The artist agent Luisa Lasser-Petrov made a recording of one of her performances which she sent to Herbert von Karajan, who immediately requested to see her in Salzburg and then in Vienna.

The Impresario of the Vienna State Opera, Ioan Holender (then jointly directing with Eberhard Wächter) was persuaded by Lasser-Petrov to hear her auditions and immediately offered her a 2 yrs contract at that house to start in 1991-92 season.

After graduation, Kasarova joined the ensemble at Zurich Opera in 1989 and made her professional stage debut in Wagner's Götterdämmerung as the 2nd Norn and Wellgunde.

Her international career took flight in Salzburg in 1992 when at short notice, she stood in for Marilyn Horne as Tancredi in two concert performances of the Rossini opera.

Kasarova initially specialized in Mozart's operas and works by bel canto composers such as Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti.

She hosted Deutsche Welle's Euromaxx television series Vesselina Kasarova: Bulgarian Encounters, introducing European audiences to her native Bulgaria.

Recent roles: Kasarova won the "Female Singer of the Year" (Sängerin des Jahres) in 2003 Echo Klassik.