Violina Anguelov-Hobbs

PDO BMus (Hons) Cape Town – Vocal Studies

Violina Anguelov-Hobbs (mezzo-soprano) was born in Bulgaria. She obtained her Performer’s Diploma in Opera with distinction as well as Honours Degree in Singing (First Class) from the University of Cape Town under voice teacher Sarita Stern. She has been awarded many prizes including the Adcock Ingram Music Prize, the Leonard Hall Memorial Prize and Erik Chisholm Prize.

Violina has sung in operas and concerts throughout South Africa and abroad.  She has performed over 30 leading operatic roles in a multitude of highly acclaimed performances in South Africa, Germany, Bulgaria, Australian and Sweden.  Her South African operatic début was as Cherubino inThe Marriage of Figaro with Cape Town Opera in 1999. She made her European operatic début as Dorabella in Cosi fan Tuttein Hanover, Germany, in 2000.  Since then she has sung roles such as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Fenena in Nabucco, Marguerite in Berlioz’sLa Damnation de Faust, Ruggiero in Alcina, Nerone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Hänsel in Hänsel and Gretel, Idamante in Idomeneo, Orlofski in Die Fledermaus, Mrs. Roland in the One Act One Woman opera Dark Sonnetby Erik Chisholm in celebration of 100 years of the composers birth, Elisetta in Il Matrimonio Segreto at the Pretoria State Theatre, etc.  

Violina has sung for Opera Africa in the roles of Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi by Bellini performed in Pretoria State Theatre and Amneris in Aida by Verdi performed both in the Pretoria State Theatre and Johannesburg Civic Theatre. She also sang in Mozart’s Magic Flute in the famous production directed by William Kentridge. This production was performed in Cape Town Opera House and Civic Theatre Johannesburg. Her latest appearances for Cape Town Opera include her performances in the roles of Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Mrs. Patrick De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s opera Dead Man Walking (both in SA and in Sweden), Dinah in Trouble in Tahitiby Bernstein, Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and the title role in Bizet’sCarmen, a spectacular performance celebrated by both critics and public alike.  Violina's most recent appearances have included the role of Gulietta in The Tales of Hoffman by Offenbach in the collaborated production between Cape Town Opera and UCT’s College of Music Opera School as well as Emilia in Otello by Verdi for Cape Town Opera. 

 Apart from her vast repertoire of operatic roles, Violina has performed as a soloist with great success in many sacred works in and around South Africa.  These have included all the major oratorio works by Mozart, Pergolesi, Vivaldi, Haydn, Handel, Elgar, Beethoven, JS Bach, Berlioz, Mendelssohn and Verdi amongst others.  Violina has worked as a soloist with numerous famous conductors including Dr. Barry Smith, Arnold Bosman, Chris Dowdeswell, Dr Donald Hunt, Richard Cock, Kamal Khan, Sebastian Lang- Lessing and Martin Panteleev, etc.  She has also just had the great privilege to sing with the world renowned conductor Sir Richard Bonynge.