Edita Gruberová

Born in Rača, Bratislava,[1] Gruberová began her musical studies at the Bratislava Conservatory (Konzervatórium v Bratislave),[2][3] where she was a student of Mária Medvecká. She then continued at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (VŠMU). While studying, she was a singer of the Lúčnica folk ensemble and appeared several times in the Slovak National Theatre.[4]

In 1968, Gruberová made her operatic debut in Bratislava as Rosina in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia.[5][6] 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.[2][7] Since communist Czechoslovakia was going through normalisation, during which the borders were closed with non-communist countries, Medvecká surreptitiously arranged for an audition for Gruberová in the summer of 1969 at the Vienna State Opera, which immediately engaged her. The following year, she made her breakthrough when she sang the Queen of the Night in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.[6] Gruberová then decided to emigrate to the West. In subsequent years, she became a soloist in Vienna and was invited to sing at many of the most important opera houses in the world, especially in coloratura roles.[4]

Gruberová made her debut at Glyndebourne in 1973 as the Queen of the Night.[4][8] She achieved international recognition in 1976 when she first sang Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss.[2] She appeared first at the Metropolitan Opera in 1977,[9] again as the Queen of the Night. In 1977, she first appeared at the Salzburg Festival, as Thibault in Verdi's Don Carlo, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. She appeared as Gilda in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1982 film of Rigoletto opposite Ingvar Wixell and Luciano Pavarotti,[10] and in his 1988 film of Mozart's Così fan tutte opposite Delores Ziegler and Ferruccio Furlanetto.[11] Gruberová made her Royal Opera House debut as Giulietta in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi in 1984. Other important roles include the title role of Verdi's La traviata ad Donizetti's in Lucia di Lammermoor, Konstanze in Mozart's Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the title role in Massenet's Manon and Oscar in Verdi' Un ballo in maschera. She appeared as Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni at La Scala in Milan in 1987, as Marie in Doizetti's La fille du régiment in 1987, in the title role of Rossini's Semiramide in Zürich in 1982, and as Elizabeth I in Donizetti's Roberto Devereux in Vienna in 1990. In 2006, she added the title role in Bellini's Norma to her repertoire, at the Bavarian State Opera.[2]

In 2001, she withdrew all her performances at the Zürich Opera, after Alexander Pereira, then intendant of the company, refused to claim responsibility for her dancer daughter's injury, which ruined her career but was not considered an occupational accident.[2] She had not performed at the theatre until replacing Jonas Kaufmann in a recital on 11 May 2012.[12] Later that year, after Pereira's departure, she finally performed in staged opera with the company again, in a revival of Roberto Devereux.[13]

She gave her last opera performance on 27 March 2019 as Elizabeth I in Roberto Devereux at the Bavarian State Opera, after which she focused on concerts and masterclasses.[14] She officially retired from the stage in September 2020, in part due to delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic which made planning further performances difficult.[3]

Gruberová is an Austrian and Bavarian Kammersängerin and honorary member of the Vienna State Opera.[6][3] Gruberová has made many recordings, most notably in full-length opera recordings and extended selections from Donizetti's Tudor Queens' trilogy and other bel canto operas, lately exclusively on Nightingale label.

Recordings with Gruberová include:[15][16]

• Niel Rishoi, Edita Gruberová. Ein Portrait, Atlantis Musikbuch, Zürich and Mayence, 1996, ISBN 3-254-00192-3 (in German)
• Thiel, Markus (June 2012). Edita Gruberova – "Der Gesang ist mein Geschenk". Henschel Verlag. ISBN 978-3894879150.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Edita Gruberová.

• Official website
• Literature by and about Edita Gruberová in the German National Library catalogue
• Edita Gruberová at IMDb
• Edita Gruberová discography at Discogs
• Edita Gruberová (management) Hilbert
• Archive Bayerische Staatsoper Mediathek
• Trevor Gillis: Edita Gruberová (video of Queen of the Night) 1 December 2016
• Edita Gruberova as Zerbinetta Live at the MET (17/02/1979) [InHouse Recording] on YouTube