Obraztsova, Elena (Vasilievna)

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Obraztsova, Elena (Vasilievna)

Obraztsova, Elena (Vasilievna), outstanding Russian mezzo-soprano; b. Leningrad, July 7, 1937. Her father was an engineer who played the violin. She studied at the Leningrad Cons., graduating in 1964. She made her operatic debut as Marina in Boris Godunov at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater (1963). In 1970 she won first prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. She made her first tour of the U.S. with the Bolshoi troupe in June-July 1975; on Oct. 12, 1976, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Amneris in Verdi’s Aida. She appeared in recital in N.Y. in 1987, and was also invited to sing again at the Metropolitan Opera after an absence of some 10 years. In 1973 she was named a National Artist of the R.S.F.S.R. and in 1976 she was awarded the Lenin prize. She possessed a remarkably even tessitura, brilliant in all registers; her roles included virtually the entire Russian operatic repertoire, and such standard roles as Norma, Carmen, Eboli, and Dalila.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire