was a great fan of the opera, and was a regular at the Metropolitan.
10.
Bantcho Bantchevsky usually sat in the orchestra seats, using tickets which he had been given by friends who worked in the company.
11.
Bantcho Bantchevsky was survived by two children and four grandchildren, who lived in Europe.
12.
Bantcho Bantchevsky had been in failing health for some time, and friends noticed that he was less cheerful than usual.
13.
On January 23,1988, Bantcho Bantchevsky attended a Saturday matinee performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth; unusually, he chose to sit in the balcony seats.
14.
At around 3:30 in the afternoon, during the intermission between the second and third acts, Bantcho Bantchevsky went to the balcony railing and sat down on it.
15.
Bantcho Bantchevsky's head hit on another railing on the way down, and he fell into an aisle with part of a broken seat on top of him.
16.
Bantcho Bantchevsky was pronounced dead by the time the police arrived; the medical examiner later ruled his death a suicide.