Outstanding Russian mezzo-soprano. A graduate of the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in Leningrad (1964), in 1962 she won a Gold Medal at the vocal competition in Helsinki. She debuted at the Bolshoi Theatre while still a student (1963), as Marina Mnishek in Boris Godunov. In 1970 she came first in two prestigious international vocal competitions: the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Francisco Viñas Competition in Barcelona. She has sung numerous opera parts, including Marina Mnishek in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Polina in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades, Princess Mary and Helene Bezrukova in Prokofiev's War and Peace, Amneris in Verdi's Aida, Marfa in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina, the Princess in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur, Carmen in the opera by Bizet, Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Dalila in Debussy's Samson et Dalila, Lyubov in Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko, and many more.

   She has performed with many great artists, to mention Placido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Jose Carreras, Nikolai Giaurov, Mirella Freni, Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Fedora Barbieri, Montserrat Caballe. She has appeared on stages such as the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, La Scala in Milan, El Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the San Francisco Opera. Audiences have admired her in Tokyo, Osaka, Budapest, Vienna, Milan, New York, Washington, Marseilles, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Lisbon, Rome, and many other cities around the world.

   She has worked with many maestros of the baton, including Herbert von Karajan, Ricardo Muti, Lorin Maazel, and Claudio Abbado. She is a recipient of many prizes and state awards, both Russian and foreign.

 

Photo: Archive