Bantcho Bantchevsky
Village cultural life, which centered on traditional singing and dancing, inspired him to attend the Sofia Conservatory, where he learned to play the flute and piano and studied opera.He spent the 1940s finding work around Europe, singing opera in Czechoslovakia and Vienna, and becoming a member of the Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff.A polyglot — he spoke German, French, Italian, and Russian in addition to English and his native Bulgarian — he also translated material for visiting opera singers.On January 23, 1988, Bantchevsky attended a Saturday matinée performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Macbeth; unusually, he chose to sit in the balcony seats.Peter Allen was later commended by many observers for keeping up an impressive, nearly entirely improvised, string of commentary during the extended intermission.