/ world today news/ Anna Maria Petrova-Guzeleva is a Bulgarian actress, journalist, choreographer, film and TV producer. She was born in Lom. She graduated in choreography at the Academy of Music, Sofia and theater at NBU. TV journalist and longtime collaborator of BNT, and the Italian RAI, TV La 7 and Mediaset.
She starred in over 50 feature films, series and co-productions in Bulgaria, Italy, Germany, France and the USA. She played on several theater stages in our country. Choreographer and teacher of classical and jazz ballet in Italy and Bulgaria. In the last 15 years, he has been a film and television producer in Italy and Bulgaria. He is a member of the Italian National Order of Journalists and the SBJ, of the jury of the Italian Film Academy – for the “David of Donatello” awards for cinematography, of the Bulgarian Academy of Science and Art (BANI).
Playful female laughter and chatter invade the afternoon peace of Güzelevi’s villa in Boyana. It is cool in the June heat and smells of pine from the tall trees that surround the quiet white house. The artistic studio was designed especially for the great bass by the famous architect Bogdan Tomalevski, explains Anna Maria. Opera music pours through the open French window, and in the living room – a surprise! – sits Nikola Gyuzelev himself, wearing a silk robe and emaciated, but still artistic and dignified. “I’m bringing a guest, Kolyo. He will talk to me about art” – Anna Maria clarifies. “Once you understand art”, he ironizes us in his typical style. I can almost hear his Mephistophelian thunderous laugh in his iconic Faust aria. Then he politely and easily rejects the idea of an interview “someday”. “Whatever I had to say, I have sung,” says the great bass, orders himself a coffee and sinks back into his music.
-Anna Maria, you’ve been lost lately, good thing it was the Italian festival “Piazza Italia” to see you.
-Yes, it has become a tradition, it is held every year at this time. On June 2 we celebrate Botev’s Day, and in Italy it is Republic Day. I was invited to present my second book of poetry, which was published in Italian. It is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the unification of my second homeland – Italy, which happened last year. It will be released in Bulgarian in a few months. The title – “Flowers and thorns of the Via Egnatia” is from the name of the second Roman road connecting the Halkidiki peninsula with Constantinople by sea. I liked the name as I pass this route often. Most of my projects now are related to Italy. Lately, I have been organizing either film shoots or poetic-musical celebrations in Rome, with performers and authors from Bulgaria and Italy. In November was the third “Art and Friendship” biennial there. I continue to shoot as an actress, but I have projects as a producer – cinema and television. It is very difficult to make films in Italy at the moment.
– Beautiful, smart, successful and the wife of a world-famous opera ace… Some little souls can’t forgive you for that.
-Since I was a child, I have encountered envy in our country and I am used to defending myself. But there is no generally valid formula to protect against it. Pettiness, complexities and envy are our three big problems as a nation. Envy comes from the complex. I don’t know if it’s only the slave periods that are to blame for it, or if we haven’t managed to rise above these things yet.
-And you, when you first went to Italy, didn’t you carry the same burden of complexes?
– And then I didn’t envy anyone! And the complex is overcome by proving what you are capable of. When you see the appreciation and the sparkle in people’s eyes, you say to yourself: “Well, I’m doing something!”. I don’t like to beat my chest and say who I am. Let people admit it. And Nikola is the same. But that doesn’t help much. Those who stand out live better.
-Is there anything in your past that you would like to hide?
– Not even to hide – no. But I fell into a hole in 1995 when I lost my mother and the following year my father. Both very spiritual persons, doctors by education. Dad was a zoo engineer and mom a pharmacist. My maternal grandfather had an extraordinary life. He was the director of the post office in Lom and a theater actor who created the troupe…
– Little is known about your life before Güzelev.
-As I wrote at the presentation of my second collection of poems, “I was born on the Danube – in Lom and I grew up in the foothills of the Balkans – in Vratsa. Then Sofia, then Parma, then Rome… From the eternal community between this great river and this mighty mountain – to the unbreakable unity of the arts, the love of which accompanies me all my life and creates my destiny – dance, music, cinema, theater, poetry to send me to the wide world to glorify my country, this small, brave and ancient Bulgaria – my mother’s cradle!” But we were talking about envy. I was surrounded by her long before I went out to Italy, since I was little. I took a competitive exam for the opera ballet, was accepted, and my passport was stolen! To cause me trouble! And as for my past, I have been dancing ballet since I was 7-8 years old, at 10 I was accepted to the State Choreography School with a competition. I finished it, then followed ballet pedagogy and choreography, specialized with the genius ballet master Maurice Béjart in Lausanne. Meanwhile, at 15 I started acting in films, at 18 I had my serious debut with the role of Neda in “The Road to Sofia”. There were years when I only did ballet performances. I also had a small child, a family and a constantly traveling husband with a global career…
– Have you ever felt in his shadow?
– Never. Yes, I put it on a pedestal and it still is. He is a great artist and there is no comparison with him. But I was his manager, an intermediary between his agents. I also managed the performances of some of his first students. When he was the director of the Bulgarian Academy in Rome and two graduating students graduated, I also helped them. However, at one point I said: “Guys, I’m an artist too, I need to think a little about myself!” (laughing).
-Some women, devoting themselves to their great husbands, completely depersonalize themselves. Maybe that’s what they can’t forgive you for?
-Yes it is! I was always around him like an eagle, a cuckoo. I managed, produced and published the books for him. Adriana grew up on the stages and sets. But now that I think about it, some people probably can’t forgive me for that – that I didn’t disfigure myself around Nikola.
– She was blowing her wild mane back and forth…
-The Lion’s Mane (laughs). Nikola and I are both Leos. And I always wanted to emphasize his role in art. But I also needed my inner expression. I’ve been writing poems since 1978 and this is like an outlet for me. But I have heard them say about me: “He wants to enjoy the fame of the world-famous family, and he is talking about emancipation!”. I don’t want emancipation. I have my own art, I follow my own path, and at the same time I have always been by Nikola’s side and supported him – mentally and physically.
– You live dynamically, how does it feel to be “home” in two places?
– We have been like this all our lives, even in one period we lived in three places, and everywhere is “home” for me. Sometimes I say to myself: “Oh my God, where did I leave my edi-aquo”. But it has happened that Nikola and I are in different places and he asks me on the phone: “Anche, where did you put something?”. And I, from the other side, tell him: “Go to this cabinet, open this drawer.” And he wonders at me (laughter). I owe this organization and discipline of mine to ballet. I have been playing the piano since I was 14 years old. At the time, my teacher said that I was very talented and that I would be accepted with a piano at the Conservatory. I played Liszt, Beethoven, Mendelssohn. But my path had started towards ballet and cinema.
-Ballerina, choreographer, actress, poet, journalist, producer… What is written first on your business card?
-Actress. But I’ve cut back on my photos, because production sucks so much of my time. But since 1989-1990 I have also been involved in television journalism. I worked in Italy for a long time, and here for about 9 years I was a correspondent for the show “Good Morning” on BNT. We were a great team with dear Alexander Avdzhiev, who left us early. In my column “Close-up” I did interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, Pipo Baldo, Zuccero, Gianni Morandi, Virna Lizi…
-Does this excitement keep you always fresh and as if untouched by the years?
-Perhaps. And also that I do not wish harm on anyone. If you harbor malice in your heart, it grows old and ugly. At first glance, everything is fine with me. But do you know how many times I’ve been extremely heavy, and I wake up feeling like my veins have sunk. However, I lift myself, like a crane! And I say to myself: “No, you have to go forward!”. Ideas for something new are also rejuvenated. There are many skydivers in our industry. But if you don’t have the inner charge, the knowledge and the talent, sooner or later you fail.
– And this is said by a person whose career, according to some, was built on the healthy back of Gyuzelev…
– Oh, yes, I feel this back as psychological stability, as security in the family. But contrary to popular belief, his name doesn’t open doors for me. I have to fight alone.
-Has Adriana inherited any of you?
– She is already 26 years old and has experienced all the things we have done. And it wasn’t bad, she has a voice and is musical, her father wanted her to sing. There were plans for R&B. She also acted in films with me, took theater courses, they liked her a lot. But she is disillusioned with our sector and I completely agree with her. Adi is fluent in several languages. I told her: “If you want to become an actress, go to Paris, London or New York. But not in Italy or Bulgaria”. Because in our country and in Italy the artist’s name is being defamed.
-What are the things that have kept you together with Nikola for so many years?
-Such a relationship – a 27-year marriage – is maintained with mutual respect and esteem. We are both strong characters. From the outside, it may seem to someone that something is wrong, because we shout at each other, ironize each other. But this is our world. I am not offended by him. We used to love to travel a lot, but lately he has health problems and I force him to go out. We like to watch music shows together. Now he has his own class of opera singers and he tries to involve me in the process, constantly asking me what I think. He needs to know if he has achieved an effect with his teaching method. He is pleased that I organize concerts for his students.
-Do you support his decision not to return to the stage?
-Yes, he no longer accepts engagements, although his voice is in very good condition. Now he is on a teaching spree and wants to teach as many people as possible how to sing properly and well, to have a longer career, and not to end their voice after 5 years. He thinks he will be most useful with male voices. His last stage appearance was in 2009 during the Christmas concert with his students. Finally they sang together the slander aria from The Barber of Seville, he began and they finished. Some of his colleagues continue to sing at his age – he will soon turn 76 – and become pathetic on stage. Nicholas wants people to remember him for his strength.
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