Katulskaya, Elena

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Katulskaya, Elena

Katulskaya, Elena, Russian soprano; b. Odessa, June 2, 1888; d. Moscow, Nov. 20, 1966. She studied privately in Odessa (1904) and St. Petersburg (1905–07) before training with Natalia Iretskaya at the St. Petersburg Cons. (1907–09). She then made her operatic debut as Lakmé at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, where she sang until 1911. From 1913 to 1945 she was a principal member of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. In 1948 she became a teacher at the Moscow Cons. In 1965 she was made a People’s Artist of the U.S.S.R. While Katulskaya was particularly esteemed for her roles in Russian operas, she also had success in the Italian and French repertoires.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire