Pasha Hristova

Parashkeva Hristova Stefanova (Bulgarian: Парашкева Христова Стефанова), known artistically as Pasha Hristova (Bulgarian: Паша Христова) (16 July 1946 - 21 December 1971) was a Bulgarian singer, best known for performing one of Bulgaria's most popular songs "Една българска роза" ("A Bulgarian Rose"). Some of the other songs she was famous for are "Повей, ветре" ("Blow, Oh Wind"), "Този дивен свят" ("This Wondrous World", a take on Czesław Niemen's "Dziwny jest ten świat") and "Янтра" ("Yantra"). Her brief but meteoric career took off in the late 1960s. In the short time between 1967 and 1971, she won a number of prestigious awards at Bulgarian and international music festivals. She died young in a plane crash in 1971, pregnant with her second child.

Life and career Pasha was born in Sofia in the residential district of Knyajevo to mother Lyubka and father Hristo. When she was five, her parents divorced. Her father got remarried to a woman named Tsvetana and received custody of Pasha, while her brother Ventsi remained with his mother. Pasha's second brother Krasimir is the child of her father's second marriage. Both Pasha and Krasimir were raised to call both mothers their own. They called them "mother Tsetska" and "mother Lyubka". Lyubka worked at the kindergarten they attended so both children were cared after by her there and by Tsetska at home. The children were also raised by their grandmother Parashkeva on their father's side. They called her "old mother". Pasha had a very close relationship with "old mother" (whom she was named after), who brought her up and enrolled her in violin lessons. While most people at the time called her Pepi (the usual diminutive for the names Petranka, Petya, Penka and the like), her grandmother, who was a great admirer of Pasha Angelina (a famous Soviet Stakhanovite of the Joseph Stalin era), gave her the nickname Pasha. Pasha was traumatized by her grandmother's death. They were very close…Citește mai mult

Death In 1971, she was due for a flight to Algeria where she would have toured with the Sofia Orchestra and other colleagues, including well-known stage singers Mariya Neykova, Boris Gudjunov and folk music singer Yanka Rupkina. As the plane was taking off, it rapidly lost altitude, hit the ground headfirst, broke in half and its front exploded and went up in flames. Pasha and Nikolay Arabadzhiev were in the front seats and died almost immediately (all in all 30 people were killed, including the entire crew). When Pasha died, she was carrying her second child, from Arabadzhiev. After being identified, Pasha was buried at Central Sofia Cemetery, in the catholic parcel. Little if any documentation of the details behind the cause of the crash has been released. The investigation into the matter was quickly placed under wraps. What is certain is that the plane in question had just come out of an extensive overhaul that took months to finish. An irresponsible technical error was made during the overhaul: the cables for the ailerons were incorrectly connected (left cable to right aileron and vice versa). Thus, when the pilots tried to straighten the plane, they ended up tilting it further,…Citește mai mult

Musical style and voice Pasha Hristova had a very versatile voice and worked in different genres. Some of her songs can be described as ballads or chansons, many others are jazz and contemporary rock and roll, and she has even recorded some Bulgarian folk songs. As was common among Bulgarian singers at the time, a large part of her repertoire consisted of translations or broad adaptations of foreign originals. Her singing voice had a full and rich quality to the timbre. She was capable of alternating between the powerful and dramatic ("a voice that sweeps everything away") and the gentle and lyrical. One of her colleagues, singer Mimi Ivanova, has commented that despite being a shy and delicate person in everyday life, Pasha was "a volcano on stage".

Singles and EPs 1969: "Аз, ти и розите" (You, Me and the Roses) (original Italian song "Io Tu e le Rose" by Orietta Berti Bulgarian lyrics by Milcho Spasov) / "Щастливи заедно" (Happy Together) (a Bulgarian adaptation of The Turtles' 1967 song Happy Together) 1970: "Нека този миг да спре" (May This Moment Stop) (a Bulgarian adaptation of Dusty Springfield's 1968 song "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten", Bulgarian lyrics by Milcho Spasov). Featuring also "Цигани" (Gypsies) (Bulgarian lyrics by Bogomil Gudev), "Знай" (Know) (Bulgarian lyrics by Pasha Hristova) and "Остани" (Stay) (music by Nikolay Arabadzhiev, lyrics by Dimitar Vasilev) 1971: "Този дивен свят" (This Wondrous World) (music and original lyrics by Czesław Niemen, Bulgarian lyrics by Bogomil Gudev) / "Когато си отидеш" (When You Go) (Bulgarian lyrics by Bogomil Gudev)

Albums 1972: "Edna balgarska roza" (A Bulgarian Rose, post-mortem)

Track listing "Edna balgarska roza" (A Bulgarian Rose) (music by Dimitar Valchev, lyrics by Nayden Valchev) "Ostani" (Stay) (music by Nikolay Arabadzhiev, lyrics by Dimitar Vasilev) "Edna godina lyubov" (A Year of Love) (a Bulgarian-language version of Italian singer Mina's "Un anno d'amore") "Tozi diven svyat" (This Wonderful World) (music and original lyrics by Czesław Niemen, Bulgarian lyrics by Bogomil Gudev) "Popaten vyatar" (Sailing with the Wind) (music by Genko Genkov, lyrics by Milcho Spasov) "Znay" (I Want You To Know) (original unspecified, Bulgarian lyrics by Pasha Hristova) "Shtastlivi zaedno" (Happy Together) (a Bulgarian-language version of The Turtles' 1967 song Happy Together) "Povei, vetre" (Blow, oh Wind) (music by Yosif Tsankov, lyrics by Dimitar Vasilev) "Spri, vreme" (Stop, Time) (music by Alexander Yosifov, lyrics by Anna Georgieva) "Kogato imash" (When You Have) (a Bulgarian-language version of Northern Irish singer Clodagh Rodgers' "Come Back and Shake Me", Bulgarian lyrics by Bogomil Gudev) "Cyala nosht" (The Whole Night) (original unspecified, Bulgarian lyrics by Dimitar Kerelezov) "Byala pesen" (A White Song) (music by Dimitar Valchev, lyrics by Petar Karaangov) "Neka tozi mig da spre" (Let This Moment Stop) (a Bulgarian language version of Dusty Springfield's 1968 song "I Close My Eyes and Count…Citește mai mult

Sources Музикални следи (документална поредица): Паша Христова. ТВ България. (2006) (in Bulgarian) 60 червени рози за Паша. В. Стандарт, 16 Юли 2006 (in Bulgarian)

Chords to "A Bulgarian Rose" "Pasha - The Mystery" a film on Pasha and her life (Bulgarian) A short documentary about the plane crash (Bulgarian) Interview with ex-stewardess about the crash (Bulgarian)"