profile

    Edita Gruberova

    1946-12-23 (77 years old) in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia [now Slovakia]

    Edita Gruberová (23 December 1946 – 18 October 2021) was a Slovak coloratura soprano. She made her stage debut in Bratislava in 1968 as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and successfully auditioned at the Vienna State Opera the following year, which became her base. She received international recognition for roles such as Mozart's Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. In her later career, she explored heavier roles in the Italian bel canto repertoire, such as the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, and Elvira in Bellini's I puritani. In 2019, she portrayed Elisabetta in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, who leaves her throne, concluding a stage career performing leading roles over 51 years. She is remembered as the "Slowakische Nachtigall" (Slovak Nightingale), and as prima donna assoluta. Edita Gruberová was born on 23 December 1946 in Rača, Bratislava, to a German father and a Hungarian mother. As an anti-communist, her father survived a five-year prison sentence for treason. Her father drank and she developed a close relationship with her mother. She sang in a school choir and in the children's choir of the broadcaster. The pastor of the parish where she prepared for Confirmation accompanied her when she sang solos at church, and prepared her in piano playing to pass the exam to enter the conservatory. Gruberová began her musical studies at the Bratislava Conservatory (Konzervatórium v Bratislave), where she was a student of Mária Medvecká. She then continued at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). While studying there, she was a singer of the Lúčnica folk ensemble and appeared several times in the Slovak National Theatre. She would later study with Ruthilde Boesch in Vienna. In 1968, Gruberová made her operatic debut at the National Theatre in Bratislava as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia. After winning a singing competition in Toulouse, she was then engaged as a soloist of the opera ensemble of the J. G. Tajovský Theatre in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, from 1968 to 1970. Among her roles was Eliza Doolittle in Loewe's musical My Fair Lady. Since communist Czechoslovakia was going through normalisation, during which the borders to non-communist countries were closed, Medvecká surreptitiously arranged for an audition for Gruberová at the Vienna State Opera in the summer of 1969. She was immediately engaged, and made her breakthrough the following year when she appeared as the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. In 1971, Gruberová decided to emigrate to the West. She became a member of the Vienna State Opera in 1972, where she was only given secondary and supporting roles in her early years. She was invited to perform at many of the most important opera houses in the world, especially in coloratura roles. Gruberová made her debut at Glyndebourne in 1973 as the Queen of the Night. She became an Austrian citizen in 1974. ... Source: Article "Edita Gruberová" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

    Movies

    actor
    Im Olymp der Kunst
    0 %|Nov 21, 2013
    History, Documentary
    poster
    I Puritani
    0 %|Sep 27, 2011
    Music
    poster
    Lucrezia Borgia
    0 %|Jul 1, 2009
    Music
    poster
    The Art of Belcanto
    0 %|Mar 8, 2009
    Documentary
    poster
    Strauss: Ariadne Auf Naxos
    0 %|Oct 1, 2007
    Music
    poster
    Norma
    90 %|Jan 2, 2007
    Music
    actor
    Roberto Devereux
    0 %|Jan 19, 2005
    Music
    poster
    Beatrice di Tenda
    0 %|Jan 1, 2002
    Music
    poster
    Linda di Chamounix
    0 %|Jan 1, 1996
    Music
    actor
    La Traviata
    0 %|Feb 25, 1993
    Music
    poster
    Verdi La Traviata
    40 %|Aug 14, 1992
    Music
    poster
    Così fan tutte
    0 %|Jan 1, 1989
    Music
    poster
    Don Giovanni
    80 %|Dec 1, 1987
    Music
    poster
    Manon Lescaut
    60 %|Dec 28, 1983
    Music
    poster
    The Magic Flute
    0 %|Jul 2, 1983
    Music, Romance, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy
    poster
    The Magic Flute
    100 %|Aug 1, 1982
    Music, Documentary
    poster
    Verdi: Rigoletto
    69 %|Jan 24, 1982
    Drama, Music
    poster
    Hänsel und Gretel
    0 %|Jan 1, 1981
    Music
    poster
    Strauss: Die Fledermaus
    0 %|Dec 31, 1980
    Music, Comedy, Romance
    poster
    Die Entführung aus dem Serail
    0 %|May 5, 1980
    Music, Drama

    Series

    actor
    Alpha Forum
    0 %|Jan 7, 1998
    Talk
    poster
    Le monde est à vous
    0 %|Sep 13, 1987
    Talk